Pine Squirrel Leech – simple, easy, and lifelike

Pine Squirrel Leech, Brown

Tying Instructions: Pine Squirrel Leech, Brown

1. We are using TMC 5263, a 3X long nymph hook with a down eye. Slip a tungsten bead onto the hook and place the hook in the vise. Secure the thread behind the bead near the eye.

2. Wrap a thread foundation from the bead to the bend of the hook and back again. Just behind the bead, attach a gold wire and secure the wire to the top of the hook shank to the bend of the hook.

3. Wrap the thread back to the bead and attach a strip of Holographic Tinsel behind the bead.

4. Wrap the tinsel with touching wraps to the bend of the hook and back to the bead. Secure with a couple of thread wraps and trim off the tag end.

5. Trim a piece of Pine Squirrel Zonker strip from the bead to a shank length behind the bend of the hook.

6. Attach the strip behind the bead with tight thread wraps.

7. Next. palmer the wire through the Pine Squirrel Zonker strip in a Matuka style up to the bead.

8. Secure the wire with thight thread wraps and “helicopter” the tag end of the wire to remove.

9. Create a dubbing rope by twisting the dubbing onto the thread and capture the leading fibers within the first wrap around the shank. Now, twist the dubbing in a clockwise direction around the thread to create a “rope”.

10. Use the dubbing rope to create a ball of dubbing behind the bead.

11. Whip Finish.

12. The Finished Pine Squirrel Leech as tied by Ralph Wood.

Materials to Order Material, click the link
Hook	TMC 5262 #8-14
Thread	Uni 6/0, Rusty Brown
Head	Plummeting Tungsten Bead, Mottled Brown
Collar	Hare's Ear Plus Dubbing, Rusty Orange
Rib	Gold Wire, Small
Body	Holographic Tinsel, Orange
Wing/Tail	Pine Squirrel Zonker Strip, Brown

Pine Squirrel Leech

When Pine Squirrel Zonker strips became available, it was only natural to transition from longer bunny strip patterns to smaller sizes utilizing Pine Squirrel. One pattern that became popular on the North Platte tailwater of Grey Reef, Wyoming was the Cowboy Leech. This pattern was the inspiration of Landon Mayer’s Mini Leech.

Ralph Wood

Within our own Sierra Nevada, guide Ralph Wood, of Grass Valley, developed his version of a Pine Squirrel Leech for the Yuba River in 2009. Ralph is cited in an article by Bill Carnazzo for California Fly Fisher (June 2012). In the article he states, “About three years ago, a rumor was floating around the now-defunct Nevada City Anglers fly shop about a fly that was fooling a lot of fish in the lower Yuba River. Since I guide on and avidly fly fish that lovely and productive river, I asked Tony Dumont, the fly shop’s owner, about the fly. Tony’s comments were that the fly appeared to be a small leech pattern with a red glass bead at the head, tied with a strip of mink body hair over the top and with a tinsel body. After perusing the materials section of the shop, I found no mink body strips, but soon located and purchased some pine squirrel strips in several colors and left for home to see what I could come up with at the vise.“

“After some experimentation, I devised with what I call the Pine Squirrel Leech. The fly was an instant success on the lower Yuba. On the first day out, in a two-hour session, the olive version garnered three fish to hand and numerous strikes and hookups. I was fishing the fly on the swing using a 5-weight rod with a matching Hi-D sink tip. I later discovered that an intermediate line works even better, because the fly stays at the same depth for most of the swing, rather than rising, as it has a tendency to do when fished with a sink-tip line. Since then, I have tied the fly with black, natural, rust, and chartreuse squirrel strips.“

Ralph passed away in December of 2021. He was a mentor to many that knew him.

The pattern can be dead-drifted, swung, or stripped like a streamer. If dead-drifted, use an indicator. If stripping the pattern, make the retrieval quite slow. Leeches are important as a food source, particularly during high water conditions. During high waters, leeches are often swept off the bottom. They become vulnerable and an easy meal for the trout.

Variations

Pine Squirrel Leech, Olive

Materials to Order Material, click the link
Hook	TMC 5262 #8-14
Thread	Uni 6/0, Olive
Head	Plummeting Tungsten Bead, Mottled Olive
Collar	Hare's Ear Plus Dubbing, Olive
Rib	Gold Wire, Small
Body	Holographic Tinsel, Chartreuse
Wing/Tail	Pine Squirrel Zonker Strip, Olive

Pine Squirrel Leech, Black

Materials to Order Material, click the link
Hook	TMC 5262 #8-14
Thread	Uni 6/0, Black
Head	Plummeting Tungsten Bead, Matte Black
Collar	Hare's Ear Plus Dubbing, Black
Rib	Gold Wire, Small
Body	Holographic Tinsel, Black
Wing/Tail	Pine Squirrel Zonker Strip, Black