or Charlie Boy meets Thunderthighs I like the Charlie Boy http://www.charliesflyboxinc.com/flybox/details.cfm?parentID=164 body because it seems to be more secure on the hook, but the front end and legs of the Thunderthighs http://hopperfishing.wordpress.com/2010/06/17/thunderthighs/ look pretty cool so I thought I'd cross-breed Lot of steps here, but the fly is pretty easy to tie and doesn't take all that long Hook - Dai Riki 280 Thread - UTC 140 (olive brown here; couldn't find my spool of black) Body - 2mm foam black Legs (front) - round rubber black (med) Legs (back) - 1mm foam black & sexi-floss black Wing - landscape fabric (trimmed to shape) Indicator - foam Trim foam strip (hook gap width) to a point (different than Charlie Boy but I'll explain); poke a hole for the hook slide foam to back of hook and wrap hook shank with thread tie a 2mm x 2mm strip of foam to hook shank; helps to bind foam body to hook (leave a tag end on the back - helps elevate the tail end later) poke a hole in the foam strip at hook eye pull foam over hook eye and let foam protrude over the front apply Crazy Glue (gel) on back end apply some on binder strip fold strip back over and squeeze at tip couple soft wraps (don't want to cut the foam) and pull; thread should be right about where the barb is cross-wrap over top to where you want next segment and repeat wrap and again one more at the hook eye (I know; insects have 3-segment body but fish don't seem to care) use razor to cut back end (parallel to hook shank) trim back end to point (this is why I pre-trimmed the foam; scissors seem to grab foam better and makes it easier to maintain the pointed shape) add front legs cut foam on top at front tie-in (original Thunder-thighs has both layers of foam folded over here but on small hooks like this #10, it's a bit too big for me) move thread back one segment and add wing (I use landscape fabric; optional but I like the way it looks) fold the foam strip back and tie off to create head and trim rear legs made from 1mm strip of foam cut to shape tie overhand knot in a piece of sexi-floss insert rear leg pull floss tight and trim tag end attach back legs and trim at tie-in add indicator strip trim strip, front legs and you're done
Just glued up some orange, chartreuse and pink 2mm foam, then sliced with X-acto/steel straightedge. Regards, Scott
