Great story Quatch. That's what FFing is all about.
My cress bug suggestion on color is to blend you dubbing in a color such that you can't decide if it's olive, tan or gray...lol. Also blend in natural furs with lots of guard hairs, on pick them out to finish the fly.
But the exact color isn't the most important thing (to me anyway). Cress bugs are flat on the bottom and are oblong shaped. To imitate that shape, try tying lead (or lead substitute) on both sides in the middle of hook shank. Wrap your dubbing and trim, mostly on the bottom to make the body flat. I use mono ribbing to imitate the segmentation and also to hold the dubbing together. Pick out the dubbing sides to extend out the body to be wider. Also, I often use a dark brown perm marker to imitate the dark stripe on top of the back. It's a very simple fly.
Here are actual pics of BS cress bugs I found. Note the color and the shape...
My cress bug suggestion on color is to blend you dubbing in a color such that you can't decide if it's olive, tan or gray...lol. Also blend in natural furs with lots of guard hairs, on pick them out to finish the fly.
But the exact color isn't the most important thing (to me anyway). Cress bugs are flat on the bottom and are oblong shaped. To imitate that shape, try tying lead (or lead substitute) on both sides in the middle of hook shank. Wrap your dubbing and trim, mostly on the bottom to make the body flat. I use mono ribbing to imitate the segmentation and also to hold the dubbing together. Pick out the dubbing sides to extend out the body to be wider. Also, I often use a dark brown perm marker to imitate the dark stripe on top of the back. It's a very simple fly.
Here are actual pics of BS cress bugs I found. Note the color and the shape...