Body Golden olive seal fur followed by red seal fur
Wing Bronze mallard
Hackle Red game hen
How to tie it
Run black Uni 8/0 onto the size 12 Kamasan B175 and bind in about half a dozen bronze mallard fibres on top of the shank for the tail. A little longer than a shank length is right here, though you can shorten it if you prefer.
Catch in the fine oval gold tinsel down the side, carrying it back along the length of the body and tidying up the rear section.
Dub golden olive seal fur and wrap it forward over about three quarters of the body. The black thread darkens the translucent seal down to a dark olive, which is what makes it such a good spring olive imitation.
Dub a bright, ideally fluorescent, red seal fur over the front quarter, packing it back hard against the olive so you get a hot band of colour, then bring the dubbing forward again.
Rib forward with the oval gold in even, tight turns and catch it off. Trim any really long fibres rather than brushing the body out - this fly should stay slim.
Roll a bronze mallard slip about four times the width you want the finished wing, fold it into quarters, and set it in as a wing reaching about a third of the way down the tail. Folding it darkens the colour nicely.
Get the slip right down against the tie-in point, touching the body, pinch it and push it down, then cut the waste away. The wing sitting up a little is fine at this stage.
Bind in a gingery red game hen hackle by the tip, fold the fibres back, expose the tip and break it away, then wrap about two turns in front of the wing.
Catch the hackle off, fold the tip back and tidy the head, then whip finish. The hackle in front pushes the wing back and down into shape.