Copper bead, 3/32 Copper bead (1 (a brown magic bead also works))
Uni-Stretch (gills) White uni stretch (Short tag)
Ultra wire, small Gold wire (One length)
Buzzer Wrap Dark brown fur (One strand)
Flashabou (#6986) Copper brown flashabou (2 strands)
Superglue or UV resin Clear uv resin (Thin coat)
How to tie it
Start Danville 70 in rusty brown at the eye of a size 14 curved nymph hook and tie in Uni-Stretch for the gills, with a couple of wraps in front to prop them up. Whip finish, cut away, then slide the bead up over the wraps and restart behind it.
Tie small gold wire in behind the bead and run it down the near side of the shank into the bend, then start working your taper.
Tie in dark brown Buzzer Wrap at the back by a small tag and smooth the thread forward, then add two strands of copper brown Flashabou behind the bead. Whenever you tie with several materials, brush each one down the full length of the shank as you bind it. That is what keeps a multi-material chironomid slim.
Wrap the Flashabou forward in touching turns to the bead and tie it off. This is the layer that gives the fly its metallic core.
Wrap the dark brown Buzzer Wrap over the flash without much overlap. Buzzer Wrap is semi-translucent, so touching turns let the copper glow through. Overlap it and you kill the effect entirely.
Rib the gold wire forward, aiming for about seven segments, tie it off and whip finish into a smooth thread collar. Trim the gills to about the size of the bead; that ratio always looks right.
Coat it. Superglue is the more durable choice, but with a translucent body a UV resin magnifies the copper underneath. Either works, and the tyer uses both.