Anatomical Nymphs

Green Drake

Materials to Order Material, click the link
Hook	TMC 3761, #8-12
Thread	Uni-thread Olive 8/0
Head	Black Bead
Weight	Leadfree Wire
Body and Gills	Dyed Olive and Light Grey Ostrich Herl
Thorax	Arizona Synthetic Dubbing, Peacock
Tail and Legs	Dyed Olive Partridge Feather
Ribbing	Small Copper Wire
Wingcase and Shellback	Olive Scudback

Skip Morris

Anatomical Nymphs

Skip Morris came up with his Anatomical Nymph series about 20 years ago in the late 1980’s. They attempt to accurately represent mayflies with the use of gill materials, three tails, wingcase, soft legs, and a stout dark body. Skip created variations for Baetis/PMD and Green Drake.

Anatomical Stoneflies

He also used the same pattern variations to create two stonefly patterns, the Anatomical Golden Stone and Anatomical Salmonfly. Many stonefly patterns use similar steps but what makes Skip’s pattern unique is the use of henback for the legs.These are sections of a henback feather in which the stem is cut into short segments. Choose the segment which gives you the proper leg length when it is secured on top of the hook shank.

Some fibers need to be removed from the stem to give a bare piece of stem to secure to the shank. After securing a section of legs, dubbing and a section of wingcase is added. Each stonefly usually has three leg sections and two trimmed wing cases. A third wingcase is pulled over the thorax.

Morrish Anato-Mays

Ken Morrish

Ken Morrish designed a similar pattern that he calls Anato-Mays. He markets these patterns through Idylwilde Flies. They come in different colorations: Hare’s Ear, Olive, Tan, and Peacock. The Hare’s Ear variation is a great pattern for Callibaetis. The tying sequences for the Anato-Mays are basically the same as Morris’.

The tails are a standard technique with many mayfly nymphs. Create a small mound of thread at the tail tie down position and splay the tailing fibers with thread tension as you secure those fibers against the thread mound. Using your thumbnail behind the fibers will help set them in the proper position. Important… do not secure any material past the thread mound or you’ll ruin the effect.

Tying Elements

The dubbing around the leg segments tends to be the tricky part of the pattern. I tie in the first set of legs to the top of the shank in front of the abdomen. Then, using the same material as the flashback, I bring back the material and secure it also at the front of the abdomen. This is now my wingcase. Dubbing is applied over the rear half of the thorax region. Next, I set the next two pairs of legs and dub between them and in front of the thorax just behind the bead. Finally, I bring the wingcase material over the thorax and secured with thread wraps and a whip finish. Trim the legs to the size you prefer.

Variations

Baetis/PMD Anatomical Nymph

Hook	TMC 3769, #16-22
Thread	Uni-thread Brown 8/0
Head	Black Bead
Weight	Leadfree Wire
Body	Pheasant Tail Fibers
Thorax	Dark Olive Brown Rabbit dubbing
Tail	3 Pheasant Tail Fibers
Legs	Brown dyed Partridge
Ribbing	Small Gold Wire
Wingcase	Brown Scudback

Anatomical Salmonfly

Hook	TMC 5263, #4-8
Thread	Danville Black 6/0
Head	Black Bead
Weight	Leadfree Wire
Body	Aussie Possum Burnt Orange
Thorax	Arizona Synthetic Dubbing Light Peacock
Tail and Antennae	Dyed Black Goose Biots
Legs	Black Henback Hackle
Ribbing	Small Gold Wire
Wingcase and Shellback	Black Swiss Straw

Anatomical Golden Stone

Hook	TMC 5263, #6-8
Thread	Danville Tan 6/0
Head	Black or Gold Bead
Weight	Leadfree Wire
Body	Golden Stone Hare-tron
Thorax	Golden Stone Hare-tron
Tail and Antennae	Yellowish Tan Turkey Biots
Legs	Tan Turkey Flat
Ribbing	Small Copper Wire
Wingcase and Shellback	Mottled Yellow Fino Skin

Morrish Anato-May Olive

Hook	TMC 3761, #16-22
Thread	Uni-thread Olive 8/0
Head	Black Bead
Body	Olive Hare-tron
Thorax	Olive Hare-tron
Tail	Pheasant Tail Fibers
Flashback and Wingcase	Peacock Krystal Flash
Legs	Peacock Krystal Flash
Ribbing	Small Copper Wire

Morrish Anato-May Peacock

Hook	TMC 3761, #12-18
Thread	Uni-thread Black 8/0
Head	Black Bead
Body	Peacock Herl
Thorax	Peacock Herl
Tail	Pheasant Tail Fibers
Flashback and Wingcase	Peacock Krystal Flash
Legs	Peacock Krystal Flash
Ribbing	Small Red Wire

Morrish Anato-May Hare’s Ear

Hook	TMC 3761, #12-18
Thread	Uni-thread Black 8/0
Head	Black Bead
Body	Mottled Nymph Blend, Hare's ear
Thorax	Mottled Nymph Blend, Hare's ear
Tail	Pheasant Tail Fibers
Flashback and Wingcase	Peacock Krystal Flash
Legs	Peacock Krystal Flash
Ribbing	Small Copper Wire
Collar	Black Superfine




	1.Slide the bead onto the hoook. Use a 5/64 inch for size 12 or 1/8 inch for sizes 10 and 8.
	2. Fill the void of the bead with leadfree wire. Use 0.015 inch for size 12 and 10; 0.020 for size 8. Apply about 15 wraps behind the bead to designate the thorax region (about 1/2 the shank length).
	3. Secure the leadfree wire with thread wraps.
	4.Prepare the tailing piece from a partridge feather. The tip of the feather is trimmed along the stem with a few fibers along each side at the base.
	5. Apply a small mound of thread at the tie-in position to help lift the tail. Position the tail. The bare stem nearest the fibers should be secured just in front of the thread mound.
	6. Secure the rest of the stem along the top of the shank. Trim off the butt end at the lead wraps. Attach the copper ribbing to the shank and secure to the tail tie-in position.
	7. Wrap the thread back to the lead wraps. Prepare a strip of backing. I’m using Dark Olive Scudback 1/8″ which is a very strong transparent vinyl material. Trim a small point to the strip and secure this tip to the top of the shank just behind the lead wraps. Secure the material with thread wraps down to the tail tie-in position. Then wrap the thread back to the lead wire.
	8. Secure the material with thread wraps down to the tail tie-in position.
	9. Then wrap the thread back to the lead wire. Select a dyed Olive and a Brown or Natural Ostrich Herl. The two colors give the gills a nice mottled appearance. Secure these herls by their butt ends to the shank just behind the lead wire. Then, secure the herls to the shank with thread wraps to the tail tie-in position.
	10. With the thread at the tail tie-in position, create a dubbing loop with the thread. This is a large loop of thread about 2-3 inches long and the loop is kept apart with a dubbing loop tool. Once you’ve created this loop, wrap forward with the thread to the lead wire area.
	11. Twist the Ostrich Herls around one strand of the dubbing loop.
	12. After wrapping the herl around the thread, allow the loop tool to twist the loop into a herled rope.
	13. Wrap the herl forward taking care not to trap the herl fibers.
	14. Wrap the herl forward to the lead wire and secure with some thread wraps.
	15. Now, pull the scudback material forward and secure with some thread wraps just at the lead wire.
	16. Next, counter wrap the ribbing using a jiggling motion to release the Ostrich fibers that get caught. Try to get 4-5 wraps around the abdomen region, then pull the scudback back over the rear and secure the ribbing with thread wraps at the lead wire.
	17. Wrap the thread to the midpoint of the thorax region. Trim off a bunch of partridge fibers, keeping the tips aligned. I tend to stroke the fibers back so they are perpendicular to the stem and snip.
	18. Place the bunch on the top of the shank midway on the thorax. The tips should extend about twice the distance from the eye.
	19. Trim off the base of the wing fibers and secure with thread wraps both behind the wing and in front. Bring the thread to the base of the scudback which will be wingcase.
	20. Apply dubbing to the thread. Anchoring a few dubbing fibers to the hook with one turn around the thorax will help you to twist the dubbing around the thread.
	21. Dub an ample thorax that is about twice the diameter as the abdomen. I’m using Arizona Syntheic Dubbing, Peacock. Dub both behind and in front of the wing.
	22. Divide the partridge fibers in half with your bodkin. Use you thumb or finger to press the fibers downward in a splayed manner. The flat side of your scissors may help in pressing. Then, bring the wingcase material over the fibers and secure behind the bead.
	23. Trim off the excess wingcase material and secure with additional thread wraps. I like to catch the edges of the wingcase material with my thread and use the thread pressure to force the material into the space behind the bead. Whip finish.