Abdomen Dave Whitlock SLF Red Fox Squirrel Abdomen dubbing
Thorax Dave Whitlock SLF Red Fox Squirrel Thorax dubbing
Legs Medium brown round rubber legs
Hackle Speckled brown India hen back
How to tie it
Slide a 5/32" gold slotted tungsten bead onto a size 12 Umpqua U555 jig hook. Take a good number of burnt orange 70 denier wraps right behind the bead to build a thread dam - it takes plenty with thread this fine, but the bead must not flop while you tie.
Holding the thread toward you so it forms a ramp, wrap back in roughly touching turns to the bend, which on this hook is about the barb, then bring the thread forward to just in front of the hook point and trim the excess.
Cut a piece of sand variant rabbit zonker strip a little over 3/8" long, pinch the hide together, and set the tail about half a shank long with a couple of fairly loose wraps so you can check it.
Holding the fur up and toward you, make touching wraps back over the hide to the bend, then open spiral wraps forward. Pull the hide up, twist it, and cut off the little that is left.
Lay small gold oval French tinsel on the near side, take a couple of loose wraps and pull it back, then take open spiral wraps all the way to the back of the thread base. Bring the thread back in front of the point.
Spin a thin three-inch noodle of Whitlock SLF Red Fox Squirrel Abdomen dubbing, leaving bare thread at the top, spiral back so the dubbing starts right at the rear of the thread base, then wrap forward in touching turns, overlapping each slightly for taper, and stop a full bead width behind the bead.
Spiral the oval tinsel forward, three, four, five wraps, take a turn around the thread itself, secure it with thread wraps and trim the excess.
Dub a short noodle of the Thorax colour dubbing and fill about half the remaining gap, keeping the thorax just slightly larger in diameter than the abdomen so the taper continues.
Take a 3-inch length of medium brown round rubber leg, push it against the thread, bring it up and over the hook and release it on the near side; repeat with a second piece for the far side, giving a rough X. Position them and hold with medium-tension wraps only.
Dub another short noodle of Thorax dubbing, take two or three wraps between the legs, then pull the legs forward and wrap the rest of the dubbing in front of them.
Strip all the marabou fuzz off a speckled brown India hen back feather, hold the first quarter inch in hackle pliers and pull the remaining fibers to the rear to make a triangular tie-in point. Bind it on the near side behind the bead with a couple of loose wraps, then pull the feather back so the thread rides over the fibers rather than the fragile stem. Take about three and a half wraps, sweeping fibers back each turn, then wrap over the bare stem and clip it.
Dub one last very thin, short noodle in front of the hackle, whip finish behind the bead with four or five turns, cement the wraps behind the bead, then pull the legs straight up and trim them against your fingers so they cannot foul in the bend.