Key points
- The mechanic: a straight pin extends the shank and a bead counterbalances the hook, so the fly tracks horizontally instead of nose-down .
- Colourways: "Bruised" (tying tutorial below) and CBO — Canadian Black & Orange for dark or low-visibility water .
- How it's fished: suspended sub-surface — Rowley's specialty is balanced-fly theory with slip indicators; hang it at feeding depth and let waves give it life .
Tying videos
- Tying a Balanced Leech: Bruised — full pin-and-bead build.
- Balanced Leech-CBO — the dark-water colour profile.
Imitates
- Leeches — year-round big food on Kootenay stillwaters.
Open questions
- Sizes/colours that produce on our local lakes (Premier, North Star, Peckhams) — field notes needed.
Related
- Leeches — the natural.
- Phil Rowley — pattern author; more balanced-fly theory on his page.
- Woolly Bugger — the stripped/trolled alternative when fish want a moving leech.
- Chironomid Under Indicator — the same suspension game, different food.
