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I subscribe to a couple of British fly fishing magazines so its not surprising that I have been aware of "Mary" nymphs for quite a while. They are a recurring feature of many of the articles. I had tied and used them on and off for  few years but they really didn't come into their own until I became more proficient with short line nymphing and fishing faster rivers.

I haven't researched their heritage but I expect that they evolved as heavy caddis nymph imitations. Caddis fly (or Sedge) are of the order Trichoptera and are common throughout the year but with the greater concentrations occurring from September through to March. They inhabit both running and still water and are a dominant food source for most trout.

Tied with a collar or without one this is just a great buggy looking fly.

Materials

Process

A	Most beads have a large opening at one end and a smaller opening at the other. Beads - adding weight or eyes to a fly Slide a copper tungsten bead over the point of the hook small opening first and position it behind the eye of the hook. Wind the thread in touching turns to the bend of the hook. Understanding hooks If your going to add extra weight do that know . . . I always do because I want this fly to sink quickly and stay in the zone longer. Tie in a tail equal 1/2 to 2/3 the length of the hook shank. Resist the temptation to make the tail too bulky and too long. Tie in a length of copper wire.

B	Dub on a body starting at almost nothing and gradually increasing in width along the length of the fly. Stop a distance roughly equal to the diameter of the bead from the bead. Dubbing techniques Wind the wire ribbing along the body of the fly forming 4 or 5 segments. Tie the copper wire off behind the bead and break off the excess wire.

C	Pinch a little seals fur dubbing onto the thread and dub on a collar between where the wing is tied in and the back of the bead. Many of the recipes I have seen for this fly then have you add one or two wraps of hackle in front of the dubbed collar but I think that is unnecessary and I have left that out.

D	If your going to add a collar lock in a length of colored floss and use that to tie of the thread. Trim the original thread and take a couple of turns of the floss between the collar and the bead. Whip finish the floss behind the bead, trim the floss and varnish the thread behind the bead and the bead itself. If you don't varnish the bead it will tarnish quite quickly. Double hitches

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