2026 July Fly Tying

Fly Tying   In early June, Jim White and I had the opportunity to fish Pueblo Reservoir with a good friend of Jim’s for walleye. We were using live leeches and night crawlers on jig hooks and slip bobbers from Jim’s friend’s pontoon/party boat. I caught four that were too small, and Jim did catch one that was 18 inches. Jim’s friend also caught a keeper and a couple of days later brought the fillets to Jim’s house for a tasty dinner.

The Party Barge

Now, you may be asking why I’m talking about live bait and spinning rods? It got me thinking, would leech patterns on a fly rod work just as well at Pueblo Reservoir, especially since walleye is one of my favorite fish to eat? So, of course, my first thought was Landon Mayer’s Mini Leech pattern fished with either a sinking line, sinking tip line, or even a slip bobber rig (like Jim and I do when fishing on Spinney with chironomids). So, let’s tie up some Mini Leeches!

Landon Mayer's Mini Leach

Landon’s Mini Leech is a favorite for either still water or river fishing. They can be tied in multiple colors and are relatively easy to tie. The recipe: Size 12-18 TMC2488H hook (straight eye, 3x wide gap, 2x short curved shank). Black 8/0 thread. Black/red Krystal Flash body. Black/brown/olive micro pine squirrel wing. Black/brown/olive ostrich herl thorax. To tie this fly: Start the thread right behind the eye of the hook and wrap back to the hook bend. Take one strand of Krystal Flash and fold it over the thread and tie it down. Wrap the thread to the halfway point of the shank and then wrap the flash forward and secure it with a couple of wraps. Cut the tag ends of the flash. Wrap the thread forward and back to be level with the Krystal Flash body. End the wraps at the end of the flash. Prepare the pine squirrel by cutting a length that is twice the length of the hook shank. Strip the end fur off the squirrel the length of the thread base you just created. Tie in the stripped end of the pine squirrel from the end of the flash to just behind the hook eye and back to the tie-in spot. The fur should be pointing up from the hook shank. Prepare an ostrich herl of the same color as the pine squirrel. Strip off a small amount of herl to allow it to be tied in. Tie in the shaft of the herl at a 45° angle to the hook shank and wrap the thread forward to just behind the hook eye. Wrap the herl forward to your thread and secure it with thread wraps. Cut the herl tag end and whip finish the head. Add a bit of superglue (or other head cement) to the finished whip finish and the flash body, for added durability. You can substitute a jig hook with an added bead head of the same color as your pine squirrel. Here is Tim Flagler showing you how to tie it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FUjcqflmYQ In Conclusion Walleye in Pueblo Reservoir are active in early spring through July before tailing off and picking back up in September. So, if you love eating walleye as much as I do, tie yourself some Mayer’s Mini Leeches and head down to Pueblo Reservoir. This Sport Fish Colorado page has all the details of the size and bag limits. Don’t forget to bring your hemostats, because they do have teeth! In fact, in Wisconsin, some of us call them wally-gators! Happy tying! Greg Walters