Tail Whiting Farms Brahma hen fibres (6-10, in a V)
Body Nature's Spirit peccary flank (1 long hair)
Body coating Solarez Bone Dry UV resin (1 very thin coat)
Thorax Brahma hen fluff and fibres in a dubbing loop (1 small bunch)
Hackle Whiting Farms Brahma hen saddle (1 feather)
How to tie it
Soak the peccary hairs in water for ten minutes before you start. The hair is coarse and the tips still like to split like a biot; soaking is what stops it.
Mount a Stealth C10 and run tan waxed thread back to just past the barb. Trim the thread out and reposition the hook nose-down. It is not compulsory, but tying the tail in is far easier when the bend is not buried in the vice.
Take a shoulder feather from a Brahma hen cape, preen the fibres back to where they start to even up, snip the tip out, then pull three to five fibres forward on each side to leave a V with a short stem.
Tie the stem in where the thread ended with three or four wraps (no more, or you cannot pull it through) and draw it through to set the tail. Keep it on top of the shank.
Bind the stem forward to about where the body will finish, then bring the thread back in touching wraps. The peccary shows every lump, so keep this underbody smooth.
Tie the peccary in by the tip with the flatter side presented ready to wrap. Use hackle pliers for the first turn and be careful not to pull the tip straight out.
Once the first wrap is set, take touching wraps the whole way forward to the thread, leaving an eye length clear. Every hair bars differently, dark to cream and back to dark, so no two bodies come out the same.
Tie off with a triple lock because the material is thick: one wrap behind, two in front, then repeat, plus a couple of securing wraps.
Brush a very thin coat of Solarez Bone Dry over the body and rotate the hook as you cure it. Thin is the whole point, too much and you get a clear scud shell rather than a smooth, durable quill body. Keep it off the tail.
For the thorax, strip a few straight fibres and some fluff from the same Brahma feather, keeping them aligned, and lay them in a dubbing loop. Trim any stem out with genuinely sharp scissors or they will shift out of alignment. Spread the fibres, then spin.
Wrap the loop as a thorax. The fluff wrapped over itself makes a dub ball, and the longer fibres give a second, inner soft hackle that flows when wet and props the front hackle out.
Tie off with a couple of tidy wraps, leaving a smooth gap for the front feather. Prep a Brahma hen saddle into a triangle and tie it in with two wraps behind, then pull it back over itself and lock it hard. These pop out more than most.
Wrap the hackle, preening the fibres back as you go, building a thick front that pushes water on the swing.
For any straggler fibres pointing forward, step them back with your fingers and put a crease in them. Tie off in front and behind, take a couple of wraps and whip finish a small head.