Nymph · Stillwater · Trout · Intermediate · 1 version
BCFlyguys
Hook Straight shank nymph hook, straight or down eye, 10
Thread Black Danville 70 denier
Materials
Thin Skin Mottled olive thin skin (cut to a diamond shape, shellback)
Stretch floss Orange floss (oars)
Ice Dub Olive brown ice dub (belly, yellow also works)
UV resin with flex (shellback coating)
How to tie it
Start black 70 denier thread on a size 10 straight shank nymph hook and dress it back a little way into the bend.
Cut mottled olive Thin Skin into a diamond shape, peel the backing off and tie it in on the very back edge with a couple of tight wraps, then bring the thread up to the 75% mark and check it will reach the eye when folded forward.
Figure-eight orange stretch floss onto the shank for the oars, angling them slightly forward so they look natural. Sweep both back and snip them even without pulling on them, since stretched floss ends up shorter than you wanted.
Dub a noodle of olive brown Ice Dub and wrap it from the back forward, sneaking around the oars and building it thicker through the middle and towards the front. A boatman is a chunky, wide bug, so the fat profile is the whole point.
Grab the tip of the Thin Skin with hackle pliers so you can stretch it tight over the back, pull it forward, then pick it up and twist so the excess breaks off. Wrap back on it a little to secure and whip finish four or five turns.
Position the fly so the widest part of the shellback sits where the oars poke out, then clean up any dubbing along the sides and top.
Coat the top gently with UV resin that has flex in it. Flex matters here because the Thin Skin moves, and a rigid resin will crack. Curing them in daylight for fifteen or twenty minutes afterwards leaves them rock hard.