Yellow-Bellied Nymph

This one was cooked up by my
grandfather in the 1950s.  It was originally used on trout in the Smoky
mountain streams of North Carolina, but it is deadly on sunfish.  Bluegills
pounce on them.

Wrap
thread over all lead to smooth out the edges at both ends so you have a hook
that looks like the drawing below, viewing the hook from the top. 

Take about 12 or 15 peacock fibers,
depending on the thickness of the herl, and tie in the tip sections facing
rearward near bend of hook.  You will need enough herl to cover the whole
top of the fly.  Several wraps will secure the fibers and then fold
remaining long herl back over and temporarily secure with a material holder.

Next,
tie in the wool and begin building the body which should resemble an oval when
viewed from top. you can go two ways while building up the body to attach the
legs.  They can be attached while wrapping the body and blended into the
body sides without seeing any thread or can be tied in after body is formed if
you don’t care whether thread can be seen from underside.  The choice is
yours and it won‘t harm the fly‘s effectiveness.

Once the
body is formed, and legs are attached at intervals along the sides of the fly,
bring the reserved herl over the back to form the cover.  Simply spread the
herl over the entire back and tie off.  Form a neat head and your “gill
killer” is complete. 

This
pattern is quite fragile when trout are chewing on it but holds up quite well
with the “gills”.