Body Pale herl or cream dubbing, darker at tail (as needed)
Rib Fine silver wire (4-5 turns)
Wings 4 grizzled blue dun hackle points, tied flat/spent (4)
Hackle Badger cock (rear) and grey partridge (front) (2 feathers)
How to tie it
Start thread at the bend and tie in three long, stiff dark fibers as tails, splayed, one and a half shank lengths long.
Tie in the silver wire, then build the body: dark for the first 2-3 turns at the tail, pale cream toward the shoulder. The real spent mayfly is dark-tipped and ghost-pale up front.
Counter-rib with the silver wire in 4-5 open turns to protect the body.
Tie in four grizzled blue dun hackle points flat in an X, two per side, dead level with the water. A spinner dies wings-flat, and that flush silhouette is the whole fly.
Wind a badger cock hackle behind the wing roots and a turn or two of grey partridge in front, then trim the fibers below flat so the fly lies in the film.