Josh's Fall Favorite

This is one of my favorite flies. I fish it in many configurations throughout the year, and in my mind this is the best version for fall fishing for steelhead. About 15 years ago I started fishing a similar version of this fly when I was guiding the Grande Ronde. That version was more similar to a string leech. As the fly evolved I decided the string leech took too much time to tie and was more of a one shot deal because the hook wasn’t replaceable. Over the years I started tying this on tubes and removing all of the unneeded extras. Come October I start cranking these out. 

This is a quick fly to tie with basically a rabbit strip and a schlappen collar. The brass cone head adds a little weight but isn’t too heavy, and the orange color adds a trigger and turns it into the iconic egg sucking leech. 

This is a true guide fly. Try one yourself you won’t be disappointed 

Fall Rabbit Tube:
Plastic 1” Medium Classic Pro Tube
Thread: Red Uni 6/0
Body: Black Rabbit strip
Underbody: 6 strands Krystal Flash 6 pieces ostrich herl
Collar: Black Schlappen
Finish with Orange Pro Cone