Tie in 1/3 back from eye, spin thread flat
Lay a flat base back to deep in bend
Spin thread, wind loosely back up to just in front of tie-in, makes a thread “rib”
Tie in herl, tip forward
Tie in Hackle, tips forward
Trim unused portion of hackle
Wrap herl over hackle base (3-4 wraps)
Tie off in front of herl, behind hackle, forms ‘throat’. Drop of head cement.
Variations:
I have also smashed out lead real flat (use my head cement bottle like a rolling pin) and wrapped that on the shank first. That makes it sink faster, but also makes it look fatter.
Instead of using the thread to make a bumpy same-color rib, I’ve tried a gold rib and a white rib. I like the red rib best. I think that adding a rib creates slightly more disturbance in the water, even on those very short, slow strips, and I suspect that tiny air bubbles are held in the rib, which is how these little critters get around under water. However, if you wanted a sleek fly, you could certainly omit the rib altogether.
I hope it doesn't come apart on the first cast, unless it's because it got SMASHED by a big, fat bruiser!
