Peacock and Partridge

Materials

• 1550 Standard Wet
  Hook
• UNI-Nylon
  Thread
• Peacock Herl
  Feather
• #1 Hun. Partridge Skin Natural
  Feather

Instructions

1. Start your thread. Clamp the hook in the vise and lay a thread base from just behind the eye down to the start of the bend.
2. Tie in the gold wire. Catch in a length of fine gold wire at the rear of the hook and let it hang back out of the way.
3. Tie in the peacock herl. Secure one or two strands of peacock herl by their tips at the rear of the hook. Two strands make a fuller body; one keeps it slim and sparse in true spider fashion.
4. Wrap the body. Twist the herl slightly and wrap it forward in close turns to form a slim body. Stop a little short of the eye to leave room for the hackle and head.
5. Counter-wrap the rib. Spiral the gold wire forward over the body in evenly spaced open turns, wrapping in the opposite direction to the herl. This segments the body and locks down the fragile herl. Tie off behind the eye and helicopter or clip the wire to break it cleanly.
6. Prepare the partridge hackle. Choose a partridge feather sized so the fibers reach roughly to the hook point but a little longer is fine. Strip the fluff from the base. Tie it in by the tip or fold the fibers back and tie it in by the stem.
7. Wrap the hackle. Take just one or two turns of partridge behind the eye, keep it sparse. Stroke the fibers back as you wrap so they sweep toward the bend. Tie off and clip the excess.
8. Finish the head. Build a small, neat thread head, whip finish, and clip the thread. Add a drop of your preferred head cement.