1. Mash down the barb and attach the hook to the vise. Attach the thread behind the eye in the 1/3 position of the shank. |
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2. Begin by laying a thread base on your hook, starting at the 1/4 positon behind the eye and progressing rearward to the bend of the hook. |
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3. I'm using a River Bend Foam cutter to make a clean uniform cut. If you want to just cut one from the sheet. Cut a piece of 2mm black fly foam approximately 3/8" wide and 1.25" long, trim the end of the foam with an elongated rounded cut. |
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4. Attach the piece at the bend of the hook with about 1/4 inch of foam extending beyond the bend. Secure the foam with tight wraps up to the shank directly above the hook point. This creates a 1/8" wide area to secure the legs. |
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5. Attach two round rubber legs on each side of the shank where you secured the foam body. The length of the legs should be about 3/4 inch or 1.5 times the shank length of the hook. |
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6. Wrap the thread around the shank in front of the rear legs to the 1/4 position of the shank. Bring the foam over the shank and secure the foam. |
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7. Wrap another 1/8" wide space to secure the second set of legs. Leave at least an eye length behind the eye. |
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8. Attach another set of legs on each side of the hook shank. Trim the black foam so that it only extends beyond the about 1/4 inch. Trim the corners of the foam to get a tapered shaped head. |
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9. Attach a piece of orange foam cut narrower than the body just above the front pair of legs. This will be your indicator. Now slip the thread under the head of the fly and tie off at the hook eye as on any other fly.. |
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10. The last step is to whip finish behind the eye. Add a drop of head cement at each of the leg/body tie-ins on the bottom side of the hook. This will prevent twisting and generally add a lot of durability to the fly. |
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11. The finished Chernobyl Ant. |
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