Mallard flank, wood duck color (wing) Wood duck/lemon barred (2 small bunches)
Hackle fibers (tail) Brown hackle fibers (12-15 fibers, long)
Fox squirrel dubbing (body) Natural gray-tan fox squirrel dubbing (loose noodle, spun in a dubbing loop)
Dry fly hackle Brown hackle (1 feather, 1.5-2x hook gap)
How to tie it
Start red thread near the front quarter of the shank and tie in a couple of bunches of wood-duck mallard flank with tips forward, positioned so the wing will stand with room for two to three hackle wraps in front; secure and trim the butts at an angle.
Take the thread to the start of the bend and tie in 12-15 brown hackle fibers as a tail, a bit longer than one hook gap, taking a wrap or two back so they lie flat.
Wax the thread well and apply fox squirrel dubbing loosely, then form a dubbing loop below it and spin it 20-plus turns into a spiky noodle.
Wrap the noodle forward in slightly open turns so glints of the red thread show through the body, that's part of the design; loosen the noodle a few turns if it's too tight to show red. Stop short of the wing and trim the remaining loop.
Tie in a brown dry-fly hackle behind the wing, barbs about one and a half to two times the hook gap, and strip a tie-in point on the stem.
Stand the wing upright with wraps in front of the stem, then split it in two with your fingers or bodkin and set the halves with X-wraps, propping them upright.
Wrap the hackle three to four turns behind the wing and two in front, catskill-style; tie off with two wraps.
Trim the hackle stem and any stray forward fibers, sweep the rest back to clear a small head, and whip finish with a four-turn whip, zigzagging to avoid trapping fibers.