Hackle Whiting Farms hen hackle, dark olive (1 feather, about twice the hook gape)
Coating Solarez Bone Dry (one small dab)
How to tie it
Mount the Daiichi 1550 size 14 and start the yellow thread leaving an eye gap of clear space behind the eye, holding the tag end up on top of the shank. That is as much bulk as this fly wants; keep it slim throughout.
Wrap back to the hook point and trim out the tag.
Wrap the thread body: go down two wraps, then come back up over your own wraps. Let the bobbin turn as you go so the thread cords up, which gives the body a slight segmented look. If your thread lies flat, twist it deliberately.
Stop two eye lengths behind the eye, leaving room for the thorax and hackle.
Trim the thick end of a rusty orange peacock herl away and tie the herl in on top of the shank, advancing the thread forward over it so no wraps are wasted.
Palmer the herl forward seven or eight wraps to just short of the eye gap you left, building a decent clump. It needs the bulk to support the soft hackle.
Trap the herl with a wrap behind and a couple of wraps back into it, then trim. Keep the surface between the peacock and the eye flat, because the hackle wraps onto it and an uneven base shows.
Select a hen hackle about twice the hook gape. Strip the fibres off one side, which lets you take more turns without over-dressing, and shape the tie-in point into a narrow triangle so no bulk builds.
Tie the hackle in and wrap over the tag right up to the eye, leaving the thread there.
Wrap the hackle. The first turn matters most: get the fibres concaving backwards from the start. Take three, four or five touching turns with the stem, preening the fibres back as you come round so they stack in front of one another.
Hold the feather towards you, wrap the thread up and over to trap it, then sweep everything back and build the head with wraps starting right behind the eye and working backwards. Wrapping backwards pinches the hackle turns and pushes the last of them back into a neat cone.
Whip finish the same way, starting at the eye and working back towards the hackle, three turns, and trim.
Slide the scissor tips carefully down against the thread to trim out the hackle stem.
Put a small dab of Solarez Bone Dry on the head, keeping well clear of the eye, and cure for ten to fifteen seconds.