Peacock breast feather (soft hackle collar) Iridescent blue peacock breast feather (One feather)
How to tie it
Set the curved-shank hook in the vise and dress the whole shank with black thread. A full thread base holds the materials and makes a stronger fly.
Tie in the red holographic tinsel at the rear and wind a short bright butt, tie off and trim.
Coat the butt with a thin layer of UV resin and cure it. This fly gets chewed hard, so the butt needs the extra durability.
Take a generous bunch of six to eight peacock herls, line up the tips and trim them square, then tie them in just ahead of the butt and bind the butts down along the shank. Half hitch to hold everything.
Twist the herls into a peacock rope (spin them around the thread or use a dubbing loop) and wind the rope forward in touching turns to build a thick, durable body, stopping well short of the eye to leave room for the collar. Tie off and trim.
Strip the fluffy base off a blue peacock breast feather, tie it in by the tip at about 45 degrees just behind the eye and snip the tip off.
Take a half turn, fold the fibres back along the stem, then wind two turns of the folded hackle, each turn ahead of the last, to give a mobile soft-hackle collar; tie off and trim.
Whip finish behind the eye, cut the thread, and coat the head with UV resin or cement.