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Reference Recipe

  • Hook 2XL, 2X-strong nymph hook, 10
  • Thread Black 6/0

Materials

  • Beads (two) Black nickel bead (one 2.7mm + one 3.25mm)
  • Rubber legs (tail) Black ostrich herl
  • Wire rib Hot yellow ultra wire (Brassie size)
  • Pearlescent flashback (Wilcox's Limp Bug Flashback) Pearl flashabou (~18 strands)
  • Craw dubbing (Wapsi Craw Dub) Soft-shell craw (or black/brown)
  • Rubber legs (thorax) Black ostrich herl

How to tie it

  1. Slide two black-nickel beads onto the hook, small in front of large: seat the 3.25mm bead first, then push the 2.7mm bead up behind the eye ahead of it. Start black 6/0 thread behind the beads and lock them forward with a few wraps.
  2. Wrap the thread back to the bend. Tie in a strand of black rubber leg for the tail and split it into a V with a figure-eight or thread pressure so it forks; the tail runs roughly one shank-length.
  3. Tie in a length of hot-yellow Brassie-sized wire and bind it down the near side of the shank to the bend, leaving it hanging at the rear for the rib.
  4. Tie in about 18 strands of pearlescent Limp Bug flashback at the rear and let them hang back over the tail to be pulled forward later.
  5. Add a touch of dubbing wax to the thread and dub a sparse abdomen of soft-shell craw dub, wrapping forward to about the two-thirds point where the thorax will begin.
  6. Pull the pearl flashback forward over the top of the abdomen and secure it with a few wraps at the front of the abdomen. Then spiral the hot-yellow wire forward in four evenly spaced turns to rib the abdomen and lock the flash, and helicopter off the excess wire.
  7. Pull the flashback back out of the way. Spin a short dubbing loop charged with craw dub and wrap it forward to build a fuller, buggy thorax, then tie off and trim the loop.
  8. Tie in a strand of black rubber leg across the thorax parallel to the shank, sliding one length down each side to hook-shank length; secure with wraps and split as needed.
  9. Pull the pearl flashback forward over the thorax as a flashback wing case, sneak the thread between the legs, and lock it down with a half-dozen wraps right behind the front bead; trim the excess flash and legs.
  10. Whip finish behind the bead. Rough up the abdomen and thorax with a dubbing teaser to pick out fibers and give the fly a scruffy, buggy look.

Tying videos

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