Former head guide at Alphonse (now back in the USA working for Umpqua) Alec Gerbec was kind enough to provide us with a detailed, pictorial step-by-step tying demo of his Weapon of Mass Destruction (WMD), a killer pattern for triggerfish and other species:
RECIPE
Hook: SL11 2H size 2 Thread: Danville 210 denier Weight: Flymen Fish Company Shrimp/Cray Tail Size large Tail: Wapsi Curl Tail Secondary tail: Calf Tail Eyes: Burnt Mono Dubbing: Hareline-Cohen’s Carp Dubbing Legs: Chicone’s Crusher Legs Wing: Hareline-Senyo’s Predator Wrap.
1: Start with a solid thread base on the shank of the hook as you will be needing a foundation for the shrimp/cray tail and other materials you will be adding.
2: Tie in shrimp tail/cray tail so that the bend of the tail is positioned just behind the eye of the hook. Be sure to wrap tightly and apply a glue of your choice so it doesn’t want to twist around the shank.
3: Tie in a fur tail of your choice, the original is with calf tail, but in this case fox tail. Cut fibres on shank next to the end of the shrimp/cray tail so that you will have an even body for later.
4: Make two eyes out of mono, whether you want to burn the mono or create them with U.V./epoxy, its your choice. Tie them in on either side of the tail and cut the ends to the mid point of the shrimp/cray tail, again to create an even body for your fly later.
5: Tie in the curly tail starting at the end of your fly and working back towards the front. The rubber will want to expand and you will want to cut it short of the end of the shrimp/cray tail.
6: Take one full length crusher leg, cut it in half, and tie in so that two halves are on the bottom of the tail and two on the top. I like to taper the length so that the bottom(if fly is upside down)legs are shorter than the top.
7: Create a dubbing loop and put it aside for later. Tie in your second set of legs in a figure eight fashion and then bring thread to the front of the hook.
8: A little trick when dealing with legs mid body, wrap a single turn over each set of legs according to when they need to be positioned in the body material.
9: Spin a loop of Cohen’s carp dubbing and pick out all of the trapped materials.
10: Start to wrap your loop forward, spacing each wrap to help create translucency.
11: Make one of the wraps just behind the first set of legs and then release them from the trick I taught you later. Make two wraps, touching turns between the two sets of legs before releasing them from the trick. Make one more wrap now just in front of those legs before completing to the end of the shank. Stop a little earlier than the end of the shanks as the head of your fly with these shrimp/cray tails can end up bulky if you don’t manage it.
12: Tie in a full length clump of predator wrap mid fibre. Fold over and clean up the head.
13: Add a weed guard as your are going to be amongst the grass and coral, whip finish, and glue.
