In this video Jay Nicholas demonstrates how to tie a Tube Moal Leech. We love the Moal Leech for steelhead fishing year round. The Mother of all Leeches as it is know was originated by Derek Fergus.
The rabbit strip body of the original pattern is wound down a strand of gel spun backing. When using a tube or in the case of this video multiple tubes, the tier can control length, color, weight and hook. Jay even throws in Hareline Super Eggs between his tubes.
Jay’s Tube Moal Leech
Tubes: HMH Small Tubes
Body 1: Two Toned Hareline Crosscutt Rabbit Strip Hot Orange/Fl. Orange
Body 2: Two Toned Hareline Crosscutt Rabbit Strip Violet/Purple
Body 3: Hareline Crosscutt Rabbit Strip Black
Beads Between Tubes: Hareline Super Eggs
Cone: Hareline Black Tungsten Cone Large
Flash: Mirage Flashabou
Head: STS dubbing blend black+purple with Silver Holographic Ice Dub
Recomended Hook: Gamakatsu C14S or Gamakatsu SC15 or Alec Jackson’s Tube Fly Hook
Whoa! Thats grooovy.
Jay i tied a couple of these up this morning and headed out to the lower Willamette in my sled for some much needed spey casting practice,these are challenging for a new caster.I was using my 9 weight 12’6″ Echo 2 with a skagit line and sink tip and once the wind settled down they were some what manageable but still a handful.I did observe that these have incredible action in the current so i will work on my casting so that i can try to tame these big bunnies.
Brilliant! I have been trying to get that action from MOALs on tubes, problem solved. Thanks Jay.
Mike. Yeah these babies are a handful. One option is to make the overall fly-length shorter than the demo fly showed in the video. The real key, I think, is twofold. First, finding the right match of rod, Skagit head, and sink tip. If you are using a hefty sink tip (long and heavy) the Skagit head must be correspondingly heavy to properly launch the tip. Short tips are also problematic as they are prone to lifting and breaking the anchor. I find that I cast more consistently with 12′ tips. Shorter give me problems and 15′ tips call for my best timing. That brings us to the second key to casting big flies like the Tube MOAL — consistent acceleration. I have a troubling tendency to pause just before beginning the forward phase of my cast. All my knowledgeable friends are on me to maintain constant acceleration during the cast and when i manage to accomplish this — well — everything goes more smoothly. The pause takes energy out of our D loops and makes it all the more difficult to launch the fly. So, give these thought a try and let’s see what my authentic Spey Casting expert friends have to say about this 5-cents worth of advice.
JN