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Micro Mayfly Nymph
Micro Mayfly – Olive
Tying Instructions
1. Flatten the barb of the hook with the vise and slide a small copper bead onto the hook to the eye.
2. Wrap some leadfree wire wraps behind the bead to fill the bead void and to define the thorax region.
3. Attach the thread behind the leadfree wraps and and secure the wraps with the thread. Lay a thread foundation to the bend of the hook.
4. Select 3 Ringneck Pheasant Tail fibers dyed Yellow from the center of a tail feather. These fibers tend to be rigid and will splay into separate fibers with proper thread tension.
5. Attach the fibers to the top of the hook shank with the length of the tail equal to the shank length. Two tight wraps of thread to splay the fibers, then secure the tag end of the pheasant tail fibers up to the leadfree wraps with thread wraps.
6. Snip off the remaining tag end and apply some more thread wraps to smooth the body.
7. Attach a fine Silver Wire along the side of the hook shank for a ribbing. Secure to the tail tie-in position.
8. Next, prepare a stripped peacock herl by scrapping the herl with your fingernail on each side of the herl. Start at the base of the herl and work up. As you get closer to the tip of the herl, the herl gets quite weaker.
9. Snip off the weak tip of the herl.
10. Attach the tip of the stripped herl to the top of the hook shank securing the herl from the base of the wrapped leadfree wraps to the tail tie-in position.
11. Wrap the herl forward with some overlapping wraps. Cover up to midway on the shank where the leadfree wire wraps begin. Secure the herl with thread wraps and trim off the tag end.
12. Trim off the tag end of the herl and secure with thread wraps.
13.Wrap the Silver Wire ribbing forward with about 5 evenly spaced wraps and secure with thread wraps trimming off the tag end of the wire using a “helicopter” motion on the tag to break it off cleanly..
14. Attach a piece of flashabou on top of the hook shank just behind the bead with the tag end towards the rear.
15. Cut a section of Dark Mottled Brown Turkey from a quill about the width of the hook gape.
16. Attach the section behind the bead to the top of the hook shank with the dull side facing up. Secure the Turkey section up to the stripped Peacock Herl abdomen.
17. Apply dubbing to the thread for a thorax. Twist the dubbing around the thread and lock in a few fibers behind the bead.
18. With the fibers locked in, you can twist the dubbing around the thread for a rope and start wrapping the dubbing around the thorax region behind the bead.
19. Dub the thorax so that it is about twice as thick as the abdomen. Dub the thorax up to the bead.
20. Pull the Turkey section over the dubbed thorax and secure with thread wraps behind the bead. Finally bring the single piece of flashabou over the center of the wingcase and secure with thread wraps. Apply a thin coat of epoxy to all of the wingcase. Keep this application thin so that you can control it’s flow. Then, apply a second drop to the wingcase. The amount of epoxy applied is determined by the amount you have on the bodkin. The second drop will follow the area covered by your first application. After the wingcase is dry, wrap a dubbed collar to hide the thread wraps and whip finish.
21. Finally bring the single piece of flat pealescent mylar over the center of the wingcase and secure with thread wraps.
22. Trim off the tag ends of the turkey and tinsel.
23. Select three Pheasant Tail fibers and even the tips. Attach the fibers to the side of the thoax behind the bead with one thread wrap and adjust the length of the fibers so that the tips do not extend past the abdomen.
24. Do the same on the other side of the hook.
25. Apply a thin amount of dubbing to create a collar.
26. Whip Finish behind the bead. The collar dubbing will hide these wraps. Next apply a drop of thick UV fly finish to the turkey wingcase and the top of the dubbed collar. This will assure that the whip finish is locked behind the bead. Use a bodkin to bring the finish to all sides of the wingcase.
27. Harden the finish with a UV lamp.
28. The finished Micro May, Olive
| Materials
to Order Material, click the link |
|
|---|---|
| Hook | TMC 3769 #14-18 |
| Thread | Uni-thread Olive 8/0 |
| Head | Copper Bead |
| Body | Stripped Peacock Herl |
| Thorax | Lt. Olive Mottled Nymph dubbing |
| Tail | 3 Ringneck Pheasant Tail Fibers, dyed Yellow |
| Wingcase | Cinnamon Tip Turkey Tail with UV Fly Finish, Thick |
| Wingcase Stripe | Flat Pearlescent Mylar Tinsel, Narrow |
| Ribbing | Small Silver Wire |
| Legs | Ringneck Pheasant Tail Fiber tips, dyed Yellow |
| Collar | Lt. Olive Mottled Nymph dubbing |
Mike Mercer
Micro Mayfly
The Micro Mayfly is one of Mike Mercer’s most popular patterns. Mike is one of the managers of The Fly Shop in Redding, CA and one of the premier fly tiers. He developed this pattern while fishing the Madison River in Montana.
Precursor to the Euro Nymph
The water he fished was too fast and shallow for standard mayfly nymph patterns. Weighting the nymph with split shot caused constant hang ups. Mike resolved this problem by creating a pattern which sinks quickly due to the thin profile and heavy copper bead.
The preferred hook is a TMC 921, which is actually a dry fly hook but has a short shank length and a wide gape, that will allow a bead to get around the bend of the hook. TMC 3769 is also a good choice for this pattern. The Micro Mayfly utilizes stripped Peacock Herl ribbed with a fine Silver Wire for the abdomen. This gives the fly a slender profile and the appearance of segmentation. The silver wire ribbing, counter wrapped, helps strengthen the stripped herl from getting broken and unraveling.
The pattern also uses 3 Pheasant Tail fibers for the tailing material. The fibers form a splay by the thread tension at the base of the tail and will undulate when retrieved from a splay to a single silhouette due to the nature of the material and how it is attached to the hook. A wingcase is formed over a dubbed thorax and is covered by a drop of epoxy, which is a Mercer feature used on many of his nymph patterns.
Thorax colors
Mercer prefers the use of dark Turkey Tail for the wingcase and a thin stripe of Flat Pearlescent Mylar Tinsel to mimic the splitting of the case. Different colors of dubbing materials can be used for the thorax. The olive is used for baetis and the brown is used for PMD or Callibaetis.
Ribbing colors
Variations utilizing Ultra wire for the abdomen give the fly some extra sinking ability. The Chartreuse Wire Micro Mayfly is actually a good pattern for Green Rockworm Caddis Pupa. For smaller sizes, # 20-22, substitute a glass bead for the copper and use partridge fibers for the tail and legs. The Micro Mayfly is marketed by many of the fly shops throughout the Sierra. It is primarily used as a dropper under another nymph or indicator dry fly.
Variations
Micro Mayfly – Brown
| Hook | TMC 3769 #14-18 |
| Thread | Uni-thread Rusty Brown 8/0 |
| Head | Copper Bead |
| Body | Stripped Peacock Herl |
| Thorax | Mahogany Mottled Nymph dubbing |
| Tail | 3 Ringneck Pheasant Tail Fibers, Natural |
| Wingcase | Cinnamon Tip Turkey Tail with UV Fly Finish, Thick |
| Wingcase Stripe | Flat Pearlescent Mylar Tinsel, Narrow |
| Ribbing | Small Silver Wire |
| Legs | Natural Ringneck Pheasant Tail Fiber tips |
| Collar | Mahogany Mottled Nymph dubbing |
Wired Micro Mayfly- Chartreuse
| Hook | TMC 3769 #16 |
| Thread | Uni-thread Olive 8/0 |
| Head | Copper Bead |
| Body | Chartreuse Ultra Wire, SM |
| Thorax | Lt. Olive Mottled Nymph dubbing |
| Tail | 3 Natural Ringneck Pheasant Tail Fibers |
| Wingcase | Cinnamon Tip Turkey Tail with UV Fly Finish, Thick |
| Wingcase Stripe | Flat Pearlescent Mylar Tinsel, Narrow |
| Legs | Ringneck Pheasant Tail Fiber tips, Natural |
| Collar | Lt. Olive Mottled Nymph dubbing |
Wired Micro Mayfly- PT
| Hook | TMC 3769 #16 |
| Thread | Uni-thread Olive 8/0 |
| Head | Copper Bead |
| Body | Amber Ultra Wire, SM |
| Thorax | Lt. Olive Mottled Nymph dubbing |
| Tail | 3 Ringneck Pheasant Tail Fibers, Natural |
| Wingcase | Cinnamon Tip Turkey Tail with UV Fly Finish, Thick |
| Wingcase Stripe | Flat Pearlescent Mylar Tinsel, Narrow |
| Legs | Natural Ringneck Pheasant Tail Fiber tips |
| Collar | Lt. Olive Mottled Nymph dubbing |