Hook heavy carp hook (Allen C103 / S201, heavy wire), 1-5
Thread Black 8/0
Materials
Eyes Black bead chain (1 pair, deliberately undersized)
Tail / larva Ultra Chenille, light pink (original: red; also light olive or chartreuse) (1 piece)
Body Wooly Sparkling fly tying material, black (original: Hareline Ice Dub Chenille) (1 piece)
Hackle Grizzly hen (1 feather, 2-3 turns)
How to tie it
Mount an Allen heavy-wire carp hook, size 3, and build a short thread base with black 8/0. Tim ties this two sizes either side of a 3.
Tie in black bead chain eyes towards the front. They are a size smaller than you would normally hang on a hook this big. That is John Montana's own preference. He wants less weight at the front. Bead chain stays put without a great pile of wraps.
Tie in the Ultra Chenille at the front for the tail section and bind it down around the bend, about a quarter of the way round. Because the bead chain sits on top of the shank the fly fishes hook point up, so binding the chenille round the bend makes the larva section stand up where the fish can see it.
Leave the chenille long for now; it gets trimmed at the very end.
Tie the body material in alongside the Ultra Chenille at the rear and wrap it forward. Every few turns, stroke the long fibres back so you are not trapping them and they can breathe.
Before tying the body off, check that no pink is showing through anywhere along the body.
Prepare a grizzly hen hackle: hold it by the tip, stroke the fibres down and use that point as the tie-in. Take two or three turns only. You do not want much bulk at the front.
Before tying off, hold the top fibres back and wind back a few wraps, then do the same underneath, so every fibre is sweeping rearwards.
Clean up the head, whip finish, and trim the tail chenille to length.
Trim the long body fibres to taste, particularly underneath, if you find them too long.