This morning I took advantage of a quiet house and sat down at the vise while enjoying my morning coffee. The dark, flavorful Rwandan bean (roasted by Sentinel Coffee down in Juneau – thanks Misty!) was a nice compliment to the darkness outside.

I spun up a variation of Travis Johnson’s Lady Gaga Intruder, a nicely constructed marabou intruder that I look forward to offering to some anadromous fish later this year. I’ve tied a few of these of late in both shank and tube versions – I decided to go with a stinger style for this session.

The other day I stopped by a local fur shop and found a “craft grade” white Arctic fox tail for five dollars. The tail was on the skinny side, but has plenty of thick, mid-length hair that, as I had suspected, turned out to be perfect for spinning a nice stiff butt or collar. Some gray guard hairs add just a touch of contrast.

All in all, I think the fly should fish.

Shank: #2 Maruto 2370 7x long streamer hook, cut off

Stinger Wire: 0.015 mm Beadalon 7 strand wire

Stinger Hook: #2 octopus

Eyes: MFC brass Sparkle Eyes

Thread: 6/0 Veevus black

Butt: white arctic fox, white marabou

Legs: barred white ostrich, 6 strands per side

Body: saltwater pearl Flashabou

Rib: medium silver French tinsel

Shoulder: blue Steely Coon

Collar: kingfisher blue marabou, dark blue marabou

Flash: 4 strands each copper and blue Flashabou on each side

Collar: black schlappen

Wings: grizzly hackle