Please post the recipe for the Sowbug you tie, I urge others to do the same.
Oh alright, because you said 'Please'... ;) All joking aside, I just now read this post -- and have several hundred to go -- likely due to my being away for holiday. Whatever the reason, I came back to an overflowing inbox! It could be worse, I suppose... enough rambling - here is the sowbug/ scud-like bug that I tie. I use a similar technique for tying mysis shrimp... with white Swiss Straw for the shellback. WONDERFUL lil pattern on both local and northern waters (Pennsylvania through Maine in the USA) Hook: Scud (Daiichi 1130) from 8 to 18 (I'd say any, but a size 6/0 seems a tad large... and below 18 the hook gape gets clogged by the softex. Thread: 6/0 yellow, cahill, tan, or another yellowish shade - we'll cover the yellow up with black sharpie at the head. Underbody: Brassie wire with sparse pale- yellow dubbing, palmered in touching wraps from bend to 1mm from the eye. Overbody: One of two things-- either Wapsi's latex Nymph body or a 6mm strip of latex glove coloured to the natural. Either way, I color the lagging edge with black permanent marker. Shellback: I prefer using Thin Skin in Bustard, but a strip from a plastic bag, coloured to the natural, works just as well. Legs: Partridge for tan or brown toned bodies, Guinea Hen for others. Thorax: Rabbit dubbing, dyed to natural Overcoat: Softex (see below) I wind the yellow thread back from right behind the eye to well into the bend of the hook - just above where the vice jaws pinch the hook. I then tie in the Brassie- sized wire (~30 gauge) at the butt of the hook and dub (now rope- dub!) the wire with a VERY sparse coat of pale-yellow dubbing. I then dub the wire to 2/3rds forward from the bend. The thread should still be at the bend of the hook, and so I tie in a strip of latex (Nymph body or) glove, tieing down to the 2/3rds point. If using the glove, I color it to the natural and let that dry completely. I next take a black sharpie marker and edge the lagging (most-rearward, thin) edge of the nymph skin/ latex glove. When dry, I wrap this to the 2/3rds point in 50% overlapping turns, so that the black edge is exposed, and whip- finish at the 2/3rds point. Depending on the tie, I often swipe the top with rust or brown and the bottom with a paler tan or yellow-gold. I prefer Sharpie brand, as the colors bleed a tad with the softex. When I tie this fly, I'll do a dozen of these bodies and set them aside for the next step. Dunk the fly to just above the 2/3rds mark into Softex, set aside and let dry. When dry, I reattach the thread, attach a strip of Thin Skin facing the bend of the hook, and then add a partridge feather with the stem laid along the top of the fly. I dub (with the same yellow dubbing) to the eye, bend the partridge down towards the eye, lash it down, and follow suit with the Thinskin. Lastly, I snip the excess materials at the eye, whip finish, and add a drop of softex on the Thinskin, making sure not to let it get into the hackle legs. And there you have it. While I modified this quite a bit, credit should be given to Rob Lewis (of Rob's Realistics and English Anglers Trappings) who modified from (I think) Steve Thornton's Amonite Nymph... I hope that's the right line-up... Hope this catches something for you, Pete
