Body Semperfli Extreme String, black and orange (one length)
Head Flymen Fishing Company Fish Mask (size 3)
Eyes Adhesive eyes (one pair)
Finish UV resin (under and over the fish mask)
How to tie it
Mount a Hanak H970BL in a size 8, this pattern is tied at 8 and larger, and start olive Nano Silk. Be careful trimming GSP: cut it well down in the V of your scissors, not with the tips, because it has a reputation for damaging blades.
Start the thread further back along the shank than you normally would. There are very few materials in this fly, so it needs the room at the back rather than the front.
Measure a strip of synthetic rabbit zonker. The olive reads more like a teal, which is exactly the green cast the Icelandic sticklebacks have. At about one shank length and a little more for the tail.
Transfer it to your left hand, line it up, pinch wrap and lock it in with about five wraps. Leave the remainder of the strip long: it comes over the top zonker-style later. Note that this material is synthetic and repels water, so the fly stays lighter than a rabbit version would.
Take Semperfli Extreme String in black and orange. The orange stands in for the stickleback's belly. Look at the material before you tie it: fibres come away more on one side than the other, and it is the side where the fibres stand out that you want facing away as you wrap.
Lock the string in with four or five wraps, with the fibres for the most part swept back towards the tail, trim the butts and advance the thread to about one eye-length back from the eye.
Wind the string forward. The first turn or two will twist, but it rights itself and the fibres then stand out from the shank like hackle. Because it is synthetic you palmer downwards rather than pulling back. Push the fibres you are laying down and pull the previous ones back so they are not trapped.
Put some pressure on it as you wind, squeeze in a final turn near the eye and lock it off with a couple of wraps.
Pull all the fibres rearwards and lock them there with thread to make a clean head, then trim the string away and clear out any loose fibres.
Part the standing fibres with your fingers so the zonker strip has a clean path over the top, bringing it straight over without doing this gives an ugly result from above.
Bring the zonker strip forward and lock it in place close to the eye. It is fine to build up a little thread and material directly behind the eye; that actually helps seat the fish mask.
Build the olive thread up over everything. A little orange peeking through is fine, but remember the fish mask is transparent, so anything underneath will show.
Finish the head with a five-turn whip finish and pull down.
Pop a size 3 Flymen Fish Mask over the hook eye and seat it with UV resin underneath, then add adhesive eyes on top.