WD40

Submitted by Gary Meier

Recipe:
 
Hook:  Scud hook size 14 - 20.  I used Daiichi 1120 in a size 16
Thread:  Uni 8/0 Choclate Brown
Body:  Thread
Tail/shuck:  Rusty brown antron
Wing Case:  Pearlescent flat mylar
Thorax:  Chococate brown dubbing.  I used mink.
 
Tying instructions:
To say this is an easy tie is to understate.
1.  Tie in shuck, the length of the hook gap, half way down the hook bend.
2.  Wind thread forward to cover the hook to the 2/3  point on the shank. 
3.  Tie in the wing case.
4.  Dub and wrap a pronounced egg-shaped thorax.
5.  Pull the wing case over the thorax and tie down.
6.  Wind a small head and whip finish.
 
The WD 40 can be tied in olive and gray as well as brown.  The original pattern calls for a woodduck tail and wingcase, but I have found the synthetics to be more effective. 
 
I fish the WD 40 in the surface film, usually trailed from a small parachute Adams that I can see.  I grease the tippet connection between the flies to keep the WD 40 from slipping very much beneath the surface film.  It has proven to do well when trout are rising to something I can't see.  I think it can be mistaken for emerging midges or mayflies - it has that generic quality.  I have had my best luck with brown and gray.