Superfly

Tying Instructions:

1) Secure the thread to the hook just behind the eye and wind back to the bend to create a foundation.
2) Select a wide saddle or large cape feather with stiff fibers and no web. Think dry fly here. Clip a bundle of fibers from the feather and align the tips. Measure for length against the hook and tie the bundle in at the bend so the tail is as long as the hook shank. To do this, hold the bundle at an angle to the shank, take one loose turn, then on the next turn, in front of the first, pull a little harder on the thread to move the bundle to the top of the shank. Immediately take several more turns forward, to about over the hook point, then clip the excess.
3) Tie in six strands of olive Krystal Flash on top of the tail: take a couple of thread around the ends of the Flash to secure. Hold the Flash up at an angle and wrap back tightly toward the bend. One or two wraps before the bend, hold the hackle fibers and Flash together and make the final couple of tight wraps. This helps prevent the thread from twisting the hackle fibers toward the far side. To trim the Flash, hold it up away from the hackle fibers, and trim it even with the tips of the hackle fibers (as indicated by the red line in the photo).
Lay the bundle of clipped Krytal Flash where the ends of the strands can stay somewhat aligned... we'll use this for the legs later. Your tail should now be comprised of hackle fibers and six strands of Krystal Flash, all of equal length.
4) Cut a strip from a 2mm thick piece of craft foam that is 1/4 inch wide. At one end, cut off the corners to form a point. Lay the foam on top of the tail and take two loose turns of thread around it just behind the "triangle" formed by cutting off the corners. Your thread should still be at the bend.
Pull down to tighten the thread wraps. Pinch the foam so it is somewhat folded over the hook. Pinching the foam also helps compress it so less thread torque is needed... this prevents the thread from breaking under too much tension. Use your thumbnail to press the foam down as you spiral the thread forward.
Now spiral the thread tightly back to the bend.
5) Strip the last 1/4 inch from the tag end of the chenille to expose the core. Lash this to the top of the foam with a couple tight turns at the bend, then spiral the thread over the excess. Bring the thread forward to halfway between the hook eye and hook point.
6) Now get the bundle of Krystal Flash clipped from the tail and even up the ends if necessary. The legs are tied in similar to a parachute post, with a bundle on each side. This is much more durable than cross-wrapping the strands over the shank (with which they tend to pull out after a while). Secure the ends of the Krystal Flash to the near side of the shank, starting from midway between eye and point, and wrapping forward. Wrap the thread back to the midway point and take two turns of the thread counter-clockwise around the Flash only (this may require a little shuffling of the thread bobbin). As you take the next thread wrap around the hook shank, pull the Flash forward and out into position, and use thread torque to hold it there. A couple tight turns of the thread around the shank secures it. Click here for a close-up.
Using another hook as a guide, trim the bundle so the legs are slightly longer than the hook shank. If you just eye-ball it, err on the side of long... they can be trimmed a little shorter later if needed. Don't put down the bundle of excess Flash... Repeat this procedure for the far side. Which direction around the Flash only that you wrap the thread really doesn't matter, as long as you use the thread to pull the strands forward into position and immediately lock them into place with a couple more wraps around the shank. Bring the thread forward to one hook-eye width behind the eye. Click here for a close-up. Note: For more information on this method of "posting" see the article "Parachute Dry Flies."
7) Wrap the chenille forward. I usually apply four wraps behind the legs, and two in front. As you get to the legs, simply pull them out of the way of the chenille, but be sure not to wrap over them and bind them down. After the fourth wrap, come under the shank, then up on the near side in front of the legs. Pull the legs back out of the way and take the final two turns. Tie off the chenille with three very tight turns of thread and clip the excess. Pull out any loose "fuzz" from the clipped, tied-in end, and trim any that extend over the hook eye. Cover the excess with several turns of thread to the eye and back to the final wrap of chenille. Leave the thread here.
8) Pull the foam strip forward over the back of the fly. Don't pull it so tight that it stretches, but tight enough to keep it close to the chenille. Take one loose turn of thread around, being sure the wrap is "straight"- there is a tendency to place the thread a little forward, which offsets the wrap and makes things a little untidy. Pull down to tighten the thread, pinching the foam to help it along. Once the foam is as compressed under thread tension as it's going to get, take three more tight turns of the thread in the exact same spot to secure it.
9) To form the head, pull the foam strip back in a "folding" manner. The fold should extend just barely or right at the front edge of the hook eye. Take a loose turn of the thread directly over the previous wraps.
Tighten the thread wrap, pinching as you do so. Now check the head for size. When compressed like this, a little of the head should extend beyond the hook eye. If it's not right, undo the thread wrap and refold the foam. It's hard to explain the proper size, but visualize this: it should look as though it would be necessary to slide the tippet on the foam to get it through the hook eye when tying it on to fish. Another way to gauge it is by width... if it is narrower than the body, it is too small (due to compression of the foam). Make the head a little larger until just at the point where it ends up equally as wide (at its widest point) as the body. When the size is right, tighten the thread wrap and take three more tight turns to secure. Immediately tie a five turn whip-finish right over the same area, and clip the thread.
10) Now for the cape. Trim the excess foam so it is about 1/4 to 1/3 the length of the body. Be sure to trim straight across.
Slide the edge of the scissors under the cape and trim of the corner on the near side. Make sure you don't get any of the legs in there! Now do the same on the other side, trimming so the very point of the cape ends up right in the center. Usually the second cut will overlap the first to make this adjustment (if you were to draw a cutting line, it would be a bottom-heavy X shape). This smoothly produces the sharp point and is the reason for a little extra length with trimming the excess foam. To apply cement, pinch down on the cape to expose the thread wraps on top. Slide the needle or other applicator in the groove and let the cement soak in. Apply a drop to either side and on the bottom, letting each soak into the thread wraps... a thin, penetrating cement is essential. Be careful not hit the chenille with the drop or it'll soak it up. Finally, trim the legs if necessary, a tiny bit at a time.