I wanted to create a mayfly pattern that was more realistic and caught more fish.

The important parts of an effective fly are the gape of the hook and a silhouette or imitation of the actual natural insect.

So I picked out the TMC 2488 hook which has a large gape, especially in smaller sizes, compared to the TMC 100 or 101 typically used for dry fly patterns.

Then I wanted to create an extended body, the standard body as you know is a dubbed abdomen, so I wanted to create an abdomen that was extended and looked like the natural.

I tried many different techniques but the one that worked the best was using monofilament for the body and micro-fibetts for the tails.

– Signature Tyer Phil Iwane