The Bighorn's famous sowbug, named because it is so simple even a blind man could tie it — and so effective nobody minds the joke. Three materials: ostrich herl for the legs-everywhere silhouette, a pearl flash back, and a red thread head as the trigger.
1. Thread base — Attach red thread on the scud hook and build a base to the bend.
2. Shellback — Tie in a strip of pearl tinsel at the bend.
3. Body — Tie in 2–3 gray ostrich herls. Wrap forward in touching turns to behind the eye — the flues become the sowbug's legs. Tie off.
4. Back — Pull the pearl tinsel over the top and tie down behind the eye.
5. Head — Build a small, distinctly RED thread head. Whip finish and cement.
hook
thread
body
shellback
Asellus spp.
