A good fly to swing for winter steelhead on Lake Erie Tributaries.
Step #1: Slide a #0 nickel Indiana blade into the loop of a 35mm articulated shank. Attach black Uni thread and close off the loop with several thread wraps. Take a 4 inch piece of Fire Line fold it in half, and thread the loop through the hook eye. Open the fire line loop and pull it over the hook bend to form your connection. Attach the Fire Line to the shank with several thread wraps, and apply a drop of super glue. Your hook eye should be roughly 1.5 inch away from the shank loop when finished. Bring your thread toward the eye of the shank and attach bead chain to the bottom of the shank with several thread wraps. Be sure to leave roughly 1/8 of an inch between the bead chain and the eye of the shank. When finished return to the rear of the shank.
Step#2: Center tie in a small clump of UV black ice dubbing, and secure 5 purple/green rubber legs on each side of ice dub. Add a second small clump of dubbing in front of the rubber legs and pull out any loose material.
Step#3: Tie in a 3 inch piece of UV purple polar chenille, and dub a thin body on the shank with UV black ice dubbing. Palmer the polar chenille toward the front of the shank, making sure the fibers all lay toward the rear of the shank.
Step#4: To build the wing, tie in 4-6 pieces of green lady Amherst tail feather, then 10 feathers of black ostrich. Tie in 10-15 strands of purple/opal mirage flashabou over the ostrich. The length of all these materials should not extend past the rear hook.
Step#5: Tie in a 5-7 inch long piece of black schlappen, and palmer toward the lead eyes.
Step#6: The second wing is built by adding 10 more black ostrich plumes. the length should match that of the first wing. Next add 7-10 strands of green lady Amherst tail feather over the ostrich feathers. Tie in 10 strands of both green and purple mirage flashabou over the top.
Step#7: Dub a small collar behind the lead eyes with UV black ice dubbing. Move your tying thread to the front of the eyes and tie in a small clump of pink ice dub on the top and chartreuse ice dubbing on the bottom. Take a wire brush and comb out all the loose fibers. Tie off and cut the thread....
Just add water....
