Chubby Chernobyl
Materials
- Hook — 2XL nymph/dry hook (TMC 5262, Daiichi 1260, TMC 2302 or equivalent), sizes 4-16
- Thread — 140-denier flat nylon, tan or brown; the heavier thread lets you cinch foam hard without cutting it
- Tail — Pearl Krystal Flash, about a shank length
- Overbody — 2mm closed-cell foam strip, roughly hook-gap width, tapered at the rear; tan, gold, brown, or purple
- Body — Ice Dub: Golden Stone, tan, or UV purple; Shrimp Pink for the proven pink variant
- Wings — White poly yarn (McFlylon or similar), two upright posts
- Legs — Medium round rubber legs, tan, brown, or barred; one strand per side at each segment
Tying steps
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Debarb the hook, start 140-denier thread at mid-shank, and lay a thread base back to the bend.
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Tie in 8-10 strands of pearl Krystal Flash as a tail, about one shank length long, and bind the butts along the shank.
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Cut a 2mm foam strip about a hook-gap wide and taper one end. Tie it in at the bend, taper facing rearward over the tail, with firm pinch wraps.
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Dub a full, slightly tapered Ice Dub body forward over the rear two-thirds of the shank. Do not crowd the eye; the front segment needs room.
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Pull the foam forward over the body and bind it down at the two-thirds point with several tight wraps to form the first segment.
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At that same tie-down, post a clump of white poly yarn as the rear wing and tie in one rubber leg along each side, forming rear and middle legs.
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Dub the thorax, then make the second foam tie-down just behind the eye. Add the front poly wing and a second set of legs, one per side.
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Whip finish under the foam head lip and cement the tie-down wraps. Trim the wings to about shank length and the legs even with the body ends.
Notes
A foam attractor that passes for a salmonfly, golden stone, hopper, or nothing in particular, with a white poly wing you can track at 60 feet. Its real job on many rivers is hopper-dropper duty: the foam body floats one or two tungsten nymphs without sinking. On flat, technical water, pressured fish routinely refuse it; treat it as a broken-water fly.