Soldier Palmer– from Mary Orvis Marbury’s Favorite Flies as illustrated by Charles Orvis
You won’t find this fly tied like this anywhere on the internet (at least according to a recent search)
Materials:
Hook: desired size, can be tied wet or dry
Thread: red
Body: red wool
Body hackle: brown dry less than hook gape palmered
Front hackle: brown dry 1.5x – 2x hook gape
Instructions:
Lay down a base of red thread
Tie in a dry fly hackle feather above the barb by the tip, shiny side out, should be short fibers
Tie in a strand of fine red wool yarn to the hook bend (or dub a fine red wool body); touching wraps forward to two eye lengths behind eye, tie in and clip extra
Palmer the body hackle in spiral wraps over the body; tie in, clip extra
Tie in a brown hackle, fibers 1.5 hook gap, shiny side facing out, two eye lengths behind eye; wrap front hackle, tie off, clip extra
Wrap a red thread head; whip finish; head cement
