Adult Mayfly with rolled wing from The Basic Manual of Fly-Tying by Fling & Puterbaugh
Hook: #12 – 16 dry
Thread: black
Tail: dark stiff feather fibers
Wing: light duck
Body: herl stem (use an eraser to remove fibers)
Hackle: dark dry fly 1.5 hook gap
Begin by preparing the wing and body wrap
Cut the tip out of a duck feather; cut the feather to a useable length
Select a long herl from the eye of a peacock tail; use an eraser to remove the fibers
Cut a few fibers from the but end of a dark dry hackle feather to create a barbed tie-in point
Lay down an even base of thread
Tie in a stiff feather fibers tail the length of the hook shank; wrap forward to two eye lengths behind eye; clip excess
Measure wing feather to length from behind the eye to the end of the hook bend; tie in the wing feather out over the eye two eye lengths behind the eye; pull the wing feather back and wrap in front to make the wing stand up; move thread to behind wing; clip excess
Tie in the stripped herl from the tip; use even thread raps to the tail and back; use touching wraps to cover the thread body; tie in and clip behind the wing
Tie in the front hackle feather behind the wing; wrap twice behind the wing and two to four times in front of the wing; pull the fibers back toward the hook point; thread wrap and clip out the excess hackle
Wrap the head; whip finish; head cement