The Bottle Cleaner

This is an old favorite. Good under almost all conditions and with a lot of trout in its history.

1. Tie in thread one eye width behind hook eye.
2. Cover the body with some type of white material - yarn, dubbing, what-have-you. End up with the thread at the bend of the hook
3. Tie in a few straws of clear flashabou as tail, aprox. double the shank length
4. Form a thorn of the point of the hackle feather, drawing the rest of the barbules away from the point (see the Magnus) and tie it in with the thorn pointing backwards over the flash. The rest of the hackle is bent backwards and tied down.
5. Then put a piece of braided flash tubing over the body, tie it down in the rear end, and secure it by making a "rib" with the thread over the body to the front of the fly
6. Tie the tubing down in the front, just behind the hook eye, and trim the excess close to the thread
7. Wind the hackle in 4 to 5 open turns and tie down behind hook eye.
8. Form a small head, whip finish and varnish.

The Bottle Brush is an effective, simple, fast-tied pattern, with possible variations primarily in color and the use of flash-materials. Use different colors of yarn under the body or some of the newer shades of braided flash tubing. Clearer water means darker, more neutral colors (tan/brown/black) and no flash in the tail. Murky water means brighter colors (white/silver/red/orange) and more flash.