Beginner Fly Tying: Mohair Leech and Thin Mint Bugger

If you have been attending our recent fly tying sessions for beginners, hopefully you have enjoyed learning more of the basics of creating artificial fly patterns that simulate natural fish “foods.” On April 15th, our tying class will continue the theme for 2025: learning the basic techniques for tying artificial flies before extending that knowledge. For example, we can substitute various tying materials in the construction of a basic fly in order to create diverse fly patterns which are suitable for fly fishing through the four seasons of the year.

This month the class will be learning two flies that imitate non-insect fish foods like minnows, leeches, and worms. This month we will tie the Mohair Leech and the Thin Mint Bugger. Tying instructions are below for your reference.

Join our Beginner Fly Tying session on Tuesday, April 15th, at 7:00 p.m. at Trinity United Methodist Church, West Patrick Street, Frederick, in Room 207.

As noted previously, if you are planning on attending either our April 15th beginner class or our April 16th Advanced Fly Tying class; we would greatly appreciate knowing in advance. Please email me at dfine1443@gmail.com.

Instructions for Tying a Thin Mint Bugger

Introduction – the Thin Mint Bugger credited to Tim Flagler of Tightline Productions is another variation of Russell Blessing’s classic Wooly Bugger. As noted by Phil Monohan in an Orvis News publication, “The Thin Mint Bugger adds colors to the classic pattern that suggest all kinds of aquatic life that trout find tasty”. 

Materials: 3x-4x long streamer hook (sizes 4-8), 1/8” tungsten bead, 0.02 lead wire, 70- denier rusty brown or black thread, superglue, marabou (olive, brown, & black), copper wire, brown saddle hackle feather.

Tying steps: 

1. Insert a bead onto the hook after pinching down the hook barb, and place in the tying vise.
2. Start thread wraps immediately behind the bead, leaving the bodkin hanging at this location. Wrap a 1” length of lead-free wire on the hook shank, push the wire forward to where the thread is hanging and then make thread wraps over the lead wire toward the rear, and immediately behind the rear of the lead wraps. (If available, apply a small drop of superglue or other fast-drying head cement over the lead wraps).
3. Continue thread wraps back to the start of the hook bend. Then select one each of three colors of marabou feathers: olive, brown and black. Lightly moisten all three and then tie in the three colors of marabou in the following order; first olive, second, brown and third black. 
4. Advance the tying thread toward the bead, as it secures all three marabou feathers in place on the top of the hook shank. Cut off excess feather. 
5. Return thread wraps to the bend of the hook, and tie in several flashabou filaments on the near-side of the hook, with the filaments extending just beyond the tail feathers. Then fold the forward-facing flashabou to the opposite side of the hook and secure with several thread wraps. Trim the flashabou to the length of the tail. 
6. Tie in a piece (~3”) of copper wire at the hook bend allowing the long end to extend to the rear of the hook while the next steps are carried out. 
7. Secure ~6 peacock-herl fibers at the hook bend and begin to wrap them around the hook shank (carrying the tying thread along with each successive turn of the peacock). 
8. Use the tying thread then to tie off the peacock. Clip off the excess peacock. 
9. Select a single hackle feather and trim off the ‘fluff’ at the base of the feather, exposing bare stem ~1/8” long. Lay the feather along the near side of the fly and secure the butt with several thread wraps and1-2 half-hitches. 
10. Palmer the feather to the rear of the fly and secure it in place with the copper wire, after-which the copper wire can be wrapped forward, through the hackle stopping immediately behind the bead. 
11. Secure the wire with several thread wraps and whip finish the thread. Clip off excess wire and add a drop of head cement.

Instructions for Tying a Mohair Leech

Introduction: the classic fly pattern which is tied to represent a freshwater leech or worm-like bait is the Wooly Bugger. The Mohair Leech is somewhat more ‘complicated’ fly than the standard Wooly Bugger, the leech provides the fly-tier with a deeper understanding of tying which can be applied to other streamer-fly patterns. 

Materials: 3x – 4x long nymph or streamer hook, sizes 8 or 10, brass or tungsten bead (optional), tail – marabou feather, body – mohair yarn, crystal flash, lead-free wire. 

Tying Steps:

1. Prepare hook by pinching down the barb and insert the hook into the tying vise. (If a bead-head fly is being tied, remember to put the bead onto the hook before you secure the hook in the vise).

2. Start thread wraps behind the bead and wrap thread to the hook bend.

• Optional step (To create a somewhat heavier fly, additional weight can be added at this point. Starting where the thread is hanging begin to wrap the lead-free wire around the hook shank forward stopping just behind the bead. Then make thread wraps forward over the lead wire and return thread wraps back to the hook bend).

2. Secure the marabou feather at the hook bend, such that the pointed end of the feather is ~= shank length of the hook. (The butt ends of the marabou are still lying forward over the eye-end of the hook). Trim off this excess marabou that extends past the bead head. 
3. Tie in strands of crystal flash at the hook bend with several strands on both the tier’s side of the fly and the opposite side of the fly. (The crystal flash filaments should extend to the rear of the fly, the same length as the marabou feather).
4. At the same location where the marabou and crystal flash were tied in, tie in a 3” piece of mohair yarn and secure this with 1-2 half-hitches. (The small filaments of the mohair should be facing to the rear of the fly).
5. Lift the piece of marabou (which was tied in at step 6) out of the way, and advance the thread to the front of the fly stopping immediately behind the bead.
6. Palmer-wrap the marabou forward and secure it with 2 half-hitches of thread. Then cut off the excess marabou. 
7. Palmer-wrap the mohair yarn (which was attached at step 3) toward the bead head while brushing back (or teasing-out with a bodkin needle) the filaments of the yarn, such that the create a ‘halo’ around the hook shank. 
8. Secure the mohair yarn immediately behind the bead*. Whip finish and cut thread. 
9. Additional fibers of the mohair yarn can be pulled out with the bodkin needle to augment the ‘halo effect’ around the abdomen. 

By Don Fine