Hook Standard nymph / wet fly hook, #8-12 (tied on a #12)
Thread Black 8/0
Materials
Rib Copper brassie-size wire (One long strand of brassie-size copper wire, doubled to make two ribs)
Rear body Black rear body (Small clump of black skunk tail hair (or dyed black bucktail))
Front body White front body (Small clump of white skunk tail base (or white bucktail), about 1.5 in long)
Hackle Black hackle (One black hen feather, about 3 in)
How to tie it
Mount a #12 nymph hook and lay a base of black thread from behind the eye back to the start of the bend.
Bring the thread forward to the 50% point and catch in a long piece of brassie-size copper wire with three wraps; fold the forward end back over itself so you have two strands lying together, then bind both strands back to the bend so they sit on top of each other. Smooth the step down with a few extra thread wraps.
Cut a clump of skunk tail with black tips, tie it in at the 65% point with the tips pointing forward, then bind the butts back to the bend with open wraps.
Twist the black fibers into a loose rope and wrap them forward like a pheasant tail body to the 65% point, building a little taper as you go; tie off and trim, snipping any fibers that broke.
Take a clump from the white base of the skunk tail, tie it in at the 65% point and take two or three wraps of the white forward to fill the front third of the body, keeping it slightly thicker than the black section; tie off, trim and add a couple of locking wraps.
Lift the two wire strands: wrap the first four or five evenly spaced turns forward in the same direction the hair was wrapped, secure with two or three wraps and helicopter it off.
Counter-wrap the second wire strand forward so it criss-crosses the first, locking the skunk hair down; secure and break it off.
Prep a black hen feather with a small V-notch at the tie-in point, tie it in at the 90% point, fold the stem back and lock it in, then snip the tip off.
Take two or three wraps of black hen hackle with pliers, tie off and snip the stem as close as you can.
Build a small soft-hackle head, whip finish and add a drop of head cement.