Start the Brown or 70 Denier thread — Josh runs red thread for the body work here — on a size 12 dry-fly hook and wrap back only as far as the hook point. Stop there: any farther round the bend and the body material will slide back and unravel no matter how much glue you use.
Tail: strip about a dozen Brown Hackle Fibers from an old saddle, measure them slightly longer than the hook, and bind them in on the flat of the shank right at the hook point. Run the butts forward and use them as the body taper.
Wings: stack a clump of Calf Body Hair tips-first, transfer it to your fingers, and measure it slightly longer than the overall length of the hook. Take a few secure wraps, work back slightly, then cut the butts at a slight angle on the way back so they feed the body taper — do this with any non-compressible wing fiber.
Bind in a strand of Smolt Blue Krystal Flash at the hook point and run the thread forward. Add a touch of Zap over the tie-in: it protects the strand from a fish's teeth and keeps the first couple of wraps from walking on you, because the flash is slick.
Wrap the Krystal Flash forward over the rear third of the body — Royal Wulff style, in thirds — and tie it off. Leave the tag long and fold it out of the way rather than snipping it.
Build the middle third as a band of red thread, then add a touch more glue over the back edge to lock it and clean the section up.
Bring the Krystal Flash back over the middle band and wrap the front third to complete the body, secure it, whip finish, and change over to the brown thread.
Stand the calf hair up, split it into two halves, and figure-8 through the middle to divide the wings. Snip out any stragglers.
Dub Brown Superfine Dubbing behind and, more importantly, in front of the wings. The front dubbing fills the drop left by the tie-in wraps, so the hackle has no slope to slide down and the wings stay upright and divided.
Hackle: undersize it — a 16, or a 14 at most, on a size 12 hook. Tie the Brown hackle in on the far side of the shank so it seats securely, then take two turns behind the wing and three in front.
Whip finish before you trim the hackle, then clip the excess, add a four-turn whip finish, and build the head up a little.