In the long dark Alaskan winter a fly fisherman has the tying bench to keep him sane. On a Friday night in February, I sat down at the tying bench with a six pack of Alaska White beer to tie some steelhead flies for a trip still months away.
The session started with several common fly patterns used for steelhead in Southeast Alaska. However with every beer consumed the common patterns gradually turned to wacky personal creations. Sometime late into the night a fly was created of epic ridiculousness.
Upon review of my creations the next morning I discovered I had created what would later be named the Fruit-loop Leech. It was a 4.5 inch long, triple-articulated moal leech that had almost every common florescent color. Also, like the colors, the materials used were not even consistent. It had a dose of marabou feathers, cactus chenille, Estaz and even some crosscut rabbit strips, all tied onto a two stainless steel cotter pins connected by 30 pound spectra loops and a size 4 Gamakatzu trailer hook at the end.
I named it the Fruit-Loop Leech
Upon showing the Fruit-loop Leech to several fishing buddies I received several comments like:
- "Ahhh…chasing the elusive “Bozo Fish” I see…good luck"
- "That thing had me is convulsions like a Japanese kid on too much sugar watching rapid motion cartoons!"
- "Dear God you could use it as a bear avoidance device…just wave it around and watch them run!"
- "That fly has one thing going for it, it is more likely to scare all the fish down to someone better at catching and landing one."
I can not say I didn't agree with them but there was something about this creation that I was proud of, so into the box it went.
That fly sat in the box all season long. Several times I looked at the fly but could never bring myself to pull it out of the box and give it a try, even for Coho salmon. It was just too weird.
Flash forward to November of 2011. I was headed to Lago Strobel, Argentina, also known as Jurassic Lake. The Fruit-Loop Leech was there in the box waiting to make the journey. It almost left it behind, but the owner of the Loop camp at Lago Strobel stated that he had not found a fly that did not work at Jurassic Lake. I vowed I would test that statement with the Fruit-Loop Leech.
A couple weeks later I was on my way to Lago Strobel with our guide Juan. During the
'Drive from Hell' we were making small talk about which flies to use, fishing spots, etc when the Fruit-Loop Leech was mentioned. Upon showing Juan the fly he started laughing and stated that might be the first fly not to catch a fish at Jurassic Lake.
We started fishing that afternoon and I should probably say catching because you literally caught a fish every 5 minutes and the average size was 8-10 pounds. Jurassic Lake was amazing and even that word does not do it justice. But that is another story to be written in the near future, this is the story about the Fruit-Loop Leech.
One afternoon shortly after lunch, my friend Jason, his wife Cindy and I stumbled across a large school of super aggressive rainbow trout in a bay close to the Loop camp. Stripping the fly faster induced more strikes and every color, every size, every type of fly was working. The water was super clear and you could watch them chase it, miss the fly, strike it, etc. Doubles and triple hookups were common. Only at Jurassic can three friends hook and land three 12+ pound rainbow trout at the same time.
Our gear was stressed, arms were sore and we kept losing flies due to frayed leaders or just very big fish that we could slow down. We lost count of the number of 30+ inch rainbow trout we caught and they just kept coming. If anything the fishing seemed to be getting better. It was a feeding frenzy.
A couple hours into one of the most amazing fishing experiences we have ever had, the guides wandered down from the camp to check and see if we needed anything. They could already tell that the action was hot. As the guides arrived, we were in the middle of a short break, to replace frayed leaders, choose a new fly and smoke a Cuban cigar.
Our guide, Juan, sat down next to me and jokingly said I should try the Fruit-Loop Leech. I pulled it out of the box and both guides had a little laugh at my expense. I wasn't fazed and I tied it on my line. If i ever had a chance to catch a fish with the Fruit-Loop Leech, this was the time.
Juan said he needed a picture for the before and after shot, though nobody believed there would be an after shot.
Photo by: Loop guide Juan I wandered down to the little shelf we were fishing off of and cast the Fruit-Loop Leech out. It was so wind resistant it felt like I was throwing a whole chicken into the bay. It landed on the water and floated. I hear the guides start laughing, I now have a Fruit-Loop dry fly.
A couple slow strips and the rabbit fur and marabou begins to soak up the water and the fly slowly starts to sink. In the clear water I see a fish break away from the group to come take a look. Everybody was shocked that a fish was actually even looking at the Fruit-Loop Leech and not running from it. But the trout did not strike the fly forcing me to cast again.
This cast went a little easier and I waited a few seconds for it to sink. I then started short fast strips to entice a strike. After several fast strips, I saw a fish break away from the group at warp speed and slam into the fly.
I set the hook and the fish went ballistic. The fish tail-walked for a distance then put on the afterburners, peeling line off my reel. I was ecstatic, I just hooked a fish on the Fruit-Loop Leech. I looked back at the guides who had looks of shock on their faces.
I was into backing before long with the drag still singing as yards of backing peeled off the reel. Half my backing was gone and the fish was still going. I had to slow it down. I cranked the drag down as far as it could go and started palming the reel. Several bruised knuckles later I managed to turn the fish.
We knew it was a sizeable fish by the way it took off but we didn't know how big. After several minutes we finally saw the fish as it rolled near the surface.
Photo by: Loop guide Juan I was going to need help landing this one, so I called out to Jason to help. I wanted this fish, not only was it the first fish the Fruit-Loop Leech ever caught but also a big fish. I was going to be careful fighting this fish because i knew the 14 pound fluorocarbon leader would not hold up if it got abraded by the rocks or if I tried to force the fish in. So it took almost ten minutes or more to get the fish into the little tidepool area near us so we could trap it and take pictures.
As soon as the fish was into position Jason near dove on it. It was a lot bigger than we even expected. The fish was almost too big to hold. Pictures were taken, measurements were taken.
The documented proof that the Fruit-loop Leech works and more than that, the fly caught my biggest trout.
Fish Measurements : 34 inches long x 23.5 inch girth. Estimated weight: 24 Pounds
Now onto the pictures
Photo by: Loop guide Juan
Photo by: Loop guide Juan
