Bead Hazard Fly Fishing slotted tungsten, black nickel (3.0mm)
Body Hends Body Quill BQ-96, chartreuse (one section, folded)
Thorax Jack Mickievicz Squirrel X-B Blend, black/purple (three turns)
Legs CDC, natural with a dark stem (one feather)
How to tie it
Mount a Hanak H450BL in size 14 with a 3.0mm black nickel slotted tungsten bead. Tim picks black nickel for a twofer: it still has some shine as an attractor, but the dark colour also reads as the head or thorax of a caddis pupa.
Start chartreuse UNI 8/0 directly behind the bead and clip the tag.
Cut a section of Hends Body Quill, fold it around the thread and line up the two tips on the side nearest you, then bind both strands down the shank to level with the barb, taking one or two extra wraps at the rear.
Wrap the thread forward again, then back to about the middle and forward once more, to build a very slight taper. Keep it slender. The point of the fly is getting down in a hurry.
Keeping the two pieces of quill lined up together, wrap them forward in touching wraps to the bead. It is a secure material and needs no rib.
Tie the quill off with two or three wraps, then take one wrap of the quill rearwards before trimming. Cut straight and it tends to break off and shoot forward over the bead.
Dub a sparse noodle of the black and purple squirrel blend and take exactly three turns, then pull the dubbing fibres back towards the bobbin.
Prepare a CDC feather with a reasonably strong but dark stem by holding the tip and stroking the fibres down towards the base. A dark stem is deliberate so it disappears into the fly.
Hold the prepped feather by the tip, transfer to the left hand with the fibres shooting forward, and lock the tips in between the bead and the thorax with two or three wraps, then trim as close as you can.
Grip the stem with hackle pliers and take two wraps, sweeping the fibres back as you go so all the legs splay rearwards, then secure with two more thread wraps.
Trim only the stem out, sweep the fibres forward, and use the last of the dubbing left on the thread for two more turns.
Three-turn whip finish, then a little Sally Hansen's on the thread and three more turns, six wraps in total. Chartreuse showing through is not a concern.
Trim the thread. If the CDC runs past the body, splay it back and pinch the ends away with your fingers, or simply trim them. The fish do not seem to mind.