Body Speckled golden-olive Soft Hackle, trimmed on the bottom
Tail Two speckled golden-olive Soft Hackle feathers
How to tie it
Mash the barb, thread the Nickel bead, 5/32-inch, black on small hole first and seat it against the eye. Take 8-10 turns of Lead-free wire, .020, put a drop of superglue on the shank behind the bead and slide the wraps forward to lock the bead.
Start the thread immediately behind the wire and wrap back to the bend.
From the Zonked Pine Squirrel Skin, brown-olive, with fur angled rearward, measure a segment from the front of the eye to the bend, part the hair and snip it off; cut a second, equal segment. Hold the two hide-side to hide-side with fur pointing back, sandwich the shank between them and bind them down all the way back to the barb. Advance the thread to just behind the wire.
Build the eye stem: insert the tab of the 4-inch Cable Tie into its receptacle and draw the loop nearly closed. Snip two full-length strands of amber Krystal Flash and push them halfway through the loop, add a single micro Fly rattle, then cinch the loop tight around both. Blacken each end of the rattle with a permanent marker.
Part the claws and lay the cable tie on top of the shank with the receptacle and eyes hanging just behind the bend. Mark with your thumbnail where the wire begins, snip off the excess tab, make two angled cuts to a point and lightly melt the edges with a lighter so they cannot fray the thread.
Set the assembly back on top with the point butted against the rear of the wire and bind it with tight wraps all the way back to the barb. Check the eyes sit at 90 degrees to the bend.
Snip one pair of Amber Krystal Flash antennae fairly short and the other pair about twice that length. Coat the flat of the cable tie liberally with superglue and follow with a couple of open spiral layers of thread.
Pull a Speckled golden-olive Soft Hackle feather from the skin, strip the fuzz, pull the lower fibres down to expose the tip and snip the tip square as an anchor. Bind the anchor on the near side, advance the thread a little in front, then fold the fibres rearward into a V with hackle pliers and wrap the feather in an open spiral up the shank, preening the fibres back. Bind the bare stem with two or three turns and snip it close.
Repeat the feather prep and wrap several more times until you reach the tip of the cable tie, then advance the thread to just behind the bead.
For the tail, pull two neighbouring, equal Speckled golden-olive Soft Hackle feathers, dull sides facing you, align the tips and expose about a quarter inch of stem. Bind the stems against the shank, bring the feathers on top and gently pull them under the wraps so they curve upward, lock with more wraps and snip the stems.
Prep, fold and wrap one more soft hackle feather in front of the tail, stroke the fibres back, and finish with a five or six turn whip finish.
Snip a narrow strip of fibres from the top over the cable tie so the fly lands flat, then coat the snipped area, the thread behind the bead and both faces of the tail with head cement.