---- Prince Nymph ----
Hook:Tiemco 101 size #16-#10/Daiichi 1180 (or a standard length nymph hook)
Thread:Black 6/0 and 8/0
Bead:gold-plated brass 1/8" with tapered hole
Weight:med. or small lead wire
Tail:brown goose biot
Wing:White goose biot
Hackle:brown wet fly
Rib:fine gold mylar (it is made silver one side, gold the other-silver
faces out on spool)
Body:peacock herl
Slide bead on to hook, pinch barb if necessary. Make 10-14 wraps of lead behind it and slide it up the shank INTO the large hole in the back of the bead. Using the 6/0
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Using the 6/0 thread, secure the back of the lead wraps and create a taper for the hearl to ride on. Make sure to wind over the wraps a few times as well.
To create the wing, cut the biots from the stem, and cross them over until the tips are even, and the length looks right. Add a small drop of head cement (diluted Dave’s Flexament is all I use in all my tying) between them and clamp them gently.
Switch to 8/0 thread. Create a small dubbing ball near the bend in the hook, brown is fine. Tie the biots in, one at a time making sure they are on top, and appear flat when viewed from the side. Bind them down, trim butts.
Wind thread forward as shown.
Tie in wing, making sure the curve of the biots appear as shown. Tie them in at the point where the biots cross.
Clip butts.
This recipe is compliments of Rob O'Reily.
Select a hackle feather. I prep. mine running my fingernail along the underside of the stem to put more curve in it. This helps to keep the fibers against the body of the fly when wound. Flip the feather over, strip the webby, fluffy fibers off the bottom. I strip the right side as the feathers I have because they have a few too many fibers per inch, resulting in too much hackle, even if only wound once. This may not be necessary with the hackle you have. Experiment.
Tie in hackle, naked side facing you. I add a drop of cement at the tie in point. Wind thread back and tie in mylar rib, gold side down.
Tie in 7-8 strands of peacock herl, tips first. As the tips are fragile at times, I first select the number I need, line up the tips, and pull/cut-off the first 1/2".
This almost guarantees the herl won’t break as you wind it.
Wind all the herl forward approx. 3/4 of the way up to the bead and tie off. Wind the mylar rib forward, gold side out. Cut tag end of rib off.
To make room for a nice, flat hackle collar, trim off half of the peacock herl, leaving the 4 best. Wind them forward, tightly against the bead. Trim butts.
Wind hackle once, twice if necessary. Tie off, trim remaining hackle as you would a dry fly.
Pinch the wing down as shown, stroking any hackle fibers on top to the sides.
Carefully wind thread over the "bend" in the biot wing as shown. If you have managed a nice, full base of peacock herl against the bead, this step should
be pretty easy. If there is too much herl, the wing won’t lay flat.
Use just enough thread to cover the tie-down spot and tie-off. Apply head cement to thread wraps using your bodkin.
