Wire Dark green (forest green) (Medium (or brassie), one length)
Yarn Light green yarn (One strand teased from a 3-ply piece)
Hen soft hackle Brown or ginger hen soft hackle (1 feather with long fibers)
Head cement Clear head cement (1-2 coats)
How to tie it
Start black 70 denier thread and lay a base back to the start of the bend, stopping where the barb would be.
Tie in three or four pheasant tail fibers for the tail, at least one full shank-length long. Take one wrap, check the length and position, then add a couple of locking turns and trim the butts.
Tie in the dark green wire along the near side of the shank and bind it down the full length of the shank back to the tail tie-in point. Running it the whole way keeps the body even.
Separate one strand from a three-ply piece of light green yarn and tie it in at the tail. Twist or stroke the strand tight, then wrap it forward in a single pass of touching turns to the 85% point, covering all the black thread. Tie off.
Wrap the green wire forward as a rib in fairly tight, evenly spaced open turns over the yarn body, tie off with a couple of wraps behind and in front, and helicopter the wire off. Bury the cut end under a few thread wraps.
Prepare a brown hen soft hackle with long fibers: tie it in at the front with the concave side toward the hook, bending the soft stem back so it locks in place.
Take two full turns of hackle with pliers, stroking the fibers rearward as you wrap. Two turns gives plenty of fibers on this feather. Tie off and trim the tip.
Sweep the fibers back and take one wrap up onto the base of the fibers to set the sweep, then smooth out a small head with a four- or five-turn whip finish and one or two coats of head cement.