Simi Seal Leech

John Rohmer is the creative genius behind the Simi Seal dubbings (www.azflyfishing.net) and the Simi Seal Leech pattern.  His products can be described as a little on the coarse side, but full of translucency and brilliant, vibrant color combinations that provide a lot of "pop" and movement  to  any fly- especially leech patterns. Did I mention color combinations?  Yes....  50 jaw dropping colors in just the Simi Seal alone. I have zero affiliation, but this material comes with a strong recommendation from me!  

I tie the Simi Seal Leech a little differently than John—perhaps habit from my commercial tying days— just to speed things along and to keep the body thin.   The thinner the better! A video of John tying his Simi Seal Leech at the bottom of the page.

Materials

Hook:  Daiichi 1260 (or any 3XL nymph hook), sizes 4-12

Bead:  Optional

Thread:  6/0 or 8/0 color match body
Tail: Simi Seal (Canadian brown pictured)
Body:  Simi Seal (Canadian brown pictured)

Step 1:

Pinch barb with vise.  Secure hook in vise.  Start thread behind bead or one eye length behind eye and advance thread rearward to a position between the hook point and barb.

Step 2:

Select a clump of fibers and manually thin down.  The fibers can be somewhat straightened by rolling between the thumb and fingers as well as slightly pulling the ends opposite of one another. The length of tail is approximately one hook length.  Tie in and secure with advancing wraps towards the eye and return to a position just forward of the hook point.  Form a dubbing loop and return dubbing to eye/bead area.  Reminder.... keep the tail on the thin side.

Step 3:

With the dubbing loop formed, apply/distribute fibers sparingly and evenly inside of the loop. Spin dubbing twister forming a chenille-like appearance of the fibers.  The key to keeping the body on the thinner side is not over-tightening the loop, but tight enough to keep clumps of fibers from falling out of the loop with a little pulling pressure.

Step 3a:

Draw fibers rearward and wrap forward towards bead/eye.  Another helpful hint to keeping the body thin is making each wrap just forward of the previous.  You'll want each wrap to touch, but not butted up tightly to the previous.

Apply a little super glue to the first inch of thread and whip finish.

Now is a good time for a little discreet trimming of longer fibers if desired.

Step 4:

Comb, brush or sweep fibers back over the body..  This deadly leech pattern is ready fish!

John Rohmer tying his Simi Seal Leach

Enjoy!