Anti-static bag strip Black ostrich herl (One strip)
Permanent marker Brown permanent marker (Thorax)
Superglue or UV resin Clear uv resin (Thin coat)
How to tie it
Tie in Uni-Stretch for the gills on a Daiichi 1760, whip finish and cut away, then slide a copper bead up over the wraps and restart your thread behind it. Doing the gills before the bead is the reliable way to keep them tidy.
Use white thread for the body. A white underbody is slick under anti-static bag and lets the ASB do its thing far more than a dark thread does. This is the tyer's specific tip on this pattern.
Tie extra small copper wire alongside the shank, then tie the anti-static bag strip in right at the back and finish the body taper with thread.
Wind the ASB forward in touching turns to the bead and tie it off. Touching turns, not overlaps. The translucency depends on a single even layer.
Counter-rib the copper wire forward and tie it off behind the bead. Copper wire plus a copper bead makes the whole fly read warm, which is what separates this from the black-nickel versions.
Darken the thread with a brown marker and build the thorax, then whip finish, trim the gills and coat with glue or resin.