Hook 2XL terrestrial / long-shank dry fly with a slight bend, 10 (8-14)
Thread Black 6/0
Materials
Golden pheasant tippets Natural pheasant tail fibers (8-10 fibres)
Dry fly hackle Grizzly hackle (1 feather, one size undersized)
Floss Burnt orange (About 8 inches)
Deer hair Natural deer hair (One good clump, stacked)
How to tie it
Lay a base of black thread from behind the eye back to the start of the bend.
Grip a golden pheasant tippet feather by the tips, reach in with your scissors and cut out eight to ten fibres, then pull the rest of the feather away so the tips stay aligned. Tie them in at the bend, taking a wrap behind so the tail does not flare up too much, and bind the butts forward.
Tie in a grizzly dry fly hackle, deliberately undersized by one hook size, laying the stem parallel to the shank so the underbody stays smooth. Bind it down along the shank.
Take about eight inches of burnt orange floss and tie it in at the front. Wrap it back to the tail and then forward again in two smooth layers. The second pass is not for bulk but for colour depth, since floss goes translucent when wet and you do not want black thread showing through. Tie off at the front and trim.
Palmer the grizzly hackle forward over the body to the front, spacing the turns to taste. Tighter for a high floater, more open if you want it to sit in the film and show the orange. Tie off and trim.
Wax the thread well, then stack a good clump of deer hair and measure it at least a body length, reaching back toward but not into the tail.
Hold the hair at the right length and take one loose wrap around it alone, then a tighter second wrap, then two or three tight wraps and one medium wrap going rearward so the back of the wing does not flare as much as the front. Add another tight wrap if it starts to spin on you.
Lift all the butt ends up and take several wraps at their base, working the front exactly as you would an elk hair caddis head, then whip finish with four turns while the butts are still standing.
Cut the thread, separate the wing from the standing butts, twist the butts and give them a flat-top haircut. Pick out and snip any front fibres that ended up lying back with the wing, and tidy the head so tippet still passes through the eye.
Flip the fly over and put a drop of head cement on the thread wraps so it wicks in.