Hook: Daiichi 1120 or 1150 #10-12
Thread: MFC 8/0 or UTC 70, Tan for body, Brown for Thorax
Rib: Fine Copper Wire
Butt: Holographic Red Mylar
Body: Frostbite, Summer Duck
Thorax:  8/0 Brown Tying Thread 
Wingcase:  Pearlescent Mylar
Wingpads: Orange Stretch Floss
Gills: UV2 Sparkle Yarn or Uni-Stretch, White

Tying Note: Coat Entire fly with the exception of the gills with a coating of Loon UV Clear Fly Finish Flow.

The Collaborator traces its roots to a creative tying session between friends amongst the breakfast dishes on White Lake near the town of Salmon Arm, British Columbia. The previous day trout had shown a decided preference to a rusty brown chironomid with a distinct red butt, a hemoglobin remnant from the larval stage. Clear bodies of water such as White Lake are challenging arenas for the fly fisher. Trout are often visible as they forage the shoals for their next meal. It is commonplace to have trout meander or even rush the fly only to turn away at the last second unimpressed with either the presentation or the pattern. The clear water style of chironomids was created with clear water and pressured conditions in mind. Since the explosion of bead head designs throughout fly tying and fishing trout on pressured bodies of water often become pattern sensitive. Using similar innovative patterns such as the epoxy buzzers, common to United Kingdom fly fishers, as a template the clear water style chironomid pupa offers a life-like alternative and is often the difference when fish are fickle or critical. The thread thorax and Super Floss wing pads are adaptable to any chironomid pupa pattern. Try hot orange wing pads for algae stained waters were visibility is a factor.

Tying Instructions