RE> A couple questions.

Couldn't you turn the yellow into hopper tan with a couple swipes of a waterproof brown marking pen ?? and the gray into green drake olive with a dark brown or olive marker ?? Most of the green drakes that I see around here have pretty dark bodies - dark enough that I would tie them in black if I didn't have olive material that gets really dark when wet.

Yes and no. I do that. But it always ends up a bit ugly. Fish don't care. But I do for some stupid reason. The color fades quickly too.

Second question. Have you tried using a fairly wide strip of thin flexible material at the tie in point of the foam to protect it from being cut by the tying thread ?? instead of using the method of building them on a needle and then gluing the body to the hook ?? When I was looking at the material on Jesse's linked thread ( McMaster ) that possibility, using a strip of thin skin or winging material or larva lace or something like that, immediately came to mind. Curious what your thoughts are ??

Yes. I have used spawn sack (nylon netting) a lot. But it's a pain in the fly box. Other flies get their hooks stuck in the spawn sack like velcro. Wrapping tightly is no good for another reason too: it collapses the foam and thereby reduces its buoyancy. It's still best to wrap loosely and then rely on glue. No matter what.

Also, for some reason I can't explain in words, I've become addicted to tying on a needle. For all kinds of flies. I like the idea of an (almost) independent hook.