I guess we are now at the beginning of the fly tying season so I will post a few flies every now and then. I’ll start today with a fly I often turn to when the mayfly fishing is difficult due to calm conditions. This is a very easy nymph to tie but getting the right colour of materials is the hard part. You need a pale blueish grey. A bit of experimenting with the dye bath will soon get you there!
Hook: 10 or 12 heavy wet fly hook
Tying silk: I use black normally but sometimes I think olive is better, 8/0 either way
Tail: a few short fibres of cock pheasant tail
Rib: yellow wire
Butt: dull rusty orange fur, just a turn or two
Body: pale grey seal’s fur either just as it comes out of the dye bath or spiced up with the slightest tint of blue, olive and orange seals fur blended in. Tie the body slim, thickening towards the eye.
Wing pads: dark grey from the wings of a drake mallard
Hackle: a hen hackle dyed the same colour as the body, just a couple of turns.
You can add some weight to this fly but I try to keep it as slim as possible so instead of adding weight under the dressing I fish the nymph on the dropper with a heavier fly on the tail.
Claretbumbler 
Hi Colin, where would you mostly use this? lake or river?
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Gavin, generally I would use this one on the lough. It is close to a pattern which is used on the Corrib, one invented by Frank O’Reilly. He does well with his one but his dressing is a different shade to the one I tie. Having said all that, it would probably work on rivers where there is a mayfly hatch, I just have not got around to trying it out.
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