Biots are simply the feather barbs from the leading edges of wing feathers. The skin along the edge of the wing quill is nicked and the entire section of barbs, or biots, are stripped from the quill and then dyed (or not).

The use of feather biots is well-known and well received, and for good reason as they make wonderfully durable, thin materials that readily receive dyes. For these reasons there is no shortage of patterns that utilize goose and turkey wing biots. The shorter and stouter goose biots are usually reserved for tails and legs such as with Ted's Stone where the longer and thinner turkey biots see themselves used for insect bodies.

This pattern offers nothing new by way of tying skills; no ingenious applications; certainly nothing worthy of stamping my name on since you can find oodles of very similar patterns in any catalog or fly shop, Mike Mercer's Micro Mayfly Nymph comes to mind. This fact speaks volumes of this pattern's usefulness on the lakes and streams where trout reside. I have settled on a pattern that is quick and easy for me to tie and offers the variability I demand. By simply changing the colors of the biots or dubbing I have a completely new appearance and no change in my tying set-up. This pattern has become one of my go-to nymphs, especially when fishing a dry-dropper rig as it achieves depth rapidly and provides a very strong profile with added triggers like flash and action. Try it, I think you'll approve!

MATERIAL LIST

Hook: Partridge BIN

Bead: Tungsten

Thread: To match body

Tail: Brown Partridge

Rib: Monofilament Thread

Abdomen: Dyed Turkey Biot

Wingcase: Gold Holographic Tinsel

Thorax: Angora Goat Dubbing

Legs: Brown Partridge

Place the tungsten bead on your hook and place it in your vise.

Attach your thread behind the bead and lay a base to the rear, ending above the normal barb position.

Get a quality Hungarian Partridge skin and locate the large brown feathers on the back just before the tail.

Select a single feather and stroke out a bunch of side barbs.

Pinch down the barbs from the top and bottom.

Grasp the tip with your other hand and rapidly snap it toward your chest, this will leave you with the bundle of barbs, tips aligned.

Transfer hands and measure the tips to be equal to 1/2 the hook length.

Secure the tips to the rear of the hook, above the barb position and on top of the shank.

Bind the excess forward to keep the underbody smooth.

Select some stripped turkey biots dyed your favorite color-here I have chosen brown since this pattern will imitate a Tasmanian Coloburiscus mayfly nymph.

Notice how one edge of the individual biot is broad and dark. In this photo that edge is on top.

Secure the biot at the rear, by the tip, to the nearside of the hook so that the wide edge is facing up.

Bind the excess tip forward--be certain the underbody remains smooth.

Bind in a section of mono thread for the rib back to the rear, keeping it on the far side of the hook (it's there, trust me). Then advance the thread forward to the thorax area. Lay a thin coat of cement on the underbody.

With hackle pliers, wrap the biot forward in touching turns. The thick edge of the biot should be to the rear and will form the raised rib. Wrap it until you run out, then secure with thread and clip the excess.

Counter-rib with the monofilament thread.

Secure and clip the excess.

Secure a section of holographic (or other) mylar tinsel to form the wingcase. Be sure not to use tinsel that is too think or too thick.

Select a pinch of angora dubbing.

With scissors, chop the pinch into short fibers of 1/2" to 1/4" in length.

Apply some tacky dubbing wax to your thread. I pretend the thread is square and apply one stroke to each of the four sides.

Touch the chopped angora fibers to the thread, this is knows as "touch dubbing."

You will be left with a sparse, spiky dubbing rope.

Spin your bobbin clockwise to lock the angora fibers to the thread.

Dub a heavy thorax. Keep in mind that the bead/thorax will comprise the front 50% of the hook shank. Be sure also to wrap back on the wingcase material so that when it is folded it does not pull the material too far forward.

Go back to the partridge skin and look for the brown feathers form the back, this time down near the head where they will be smaller.

Select a single well-marked feather.

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Remove the fuzz and separate out the tip.

Snip off the tip.

Stroke the fibers back into position to expose the "V."

With the top of the feather facing up, secure the feather behind the bead with 2 loose wraps of thread.

Feather loosely in place.

Next, pull the feather forward, through the thread wraps, until the fibers reach to just beyond the thorax. Then tighten the feather with several tight thread wraps.

Clip the butt ends.

With your dubbing needle "find" the "V" notch and expose it.

Pull the tinsel forward through the exposed "V" notch to form the wingcase and legs. It helps to press the tinsel down with your thumb while you catch it in with the thread.

Secure with a number of tight wraps then whip-finish and cut your thread.

Pull the remaining tinsel back over the thread wraps and then trim it. This will hide/protect the thread windings from the top and the thorax dubbing will hide them on the bottom.

Tease out the dubbing to liven-up the fly.

A completed, and very deadly, beadhead biot nymph!

An assortment of sizes and color schemes.