Hackle Grizzly or Brown Whiting High and Dry Rooster Cape
How to tie it
Mount the Tiemco 5212 dry fly hook and start the black thread. Stack a clump of deer hair or elk hair to even the tips.
Measure the tail at about a quarter of the shank, trim the butt ends to length and bind it in at the front of the tail position, then wrap the thread down the shank over the butts and forward again to smooth out the lumps and bumps.
Tie the red UNI single strand floss in where the tail is bound, wrap it back and then forward again, pulling the kinks and twists out as you go. Take care not to nick the floss on the hook point at the back.
Stack a second clump of deer or elk hair for the wing and measure it so it reaches just past the body. Trim it to length, set it with a loose wrap, then bite through the butt ends a few times so it cannot twist, and follow with a few tight wraps hard against the hair.
Twist a short piece of lead wire around the wing to hold it down and out of the way while you work the front of the fly.
Post the White McFlylon at the middle of the body: several tight wraps, gather the fibres up together, then creep the thread up the post and back down a couple of times, adding wraps right in front of and behind the base so it cannot twist or shift. Build the post two to three hook-eye lengths high - taller than you would think.
Measure the grizzly hackle to reach back about half the wing length, tie it in on the hook shank first with tight wraps, carry it to the post, then draw it up with the post and creep the thread up and back down to lock it.
Bring the thread to just in front of the wing and bind a grizzly barred rubber leg on each side with a few tight wraps. Sweep the legs and the wing back together and hold the lot with the lead wire.
Tie three or four strands of peacock herl in by the very tips and wrap a small ball of thorax, then capture the herl and trim it out.
Jump the thread to just behind the parachute post and let it hang. Start the hackle around the post - the first wrap is the trickiest - and work down the post, then hold the feather aside and take the thread under as many hackle fibres as you can before trimming the stem.
Whip finish underneath the parachute post with a long-reach tool, creeping up under it as though the post were not there, then trim the thread.
Undo the wire, fluff the legs back out and pull the wing back up. Trim the post tall enough to see, then pull all four legs down evenly and trim, leaving the rear pair longer than the front pair.