Eyes & Tubes balancing eyes Black ostrich herl (14 mm, 5.4 mm wide)
Goose biots Brown goose biots (2 for the tail, 4 for the legs)
Rabbit dubbing Olive ice dub (Body)
Vinyl rib Brown, small (One length)
Deer hair Olive deer hair (One small clump for the head)
Head cement Clear head cement (Under the eyes and on the head)
How to tie it
Slide the Eyes & Tubes eyes onto the hook through the hole provided before you do anything else, then mount the hook in the vise. Let the eyes hang below the shank. Sitting under the centre of gravity is what balances the fly.
Push the eyes back out of the way, start dark brown 6/0 thread at the front of the shank and run it up and down the front section two or three times to build a solid base. Half hitch.
Tie a small clump of olive deer hair in at the very front of the shank using light wraps. Pull too hard and it flares like a muddler head. Trim the excess butts off.
Brush head cement over that thread and deer hair, slide the eyes forward into position about an eighth of an inch ahead of the hook eye, that spacing is what makes the fly hang level, and lock them down hard with the 6/0, squeezing the plastic onto the shank. Check they are square and not twisted.
Run the thread back down the shank, forming a smooth taper from the eye end down to the bend.
Tie in one brown goose biot per side at the bend as tails, matched for length, with light wraps.
Tie in the small brown vinyl rib at the bend, then dub the olive rabbit onto the thread and wrap the body forward in two or three separate applications, keeping the taper and half hitching as you go. Stop at the 70% point.
Trim any straggly dubbing, then wind the vinyl rib forward in open turns, about an eighth of an inch between wraps, up to the thorax. Tie it off on top and clip it underneath.
Add four more brown goose biots as legs: one per side pointing back toward the bend, matched for angle, then one per side at the front angled up over the eyes.
Build up the thorax with a little more dubbing to cover any exposed brown, half hitch and whip finish, then set it with a drop of head cement.