The flat bodied nymph

This fly is largely about hypocrisy. With the exception of the Hex and white fly hatches, most of the dry fly patterns in my fly box could best be described as impressionistic at best, and more honestly, freakish parodies. Tangerine hackle sulfurs? Hendricksons with bad case of morbid obesity? Yep. But when it comes to nymphs I go for exact.

The flat bodied nymph is not completely original- I am sure that there are other patterns like it out there. But it works, and I can't recall seeing anything exactly like it. This one started when I was reading "Chauncy Lively's Flybox". The dude was brilliant. He tied with natural materials exclusively, and used technique and creativity to make very close imitations of natural insects. He had a Hendrickson nymph I was trying to imitate, with no success. The first problem, of course, was that the pattern required condor quills. Jeez, I thought I had some somewhere. The other thing was that I just could not make my bugs look like his bugs. Probably a hand-eye issue but that is my problem, not yours. I also had recently seen an internet web page about a fly called "the muncher" which looked like a Hex nymph. I sort of combined attributes of the two patterns to come up with this thing. It also takes a page from A.K. Best, who emphasizes different colors between the top and bottom of a nymph, or the abdomen and thorax.

I have a love-hate relationship with this fly. Useful patterns should not be a pain, and no fly should require so much time to tie that you become emotionally involved with it. This one fails on both counts. But it is so productive that every year I tie a dozen and use every one. It is "the fly most often stolen or begged from my fly box by skunked fishing buddies" so that is worth something.

The pain:

Use a size 10 or 12 Mustad 9671 nymph hook, or any hook that is 2x long, and 1x heavy.

Begin by lashing two strips of lead wire along side the hook shank. Lash them on about 3/4 of the way back. Then carefully bevel them with a double-edged razor blade. This gives you a fat, flat abdomen that tapers to the rear.

Tail: Three wood duck fibers, or mallard if you failed to shoot a wood duck.
Abdomen: Turkey tail fibers reverse ribbed with copper wire.
Thorax: peacock herl.
Legs: out to each side, a small partridge hackle. You will have to root through the pack to find a small mottled one.
Wing case: grey duck primary, or something similar.

Do the wire, tails, abdomen.
Tie in the wingcase, then the partridge hackle by the tip so that both are pointing backwards over the top of the fly. Tie in the herl and wind it, tie off. Then pull/bend the partridge feather forward so that it creates legs that stick out on both sides. The pull the wingcase over the top of the whole works.

This pattern is opposite that of many patterns in that it has a distinct top and bottom. It's very unlike the western patterns tied by Charles Brooks- he believed that the fly should look the same at no matter what angle the fish saw it. I think that fish get a much better look at nymphs than dry flies, so that is my justification. Tie up a few and try them. I also use a lighter version with a light mottled turkey wing feather and grey-brown dubbing instead of herl. Tied in size 14 it seems to be a good sulfur nymph.