The original “Lee’s Leech Fly” is a fly tied with Alpaca Fiber and that is the secret of its success as a fly. The Alpaca fiber mimics the slow fluid movement of a Leech in the water. I have used this fly for Trout, Walleye, and Bass and have caught fish using a technique of pulling and pausing the fly to mimic the slow mountainous movement of a Leech in water. The fly’s are sold for $4.50 at the Alpaca Outfitters booth at the American Countryside Market and also through contacting me via e-mail – see turkeycreekalpacas.com
During the spring Salmon season I tie a little alpaca yard (orange) to the front of the Leech Fly. This presentation seems to work well to fool the fish that the Leech is onto Salmon eggs. I use white alpaca yarn that my wife, Liz hand spins and I dye it a perfect orange using Kool-Aid. If you are interested in this recipe for using cool aid for dying here it is:
One package of unsweetened Kool-Aid
Liquid (8 oz total):
6 ounces of water
2 ounces of vinegar
if you want the color to be less intense, use less Kool-Aid in the same amount of water. Conversely, more Kool-Aid will give you more color. For consistent results, dissolve the Kool-Aid in the water/vinegar solution and dilute the resulting solution.
Dyeing with Kool-Aid does not require a mordant.
