PATTERN DESCRIPTION:

The Green Machine was originally tied to imitate a Skwala stonefly which is a late-winter to early-spring hatching stonefly here in Montana.  The original Green Machine is tied with brown/olive two-tone foam, with the olive tied down as the underside of the body to match the greenish belly of a Skwala adult. In addition to being a great Skwala pattern, I’ve tied the Green Machine in darker two-tone colors like tan/cocoa to imitate caddis and in lighter colors like yellow/tan or cocoa/flesh to imitate grasshoppers.

The Green Machine is a must have fly in every fly box because of its versatility for imitating caddis, stoneflies and hoppers. This little pattern rides high and is easy to see because of its thick foam body and deer hair wing and fish seem to confidently take this fly year after year.

MATERIALS NEEDED:

Hook:  2x-long dry fly or nymph hook.

Thread:  UTC 140 denier.  I usually use a contrasting color for this fly like yellow thread against green foam or brown thread against tan foam.

Tail: Brown biots

Foam:  Two-tone foam with a total thickness of 4mm.

Legs:  Medium size round rubber legs.

Underwing:  Crystal Flash

Wing:  Deer Hair.  I tie a few patterns with bleached deer hair as well.  The bleached hair is easier to see in low light situations.

Post:  White polywing

Step 1:  Form a thread base on hook.  End thread at hook barb.

Step 2:  Measure biots as shown. Biots should extend one hook gap beyond tie in point.

Step 3:  Tie in biots at hook point and wrap thread forward to tie down biots.

Step 4:  Trim biots. Next cover ends of biots with a few thread wraps.  End thread at hook point.

Step 5:  Prepare two-tone foam strip.  Width of foam should be about hook gap in width and 2″ long.  The original Green Machine has a pointed tapered tail.  I used a medium pre-cut foam body above.

Step 6:  Tie down foam body with 2-3 firm wraps of thread.  End of body should extend just beyond biots.

Step 7:  Tie in legs on both sides of body with 5-6 thread wraps.

Step 8:  Advance thread on hook only to mid-point of hook shank.

Step 9:  Tie down foam body with 2-3 firm thread wraps.  Keep thread wraps to a minimum here…we still need to tie in wings and legs at this tie-in point.

Step 10:  Prepare 6-8 strands of crystal flash. We are going to double-over the wing so there will be 12-16 strands of crystal flash for the under-wing. Tie in crystal flash with 1-2 wraps of thread.

Step 11:  Push down crystal flash against foam body, trim flash even with end of body.

Step 12:  Prepare small clump of deer hair.  Tips of hair should extend just beyond end of foam body.

Step 13:  Apply two loose wraps of tread around butts of deer hair.  Next, tighten down loose wraps of thread by firmly pulling down on bobbin.  Apply 1-2 firm wraps of thread to secure deer hair.Step 14:  Apply z-lon post with 1-2 firm wraps of thread at same tie-in point as deer hair.

Step 15:  Tie in legs on both sides of body as shown above.

Step 16:  Advance thread, on hook only, to one eye length behind hook-eye as shown above.

Step 17:  Tie down foam body with 4-5 firm thread wraps.

Step 18:  Trim head of fly to shape and trim legs to length.  Notice legs on this fly are pretty short… each of 4 legs are about length of body. Trim post.  Post should be about length of deer hair.  Trim butts of post close to tie-in point.

Finished Green Machine