{{+1}}Black epoxy bugger – silver TBH, UV spine & red butt{{-1}}

This fly is my take on one of the flies that was promoted by our 2018 Northern Ireland Commonwealth Fly Fishing Championships team guild as being a productive fly for use in the lakes that we fished there.

Because of the lack of body dressing and the epoxy body this fly sinks quickly and apparently is great option for stocked rainbows in particular.

A streamlined fast sinking fly that will anchor your team.

The UV mirage tinsel is just a fine line along the spine but is enough to ensure that the fly is seen at darker depths.

Materials

Hook	Head	Butt thread	Tail	Tail flash	Body thread & rib	UV spine	Body and bead coating
Knapek S in size #8 to #14	3.0 mm silver tungsten bead	UTC Fl red thread	Marabou	Silver angel hair	Black Uni 6/0 thread	UTC opal UV mirage tinsel - small	UV cured epoxy

Process

A	Most beads have a large opening at one end and a smaller opening at the other. Slide a black tungsten bead over the point of the hook small opening first and position it behind the eye of the hook. Eyes on flies

B	Tie the red thread in and wind all the way down to the bend of the hook in touching turns.

C	Adding a marabou tail to the fly. Take about half the marabou you have selected for the tail and tie it in with the tips extending a distance equal to the length of the hook. I like to add 4 strands of silver angel hair to the tail and do it at this stage so that it will be partially covered with the next layer of marabou rather than it being on the outside of the tail. Angle hair is very thin and a bit difficult to work with so I suggest you tie it in in two steps. The first step is to tie it in two lengths of angle hair with the butt ends extending behind the fly the same distance as the tail and with the balance of the angel hair still pointing forward. The second step in tying in the angle hair is to take the tips of the angel hair that are pointing forward and pull them around so that they are pointing back with the other two half's of the same strands. Lock the angel hair in position with a couple of firm wraps of thread.

Adding a marabou tail to the fly.

Take about half the marabou you have selected for the tail and tie it in with the tips extending a distance equal to the length of the hook.
I like to add 4 strands of silver angel hair to the tail and do it at this stage so that it will be partially covered with the next layer of marabou rather than it being on the outside of the tail.
Angle hair is very thin and a bit difficult to work with so I suggest you tie it in in two steps.
The first step is to tie it in two lengths of angle hair with the butt ends extending behind the fly the same distance as the tail and with the balance of the angel hair still pointing forward.
The second step in tying in the angle hair is to take the tips of the angel hair that are pointing forward and pull them around so that they are pointing back with the other two half's of the same strands.
Lock the angel hair in position with a couple of firm wraps of thread.

epoxy-bugger-c

D	Tie in the remainder of the marabou you selected for the tail directly on top of the first half of the tail and the 4 strands of angel hair to complete the tail. And now the body of the fly. Build up a neat butt of the orange thread. Take the orange thread forward half way up the hook shank and tie it off with a couple of half hitches.

E	Tie the black thread in behind the bead and wind it back toward the middle of the fly.

F	Trim away the excess red thread. Tie in a length of the mirage tinsel on top of the fly with the loose end extending behind the fly. Take a couple of extra of layers of the black thread to complete the body of the fly finishing with the black thread positioned at the intersection of the hot butt and the body of the fly. Using the black thread build up a cigar shaped body between the bead at the front and the red hot butt at the back.

G	Pick up the loose end of the mirage tinsel and pull it forward over the body of the fly so that it lays squarely along the top of the fly.

H	Whilst holding the mirage tinsel in place with one hand wind the black thread forward with separated turns forming 5 or 6 body segments along the body of the fly.

I	Tie the mirage tinsel off behind the bead head. Trim away the loose end of the mirage tinsel. Build up a narrow collar of the body thread behind the bead head. Whip finish the thread behind the bead and trim away the excess thread.

J	Coat the body of the fly with a thin layer of UV epoxy and whilst rotating the fly in your vice cure the UV epoxy with your UV torch. I find that UV epoxy always remains a little stick and the silver beads are prone to tarnishing so I apply a thing coat of clear nail polish to the body of the fly and the tungsten bead.