Bodkin / Patterns

Mayfly Micro

Nymph · Trout · Advanced · 1 version

Reference Recipe

Lucent tungsten bead Blood red (1)
Pheasant tail fibers (tail & legs) Natural pheasant tail fibers (3 for tail, few for legs)
Copper wire, small (rib) Copper wire (1 length)
Stripped peacock herl (abdomen) Natural peacock herl (1 strand)
Pearlescent tinsel, medium (flashback) Pearl flashabou (1 strand)
Turkey tail (wing-case backing) Natural mottled turkey (1 slip)
Superfine dubbing (thorax) White olive superfine dubbing (small pinch)
UV resin (back bubble) Clear uv resin (small amount)

Slide the blood-red tungsten bead onto the hook, secure it in the vise, and start the olive dun thread.
Tie in three natural pheasant tail fibers for the tail, one shank-length long, and bind them down the shank.
Tie in small copper wire for the rib at the rear.
Strip the flue from a peacock herl, tie it in, and wrap it forward to just behind the bead to form a finely segmented abdomen; tie off.
Counter-rib with the copper wire in open turns and helicopter off.
Tie in a strand of medium pearlescent tinsel on top for the flashback, then a slip of turkey tail over it for the wing-case backing.
Dub a small thorax of white-olive superfine dubbing not quite halfway back.
Tie in a few pheasant tail fibers as legs on each side.
Pull the turkey backing over the top, then the pearl flash over it, and secure both behind the bead; trim and whip finish.
Coat the back with a small bubble of thick UV resin and cure it.