Hook Standard or 1XL wet-fly hook, barbless, #6-12 (tied on a #8)
Thread Black 140 denier
Materials
Wool yarn (tail and body) Rust-orange brown (Jamieson's Shetland, color 462) (A short piece for the tail plus one longer two-strand piece for the body)
Copper wire rib Copper wire (One length, medium)
Hen soft hackle Light brown or dark ginger hen soft hackle (One feather, three wraps)
Head cement Clear head cement (A drop)
How to tie it
Start the black thread toward the bend of the hook and tie in a small piece of the Shetland wool as a tail, at least two hook-gaps long; it gets brushed out and trimmed to final length at the end.
Tie in the medium copper wire at the same point.
Bring the thread forward, catch in a two-strand piece of the yarn near the front where the hackle will go, and bind it back to the tail with loose wraps so it keeps some bulk under the body.
Return the thread to the front and wrap the yarn forward, deliberately loosely, for a chunky, fuzzy body. Tie it off short of the eye.
Counter-wrap the copper wire forward over the body in open turns, tie it off, and helicopter the excess off rather than cutting it, checking there is no sharp nub left.
Back the thread off slightly so there is room for a full wet-fly head. Tie in the brown or dark ginger hen hackle from the thick end so the longest fibers come off first, and leave the stem bound in all the way up behind the eye to avoid a lump.
Take about three wraps of hackle, catch it off on the bottom, zigzag the thread through the stem to secure it, and add a tight wrap before snipping the excess.
Wet your fingers, sweep all the hackle fibers back including the ones pointing forward, and build a deliberately big wet-fly head. Whip finish toward the back of the head.
Brush the tail and body out with a piece of velcro to make them shaggy, then trim the tail to about a hook-gap length.