Tag / hot spot Semperfli 400D floss, hot orange (6.5 in, doubled)
Rib Semperfli 0.2 mm copper wire (1 length)
Body Peacock herl (3 strands)
Hackle Whiting Farms furnace hen (2, one small and one slightly oversized)
How to tie it
Mount the Fulling Mill 35065 size 12 and start the black 6/0 behind the eye, wrapping back into the bend. Hold the tag end at an angle so each wrap slides neatly into the last, and lose the tag once you are past the hook point.
Cut about six and a half inches of hot orange 400D floss and fold it in half. Working doubled is easier and lets you shape the taper at the end.
Tie the folded floss in with a pinch wrap and work back a little further into the bend, covering the loop with thread and building a slight underbody.
Lay the two strands flat and wrap them forward together, gripping both firmly and keeping thread tension. Wrap down and back up to build a small taper. Keep clear of the hook point, which will fray the floss on a hook this sharp.
Tie the floss off with a wrap behind, a couple in front and another behind, then trim. That is the rear hot spot.
Tie the 0.2 mm copper wire in on top of the shank, running the wraps back to where the hot spot begins, then fold the wire out of the way in a hair clip.
Advance the thread to about an eye length behind the eye and tie in three strands of peacock herl.
Wrap the herl forward, noting which way you are going: this tie takes it up and over away from you. Peacock is fragile and will break, so keep the wraps even and leave yourself room at the eye.
Rib with the copper wire in the opposite direction, over and towards you, counter-wrapping the herl. Wire is used rather than super glue because glue mats down the shiny natural fibres; the counter-wrap is what gives the herl its durability. Tie off and snip the wire with flush cutters, tucking the pointed stub out of the way.
Prepare the smaller furnace hen hackle, tie it in by the tip against the shank with two securing wraps so the good material comes out the back, then lay the second, slightly larger feather in the same way with its tip matched. George Barron's method is to pair a small hackle with a slightly oversized one so the small one supports the longer fibres of the large one. Wrap the tips back rather than trimming them; they add support like a wing.
Advance the thread behind the eye and put in a single-turn whip finish or a half hitch to hold it while you fit hackle pliers.
Wrap both hackles together about three turns, stroking the fibres backwards as you come round and watching the hook point. Bring the thread up and over, round the eye and over again so both stems are trapped twice, then trim the stems without catching the thread.
Build a small head, wrapping backwards. The more wraps you take back, the more the fibres lie down rather than flaring. Finish with two whip finishes.