Lucent micro chenille (abdomen) To match the natural (One short length)
Hen hackle (shell back and legs) Natural (Whiting hen back) (One feather, tied in by the tip)
Ice Dub (thorax) Rusty brown (Enough for a full thorax)
Lead wire Silver lead free wire (A few wraps under the body (optional))
How to tie it
Attach the thread and cut off the tag. Cut a small section of body fur from a groundhog (Eastern woodchuck), clean out the underfur and pull out the longest strays so about 8-10 fibers remain with roughly even tips.
Tie the fur in as a tail about one shank length long and trim the butts off.
Tie in the Lucent micro chenille at the rear. If you want the fly weighted, add a few wraps of lead under the body first.
Wrap the micro chenille forward over about half the shank, tie it off and bind it down well so it cannot pull out.
Prepare a hen hackle: stroke the fibers back, cut the tip off to leave a small V, and tie the feather in at the front of the abdomen by that V, mounted upside down so the natural curl of the feather will carry it straight over the top when you pull it forward.
Dub a deliberately full thorax of rusty brown Ice Dub over the front of the fly; the bulk helps lock the feather in place.
Pull the hen feather forward over the thorax as a soft-hackle shell back, stroking the fibers down and dividing them to each side so they read as legs, then tie the stem off behind the eye and trim.
Stroke everything back, bind it down well, trim any errant fibers, and whip finish. Cut the thread.
Turn the fly over and pick a few more fibers out of the thorax with a dubbing needle to trap air bubbles and add translucency.