Hook: Daiichi 2457 size 10
Weight: .015 lead (optional)
Body1: Larvae Lace, small olive
Body2: Hungarian Partridge
Body3: Senyo Laser Dub, brown
STEP 1: First place your Daiichi 2457 in the vise, then comes the optional step of adding weight to the fly by wrapping on about 8 or 9 wraps of .015 lead under the thorax area of the fly.
STEP 2: Start your thread behind the eye of the hook and wrap backwards to cover over the lead wraps and hold them to the hook shank securely. Wrapping on diagonals will assist in faster coverage and will fill in the gaps between the lead wraps. Once the lead is covered then advance your thread to the rear tie in point on the hook.
STEP 3: Tie in a length of olive Larvae Lace down in to the bend of the hook then tightly wrap forward. As you come forward you are both binding the Larvae Lace down and forming as smooth a body as you can, which will assist in the following step.
STEP 4: Wrap the Larvae Lace forward with edge to edge wraps. This will form the segmented back of the fly body. The Larvae Lace should be wrapped all the way forward in to the thorax section before being tied off.
STEP 5: Tie in a single Hungarian Partridge feather by the tips. Stroke the fibers back as you tie it in, being careful not to trap any fibers down. Once the feather is in place then advance your thread to the front of the thorax.
STEP 6: Fold the feather and wrap it forward a few wraps, then tie it off. As you wrap forward you should again take care not to trap fibers to the hook shank.
STEP 7: Tie in a sparse clump of brown Senyo Laser Dub that extends towards the back of the body, fold the Laser Dub back over itself and form a head on the fly. If the Laser Dub is too long then you can firmly grasp it to the hook shank with one hand and use the other to tear off excess material.
STEP 8: Whip finish the head and you have the finished product.
Is it a caddis? Is it a Henny? Is it a stone? Do you really care as the fish eat it? This fly is pretty much my take on a steelhead soft-hackle. Just as the cookie version of the Thin Mint is irresistible to me, the fly version seems irresistible to steelhead. When wet the Senyo Laser Dub lays back across the body, as a bit of a wingcase, and has just enough sparkle in it to add a little dimension and appearance of tranlucency. The best way to fish this fly is a standard soft-hackle technique; let the fly dead drift and then swing out at the end of the drift. Many times you will get a bump just as the fly starts in to the swing...so be ready! In water that is on the low and clear side you are typically looking for a smaller more buggy nymph, so it is in those conditions that I most often tie on the Thin Mint. I also tie this fly for my box in both brown and black versions to more closely match whatever bug is most prevalent on a particular day.
To order this pattern or my other patterns, or if you have any questions about the pattern that were not addressed, please visit http://www.anglerschoiceflies.com/.
