THE LEERIE GUY FLY

Saltwater
THE LEERIE GUY FLY

When my custom Fusion was ready for collection in Knysna a few years back I couldn’t wait to get her on the water for a test run. I thought I would make a week of it and myself and two mates from Franschhoek flew over the pass with huge excitement and enough wine and fly gear in the back to fill start a Jurassic Lake season. 


I collected the boat and launched on the Knysna lagoon. Staying with good friend Craig Smith we gunned around the lagoon in the new floating chariot like we stole it, harassing Grunter, some juvenile Leeries and pleasantly sized Elf in the entrance to the Thesen Island canal system. After 3 days we headed to Sedgefield where our property mogul mate Sean Petzer has a rockstar holiday home.

Based at Sean’s we ran up river daily, the lagoon was closed and while getting under the railway bridge in the 19ft Fusion raised a few eyebrows, we could hit the spots. With a fly newbie Craig and vestal virgin Sean on board there was a lot of spinning gear and even more beer involved… I enjoyed smashing some nice Leeries but nothing north of 45 cm I guess.

Craig McNaught had put in the hours with the fly, loving his new Loop 7 wt rod and Shilton combo but the outfit was yet to see blood. It was the last arvie session of the last day and Neptune himself decided now was a good time to try his hand at flyfishing after an afternoon of amber nectar. Stowing his spin gear Sean asked Craig if he could use his new rod, I pulled considerably closer to the weed line drop off and literally began fly casting 101. Now if you have met Sean before you will know he is not exactly the quiet attentive focused type. After half an hour of what resembled Moses trying to part the Red Sea with a Sjambok (*essentially a short South African whip used more in warfare than agriculture) in a pair of board shorts, Sean manged, some how, to get two rods lengths of fly line out of the boat - the fly for the very first time landing in front of the fly line and dropping into a good looking hole in the weeds. There was an instantaneous explosion, Sean set the hook in a unique style that would have been the result of Kevin VanDam coaching Chuck Norris how to set the hook on the last day of a bass competition. How the leader did not part or Sean run out of deck space stepping back into his biblical hook set was nothing short of a miracle. I swung the bow of the boat to deeper water screaming instructions while clearing the running line off the deck and trying not to loop the butt of the rod or garotte Sean. Line on the reel the fished peeled away at speed, Sean unable to lift the rod much above the horizontal kept trying to grab the spinning reel handle, I shouted some expletive instructions to the contrary while Craig in heightened excitement also started giving instructions. I gently pointed out to Craig that, if there was to be any hope in boating the big fish, it would be just me giving instructions.
Well it was a blur, somehow the unluckiest Leerie in Sedgies found its way to the net and was thoroughly photographed by three ecstatic mates. We revived the fish on the trolling motor and it swam off just fine. While probably not a meter long there wasn’t much in it but it’s fair to say photos of our splendid Leerie did the rounds in the Western Cape at every braai and burger joint we frequented.

A couple of years later Sean having obviously got into flyfishing with the bug having bitten, attended our annual flyfishing charity dinner in Dullstroom. At the pre-event drinks in the shop entrants mingle and chat, mostly repeats it’s a tight crowd and on meeting Sean, regular Dr Petrus Gous said to Sean “nice to meet you, have we met? You look awfully familiar?”. Well the talented eye surgeon from Pretoria and the property mogul of the Winelands certainly hadn’t crossed paths but the well traveled and fished Doctor was convinced of it. The following day at brunch Petrus suddenly had an epiphany, he pushed his chair out and came over to show us a photo on his phone - it was the photo of Sean on the front of my Fusion cradling the most unfortunate trophy Leerie of the Swartvlei lagoon system! - “I knew I recognised you - you are the Leerie Guy!”

Everyone packed out with laughter and Sean instantly had a new nickname added to his long list of existing ones, Leerie Guy, and the sparsely tied brushy that fooled his Leerie found a name that stuck for good, the Leerie Guy Fly.

Whether you're planning on fishing the Garden Route during the Christmas holidays or heading to the Breede in the new year, here is a step by step on how to tie The Leerie Guy Fly. Alternatively, shop online for this pattern tied by our in-store fly tyers. 

Materials Required:

Top Tip: Very Important with this pattern is to secure your materials with super glue with every step to ensure your fly stands up to your target species. 

Step 1: 

Tie in your thread base stopping inline with your hook point. 

Step 2: 
Tie in your tail. Pre-cut two sections of SF Blend in both Shrimp and Mullet Brown, and blend the two colours toegther before tying in. To taper your tail, spin the material in your fingers. Your tail should be roughly three hook lengths long. Once you've secured your tail, tie in one to two strands of flashabou either side of your tail, trimming your flash just behind where the SF stops. 


Top Tip: Whenever you tie in flash, make sure your flash is slightly longer than your tail. 

Step 3:
Select two tan hackles of similar profile and length. Strip the base of the feather where you plan to tie it in, making sure your feather is the same length as the existing tail once tied in. 

Step 4:
Start building the head and body of your fly by stacking the same mix of SF fibers. Alternatively, stack your dark over light. A lighter belly provides contrast and acts as a trigger for saltwater fish. Each stack, like stacking deer hair, should be tied in on the top and bottom of your hook before folding back and starting another stack. However, it is not necessary to make your stack too dense. Unlike deer hair, less is more in this case. Keep stacking, securing, folding back your SF and securing before moving to the next stack until you reach the eye of your fly. Typically you'll do between 2 and 3 stacks. 
Step 5: 
Tie off your thread and secure one last time with super glue, and trim your head to the desired shape. For your eyes, trim two eye gaps for your stick on eyes. 


Top Tip: Trimming eye gaps ensures your stick on eyes sits closer to the hook and flush with the material forming your head. 

Step 6:
Glue your stick on eyes in the eye gaps you've trimmed out. Once both eyes are in place, push them together making sure the glue sticks to the hook and thread base. Add a drop of resin to your thread wraps if you wish to secure your head as best as possible. 

And there you have it, The Leerie Guy Fly. Thanks Sean, your reputation and nickname still stands. 
 
Feel free to adapt colour combinations by changing the SF and hackle colour which is also the best way to add contrast if desired. Tight lines and don't miss a strip!
Tags: Saltwater