Step 1

Mount a hook in the vise and cover the shank with thread.

Step 2

Prepare a bunch of moose body hair for tail. Tail length should be equal to the length of the fly body (abdomen + hackle base).

Step 3

Tie in the tail and cut the waste.

Step 4

Prepare a bunch of body hairs from calf. The bunch should be even in the tips and thick enough to make two wings.

Step 5

Tie in the bunch tightly and not too close to the hook eye. The wing will take up some extra space forward when it’s raised and there should still be room left for both hackle and a head.

Step 6

Bend the wing upwards as hard as possible. Press a little against the base of the wing to flatten it.

Step 7

Build up a little clump with tying thread, immediately against the wing base. It’s only supposed to keep it flattened, so it doesn’t have to be a really thick one. The wings will be raised more later.

Step 8

From above: Using your thumb, press hard against the base of the bunch so that the hairs spread out from side to side. This way makes it easy to determine the centre so we can split the bunch into two equally thick wings.

Step 9

Split the bunch with your bodkin and make a diagonal thread wrap forward between the wings.

Step 10

Make another diagonal thread wrap between them but this time from front to rear, a so called "figure 8" wrap. We are going to divide them further, but this is enough to keep them in two parts.

Step 11

The thread has again been brought forward between the wings and two counter clockwise wraps have been made around the base of the wing on the far side of the fly. This gathers the hairs more efficiently than only figure 8 wraps. The thread has then been brought from behind the wing to the near side of the hook. In other words: To the wrong side of the hook.

Step 12

Lift the thread and pull it backwards in an angle towards you. By changing pressure and angle of the thread you can now easily adjust how much and in what angle you want to raise the wing.

Step 13

When you are happy with the angle, bring the thread down on the near side of the hook, keeping the pressure on it. Make a wrap in the "wrong" direction so that the wing stays in the angle you desired.

Step 14

Now we are going to do the same thing, only in the other direction. Lift the thread straight up on the far side of the hook.

Step 15

Bring the thread diagonally forward between the wings, this time towards you.

Step 16

Immediately make a couple of wraps around the wing base, this time clockwise.

Step 17

Adjust the angle of the wing by pulling the thread backwards in an angle from you.

Step 18

When you’re happy with it, bring the thread down on the far side of the hook and secure with another wrap. Now the thread is back on the "right" side and we can continue to wrap as usual again.

Step 19

To even out some of the bulk from the tail, we will cut the waste from the wing material at the same point as we cut the waste from the tail material.

Step 20

Well I said "some of it". Obviously it didn’t turn out perfect this time, but it is still much more even than it would have been if the materials hadn’t been meeting eachother under the thread.

Step 21

Tie in two peacock herls in their tip ends.

Step 22

Wrap the herls together with the thread 2-3 turns forward and tie them down somewhere above the hook point. Continue to wrap the thread forward 2-3 mm’s in touching turns, covering the herls. Leave the herls hanging.

Step 23

Tie in a piece of floss, not too thick as it’s going to be wrapped in two layers.

Step 24

Wrap the floss back to the edge of the peacock herl and then wrap it back to the tie-in point. Tie it down and cut the waste.

Step 25

Make a second herl section in the same way as the rear one. Save a little space behind the wing for the hackle. This kind of body is what makes it into a "Royal". The very same herl/floss/herl construction can be found also on other flies, such as Royal Trude, Royal Coachman and Royal Stimulator.

Step 26

Tie in a brown rooster hackle with the dull side up.

Step 27

Wrap the hackle 2-3 turns behind the wing followed by 3-4 turns in front of them. Tie it down and cut the waste.

Done...

A little head and a whip-finish later… and it’s done. Only the looks of these makes it worth to have a few in the box. It sure is a beautiful pattern and they give some extra color to the flybox.