The Partridge & Orange
Step 1
First clamp your chosen hook into the jaws of the vice. I've opted for a Kamasan
B160 because of it's short shank and wide gape. Normally I'd use a size 12 but due to the limitations of my digicam I'm using a size 6, for the sake of clarity.
Catch on the orange thread (Persall's silk if you're a purist) and catch it in
with a couple of trapping wraps. Trim the tag-end.
Step 2
Take
a hackle from the shoulder of a Partridge wing. The fibres of the hackle
should be between 1.5 and 2 times the fly's body length.
Prepare the hackle by stripping the down from the base of the feather, and
then hold it by the tip and stroke the fibres backwards, away from the tip.
Step 3
Catch in the tip of the feather between the thread and the hook-shank, and
bind it down with 2 or 3 wraps. Trim the excess and then wind the thread
down the body until it's level with a point between the barb and the point
of the hook. Next, run the thread back up the shank until it's at the point where the hackle is tied in. Make one turn in front of the hackle.
Step 4
Take hold of the hackle stalk with your hackle pliers and make 1.5 or 2
turns around the hook-shank. Use your own judgement as to how much hackle
is needed; however, make 2 turns the maximum - spider patterns are supposed
to be sparse.
Make a couple of turns of thread over the unused hackle and then trim the
remainding hackle as closely as possible.
Step 5
Whip-finish the fly neatly, add a drop of varnish to the head and you should have something similar
to the fly shown opposite.