Bodkin / Patterns

Mil Spec Mayfly Nymph

Nymph · Trout · Intermediate · 2 versions

Note: Contested against a published dressing: This is unambiguously the right page — hook (TMC 2488 #18), thread (UTC 70 olive), Mirage opal flashback and Superfine thorax all match exactly. But TWO MATERIALS ARE IN SWAPPED ROLES in our record. Source: Fly Fish Food (Cheech) — "Mil Spec Mayfly Nymph", Nymph Tutorials — https://www.flyfishfood.com/blogs/nymph-tutorials/mil-spec-mayfly-nymph

Reference Recipe

  • Hook Curved-shank nymph hook (TMC 2488), 18
  • Thread Olive UTC 70

Materials

  • Brahma hen fibers (tail) Natural mottled grouse feather (small bunch)
  • Brown marker (rib) Brown permanent marker (as needed)
  • Mirage/opal tinsel (flashback) Opal mirage tinsel medium (1 strand)
  • Sparkle emerger yarn (wing case) Dark/natural sparkle emerger yarn (10-12 fibers)
  • Superfine dubbing (thorax) Brown olive ice dub (tiny pinch)

How to tie it

  1. Flatten the thread and lay a base to the midpoint; angle the hook down in the vise and tie in a short bunch of Brahma hen fibers at the bend for a tail no longer than the body.
  2. Spin the bobbin counter-clockwise to keep the thread flat and build a slight tapered thread body, wrapping down and back up and finally to the rear.
  3. Color a section of the flat thread with the brown marker, then wrap it forward in barber-pole spacing to form a subtle rib to about the thorax.
  4. Tie in a strand of opal mirage tinsel for the flashback, then tie in a small bunch (10-12 fibers) of sparkle emerger yarn at the hook point for the wing case.
  5. Dub the barest pinch of brown-olive superfine onto the thread and wrap a thorax, leaving room up front for a pronounced head.
  6. Pull the emerger yarn forward over the thorax, then the flash over the top of it, tie both down behind the eye, and whip finish.

Other versions

1 more in the app: Fly Fish Food Tie.

Tying videos

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