MAYER'S LEECH

Tim, I have micro pine squirrel and large ostrich plumes in black,brown and olive to share with you. I was at feather-craft asking the same question about the difference between the micro rabbit strips and micro pine squirrel strips for the Mayer’s Mini leech pattern. They said you can use rabbit over squirrel but, will change the fly on how it flutters in the water. We compared the 2 materials… rabbit is much softer and when wet per f-craft will make the pattern sink and, with the pine squirrel fur been stiffer will hold the fly up in the water to give the flutter effect of a leech. I hope that is helpful to you.

Is there a difference between Mini vs Zonked rabbit squirrel strips. I ordered small strips 3/32″ wide, so less than a 1/8 inch wide and I have some zonked strips I used on some Squirrel Zonkers Streamers.

Bill

Bill, what is needed for the Mayer’s Mini Leech pattern is the Micro Pine Squirrel Zonker strips which are 1/16 inch wide. I believe the 3/32 mini strips will be to large for the Mayer’s pattern.

Thanks, fellas I guess I will have to make the drive to F-C again as well.

Here is an excerpt of a podcast with Landon Mayer on his Mayer’s Leech pattern:

What makes the Mini-Leech so special?
I asked Landon, aren’t most nymphs non-escaping? What makes the mini-leech special. Or rather, what makes a good non-escaping fly?

Landon said sure, lots of nymphs are non-escaping, but most big trout won’t grab a pheasant tail nearly as often as they’ll jump on a leech. Size matters.

He believes there are three elements that make a good non-escaping meal for large trout: movement, abundance and size.

The best non-escaping prey are large enough to grab the attention of big trout and entice them to eat.

They also have motion that trout key on, but it’s a motion without enough propulsion to dart away when attacked. Mayer’s Mini-Leech fits the bill perfectly. It’s 1.5 inches long, it pulses and undulates in the water, but trout don’t have to run it down. Leeches can’t swim away quickly to avoid an attack (they probably aren’t even aware of an incoming trout). Trout know this, and trout target leeches.

Landon told me his local rivers are full of leeches. They’re common and plentiful. And that’s important. The best non-escaping food forms are found in the river all year long. With such abundance, trout are used to seeing them and are on the lookout.

Tim,
I have taken information from Landon Mayer’s book 101 Trout Tips on “Leech Lesson”. Here is what Landon sez:
The Mayer’s Mini leech is versatile; you can dead-drift it as a nymph, swing it as a nymph, trail it behind a larger streamer using strip retrieve, or even hang it below a hopper. It is also possible to match different colors to the swimming damelselflies as they snake their way to the bank. The constant pulsating and undulating action matched with the tapering profile of a leech will fool many trout. It is my go-to pattern for landing large trout in the tight quarters of undercut banks, around structure, and at the head of a drop- off or riffled run. Use this imitation when you are fishing around structure or in tight quarters and want to reduce the number of snags.

I personally had success with this fly pattern using the technique of dead-drift as a single fly below a indicator. I recently caught a 18” brown with this technique, fishing it at the head of a drop-off. I hope this is helpful for you.
Mike

• This reply was modified 6 years ago by MOfishMO.