Hook Fulling Mill 5045 Jig Force barbless jig hook, 10-16
Thread Black Danville 6/0 waxed Flymaster
Materials
Bead Fulling Mill black nickel slotted tungsten (3.2mm on a size 10)
Tail Hareline Daddy Long Legs, black (one strand folded over the thread)
Rib Hareline Daddy Long Legs, black (one strand)
Body Black Danville 6/0 thread (a slight thread taper)
Thorax Hareline UV Ice Dub, black (a noodle about two inches long)
Legs Hareline Daddy Long Legs, black (one folded bunch each side)
How to tie it
Mount a Fulling Mill 5045 Jig Force in the vice with a 3.2mm black nickel slotted tungsten bead on the hook. Sean ties this one from a size 10 down to about an 18 and does not like it much bigger than a 10.
Start black Danville 6/0 and run the thread to about the halfway mark, then bring it straight back up behind the bead. That already starts encouraging the taper you want.
Take a length of Daddy Long Legs leg material, fold both ends over the thread and tie it in on top of the shank as the tail.
Wrap rearwards with deliberately loose turns. Sean is emphatic about this: go too tight with this material and it splays out and points in all kinds of strange directions. Only once you are heading forward again do you tighten up.
Trim the tail to about the length of the body.
Tie in a second length of the same Daddy Long Legs material on the side of the shank for the rib, then build a slight taper with the thread by going back and forth until you are happy. Keep it slim. That is the whole point of the fly, and it is why he is on 6/0 rather than something heavier.
Brush a tiny amount of Zap-A-Gap onto the top and bottom of the shank so the rib has something to grab. Apply it with the base of the brush, not the tip: use the tip and you get a glob of glue on the body you will not like.
Wrap the rib forward in open turns, catch it in behind the bead with a couple of turns in front and behind, and trim it close.
Dub a small noodle of black UV Ice Dub. Small pinches only; over-dubbing is the single most common beginner mistake he sees in the shop. Take one full wrap behind the bead, work rearwards to about one third of the shank back, then come forward again and stop with the thread in the middle of the thorax.
Fold the leg material over the thread and tie it on the near side with two wraps, rough-trim it, then repeat on the far side.
Cover the exposed thread with another small pinch of dubbing, a couple of wraps to hide it, and use the last of the noodle to bring the thread back up behind the bead.
Trim the legs to length - Sean keeps his fairly short.
Touch a little Zap-A-Gap onto the thread, make a four-turn whip finish right behind the bead and trim the thread close.