Fly Tying Inventory
Corixa
A simple imitation of the corixa or water boatman, a small swimming bug of weedy lake margins that carries a silvery bubble of air on its underside. A silver holographic body suggests that air bubble, a pheasant tail shellback gives the brown back and a pair of light orange stretchy paddles kick on the retrieve. Tim Joyce fishes it around weed beds in late summer, when trout hunt the shallows for boatmen; short, sharp pulls on a floating or intermediate line copy the natural's darting swim.
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Materials
Kamasan B110 grubber hook, size 12
12
Silver holographic mylar tinsel
Silver
Pheasant tail fibres pulled over the back as a shellback
Natural brown
Flexi floss (stretch floss), light orange, one strand each side as paddles
Light orange
How to Tie the Corixa
- 1
Step 1
Mount the grubber hook and run a layer of black thread from behind the eye back to the start of the bend.
- 2
Step 2
Tie in a slip of pheasant tail fibres at the rear of the shank, with the loose ends pointing back over the bend; these will become the shellback.
- 3
Step 3
Tie in the silver holographic mylar at the same point, then bring the thread forward to just behind the eye.
A few extra thread wraps along the middle of the shank before you wind the mylar give the body the boatman's plump, oval outline.
- 4
Step 4
Wind the mylar forward in touching turns over the underbody so no thread shows. Tie it off a little short of the eye and trim the waste.
- 5
Step 5
Pull the pheasant tail fibres forward over the top of the body, keeping them flat and centred, and bind them down behind the eye.
- 6
Step 6
Lay a length of light orange flexi floss across the shank just behind the eye and lock it in with crossing figure-of-eight wraps, so one strand sticks out on each side as a paddle.
Trim the paddles to roughly the length of the body; too long and they tangle around the bend.
- 7
Step 7
Trim the pheasant tail butts, build a small thread head, whip finish and varnish the head.
A thin coat of varnish along the shellback makes the pheasant tail far more durable.
Watch Tying Tutorial
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUgeCZIsBSU
Credit: Tim Joyce Flyfishing-Essex