The articulated egg sucking bunny leech. Photos: Kyle Shea.
Few fly patterns have caught more fish in Alaska than the egg sucking leech (ESL). Whether tied in the classic “bugger style,” or in a more contemporary fashion utilizing rabbit strips, the ESL family of flies are hard to beat when targeting salmon and trout throughout all of Alaska. In fact, it has been said that the egg sucking leech has the potential to catch anything that swims, and we’d be willing to bet that if tied in a variety of colors and sizes, it could produce all over the world!
Today, we’re coming at you with a more modern spin on a classic pattern in order to create a more versatile fly. As if the rabbit tail and body of a classic bunny leech did not already provide enough movement to the fly, we added an articulation to the fly, thus allowing for even more movement in the water. Tying the egg sucking bunny leech in articulated fashion also allows for shorter shanked trailer hooks to be used as opposed to long shank streamer hooks, resulting in a larger profile fly with less leverage on the hook when fighting fish. In other words, more fish to hand!
The beauty of this pattern is that it’s hard to fish it wrong – Strip it, jig it, swing it.. It all works! Now here’s how to tie it.
The Articulated ESL – Tying Instructions
Materials:
Trailer Hook: Owner SSW, Size 2.
Front Shank: Tiemco 811S, Size 2, With Hook Bend Cut Off.
Front Body: Purple Zonker Strip, Purple UV Polar Chenille.
Head: Pink or Orange Cactus Chenille.
Eyes: Silver Painted Lead Eyes.
Trailer Hook Connection: 2 Strands of 30 lb. Dacron Backing.
Step 1: Starting at the eye of the hook, cover the hook shank with a layer of thread to the barb of the hook. This will be your trailer hook on the finished fly.Step 2: Tie in a rabbit strip tail in which the hide of the strip is approximately the same length as the hook shank. Make sure to part the fibers at the tie in point to avoid trapping any errant fibers. Advance thread in front of excess rabbit strip, but DO NOT trim excess. Step 3: Tie in a strand of UV Polar Chenille in front of the rabbit strip. Advance thread to the eye of the hook.Step 4: While holding BOTH the rabbit strip and Polar Chenille, wrap both forward to just shy of the hook eye, trim excess, and tie off. Make sure to stroke fibers back with your left hand after each wrap. This will ensure that the fibers will all flow towards the back of the fly.Step 5: Create a clean tapered head, whip finish, and apply your favorite head cement or glue. Insert two strands of 30 lb. Dacron backing through the hook eye. Remove the fly from the vise and set aside, this will be the trailer portion of the finished fly.Step 6: Secure the front hook into the vise and cover the shank of the hook with thread wraps. Using figure eight wraps, mount lead eyes onto the top of the hook shank. The lead eyes should be roughly the width of the hook eye away from the front of the fly. Advance the thread to the hook point. Step 7: Connect the trailer hook to the front hook by doubling over the backing strands and tying them onto the top of the hook shank. Cover backing strands with close tight wraps all the way to the lead eyes. Fold the excess backing strands back over the hook shank and cover with thread wraps back to the hook bend. Trim excess. Note: Make sure to keep the connection to the trailer hook small to prevent the fly from fouling while casting.Step 8: Tie in a second rabbit strip, followed by a strand of UV Polar Chenille. Advance thread to just behind the lead eyes.Step 9: Using the same technique as performed in step 4, wrap rabbit and Polar Chenille to just behind the lead eyes, tie off, and trim the excess. Step 10: Tie in a strand of pink Cactus Chenille just behind lead eyes, trim excess, and advance thread in front of the lead eyes to the hook eye. Step 11: Cover lead eyes with Cactus Chenille using figure eight wraps, tie off, and trim excess. Create a clean tapered head, whip finish, and cement. Remove the fly from the vice and clip off the hook bend of the front hook using a pair of needle nosed pliers.
