Thread Black Semperfli Nano Silk 12/0 (wing), Uni 70 denier nylon (body)
Materials
Peacock herl Natural peacock herl (a dozen long strands)
Rabbit strip (wing) Black rabbit strip (twice the straight shank length)
Rabbit strip (collar) Black rabbit strip (about 1 inch)
Head cement
How to tie it
On a size 4 Mustad SL53UBL, start Nano Silk 12/0 where the return eye ends, wrap along the straight part of the shank, whip finish level with the hook point and move that thread aside. Setting the wing thread first and parking it means you never have to fight the rabbit strip and the body thread at the same time.
Start the Uni 70 denier at the front, build a thread base, then secure a dozen long peacock herls by their evened tips from beneath the hook and wrap the thread back to the start.
Wrap the herl forward as a rope-like body to the starting point, secure and trim. Peacock gives a leech the iridescent sheen that flat dubbing cannot.
Prepare the wing: a black rabbit strip about twice the length of the straight shank. Trim the hide flush with the fur, then taper the hide at the tie-in end. And make sure the fur is swept to one side before you cut so you slice hide, not fur. A tapered hide is what lets the wing sit flat instead of kicking up.
Secure the tip of the rabbit strip in front of the herl body, build up, whip finish and trim.
Pull the strip back over the body, part the fur exactly where the parked wing thread sits, and take about a dozen wraps in the same spot over the hide and bare hook. Whip finish, cement, and brush the parted fur back in with the rest of the wing. That single tie-down point is what stops the strip fouling around the bend on the cast.
Start fresh Uni 70 in front of the wing. Pull the fibres of a one-inch rabbit strip out at right angles, insert it into a split waxed thread, trim the hide away, spread the fur along the thread, spin it into a brush, then stroke all fibres to one side and wrap it forward from the base of the wing edge to edge. Whip finish and cement. A simple three-part fly with a huge amount of movement.