What you need:
l one cork
l two cork cages
l two bottle caps
l two faux jewels
l two straight pins
l one small flanged Phillips head screw
l one spring with a widely flared end
l Needle nose pliers with wire cutter
l Hand micro drill with assorted bits
l Small screw driver
l two small clamps
l Utility knife
l Glue
l Old gift cards
l Scissors
What to do:To make legs
Make the fly legs out of the braided supports of the cork cage that secures the cork in the bottle. Pop the cork cap free from the upper ring of the cage using your fingers. Using the needle nose pliers with wire cutter severe the upper ring four times to free the upper end of the braided support. Then severe the lower ring with the wire cutter and worked the lower loops of the support off the wire. These lower loops will be the feet of the fly.
Attach the legs
Attach the legs using a small manual drill bit slightly smaller than the diameter of the legs to drill three holes in each side of the cork. The middle hole should be drilled straight into the side of the cork. The end holes should be at angles to the ends of the cork giving them a more natural stance. Then dip the base of the legs in glue and insert them in the holes. Before you insert them, however. Bend them and tweak them a bit after they dry. Once the glue has dried use your utility knife and scissors to remove any excess glue that has leaked out around the base of the legs.
Add the sensors
Take your two faux jewels and turn them face down. Trim a strip of an old gift card to spread glue on the back of the jewels. Press them to the upper side of the end of the cork you’ve chosen as the fly’s head. Then dip the pointy end of your straight pin in the glue and stick into the cork over the eyes. When the glue is dry use your utility knife and scissors to remove excess glue.
For the wings
Bend the the left over wire from earlier into loops with a tail sticking out. Smear glue into each cap and place the wire loops in the glue. Secure with a clamp until dry. Use a small drill bit slightly smaller than the diameter of the wire to make wing mounting holes in the top/back of the fly. When the wing glue is dry trim the wing wire to a short length, dip it in glue and push into the holes in the back.
For the proboscis
Take your spring with a flared end and insert a flanged screw into the narrow end. Use a small drill bit slightly smaller in diameter than the screw threads to drill a hole below and between the eyes. Then install the spring by screwing the screw into the cork. With that you’re bar fly is complete. Repeat these steps to make your own swarm.
