Restocking The Boxes: Winter Tying Sessions NO.3 The Pheasant Tails

So for the third installment of our winter tying sessions, I am

going to show you three pheasant tails you should not be with out for the 2019 season. By now most of you know that my patterns are simple dressings its the I prefer to tie them and I find this style of nymphs most effective. I am convinced that tying complex nymphs for the majority of occasions is not going to increase your catch rate; where as tying good simple, effective nymphs that have a purpose and a rational behind the tying will be time far better spent this winter. 

Relating back to my last blog on Hares Ears and as I mentioned in it growing up on mountain streams those nymphs were very productive and they were my first choice, especially if I was considering  between a hares ear or a pheasant tail nymph. While pheasant tails did catch me some fish they were not as prominent as the hares ear for that type of water. Over the years though and due to moving to the mid lands with different river systems to fish; the Pheasant tails grew with popularity on my casts and now they are a real go to fish catcher through out the season for me.

Here is three of my favorite Pheasant Tails that have proven them selves time and time again for me: 

Nymph No. 1 

Hook: Dohiku Jig 20-16 
Bead: Copper Slotted 2mm-3.5mm
Thread: Piscari fly fine strong Kevlar thread
Tail: Coq DeLeon 
Rib: Copper wire 
Body: Natural Pheasant Tail 
Thorax Dubbing: Hends Spectra dubbing No. 6
This is my best and most productive Pheasant Tail and so simple you can run these out fast. They will work great on a Euro nymphing rig and also are really effective under a dry fly as dry dropper. When myself and a buddy of mine did the 100 river challenge a few years ago this nymph completed the first fifty rivers. I would have used it for the second fifty but I just ran out of them and we had no time to do any tying. It worked on all types and sizes of river under the dry and straight nymphing. 

Nymph No.2 

Hook: Dohiku 611 20-16 
Bead: Copper countersunk 2mm-3.5mm
Thread: Piscari fly fine strong Kevlar 
Tail: Pheasant Tail Natural  
Rib: Copper wire 
Body: Natural Pheasant Tail 
Back: Pearl Mylar (different sizes for the different size nymphs)
Thorax Dubbing: Hends Spectra dubbing No. 46 (cover with pearl Mylar also) Also a pinch of Fox Squirrel behind the hot spot brushed out well.
Hot Spot: Tommi-fly Uv Reflective Thread no. 12 
A little more in this flash back nymph than the first but again relatively easy to tie. This in its larger sizes is a great nymph on the point of a euro rig and you can add some lead in the too in the under body to help you reach the depths you need. 

Nymph No.3 

Hook: Dohiku Jig 20-16 
Bead: Gold Slotted 2mm-3.5mm
Thread: Piscari fly fine strong Kevlar 
Tail: Coq DeLeon 
Hot spot: Glo brite No.4 or 5 
Rib: Copper wire 
Body: Natural Pheasant Tail 
Thorax Dubbing: Mixed dubbing (explained below)
Hackle: two pinches of CDC natural one tied in each side of the nymph. 
For this cracking nymph i use a dubbing some people call Peters special Dubbing and basically how I came across this was one day when I was cleaning out a box where I kept bags of dubbing there on the bottom of the box had gathered different fibers of a multitude of dubbings. It looked interesting so I blended it in a coffee grinder and there it was. I have been using this dubbing for several years now and fine it fantastic. 
When I am fishing this fly I often rub in some dry fly treatment on the CDC it give the fly a realistic look in the water trapping micro bubbles to the hackles. 
I hope you have enjoyed reading this post and enjoy tying these flies; if you would like to stock up your boxes for this coming year make sure and contact me through facebook or email. If you have any questions or queries please feel free to contact me. Also make sure and check out my website www.piscari-fly.com for all your tungsten beads, Dohiku barbless hooks, Tommi-fly products,the amazing Syndicate Fly Rods, Reels, leaders and much more. Thanks for reading.
Also check out my new YouTube channel for all my latest tying and hot tips. 

My best Pheasant Tail Nymphs from 2013

I often have the debate with friends which classic nymph is better, the Pheasant tail or the Hares ear nymph. For me I tend to lean towards hares ears and they are mostly my go to nymph in any fishery. I have great confidence and belief in these flies and they continuously produce good catches for me . Saying that a lot of anglers have the same confidence in Pheasant tails, and I do share that belief, just might not reach for my box of PTs as quick as my hares ears if I am struggling to get some fish. However as you can see i always carry a nice selection of phesant tails with me. 

It was in Frank Sawyers’ book 'Nymphs and the Trout' first published in 1958 where he describes the method of tying and fishing this nymph. The design of the fly is significantly different from other flies in that Sawyer did not use thread to construct the fly, instead opting to use very fine copper wire. This has two effects; it adds weight to the fly, enabling it to be fished deeper than similar patterns, and adds a subtle brightness to an otherwise plain fly.
He twisted the wire and pheasant tail fibers around one another, and wrapped them forward together, forming the thorax and abdomen. A few good variations have been developed over the years, but when you strip them away, it's still Sawyer's elegantly simple, devastatingly effective nymph. The Pheasant tail nymph is and has been sense the publishing of Franks book globally renowned as one of the greatest flies of all time. Like most dressing the original pattern has undergone many changes and developments due the production and addition of many synthetic materials to the existing natural feather that is from the tail of the cock pheasant. 

I grew up in the country side of Co Wicklow, raring and hunting pheasants is a part of the way of life there, this meaning that I had an abundance of tail feathers all different in colour and size to tie these nymphs. 

With this simple material on its own and a bit of copper wire that I used to get from the back of old tv's you could create a cracking fly that will catch a lot of fish. With the addition of some other materials these nymphs can imitate many forms of the natural food for trout and con even the cleverest of brownies into a take. Here are some of the nymphs that have worked really well for me this season:

Hook: Size 14 Hends Jig hook with a flat lead under-body & 3mm gold tungsten slotted bead
Thread: Red twist tying thread
Tail: Ginger cock hackle fibers 
Tag: Red holographic tinsel
Rib: Fine gold wire 
Body: Natural pheasant tail Dubbing for the collar: Natural squirrel with a turn of Hends UV ice dubbing and brushed out well, finish with some of the red thread showing behind the bead.

Hook: Size 16 Hends BL200
Flat lead under-body & 2.5mm gold tungsten bead
Thread: Olive twist tying thread
Tail:  Ginger cock hackle fibers.
Tag: Glo-brite no 5.
Rib: Fine gold wire. 
Body: Natural pheasant tail
 Collar: Hends Spectra dubbing no 46.

Hook: Size 14 Hends Grubber.  hook with a Flat lead under-body & 2.5mm gold tungsten bead.
Thread: Red twist tying thread.
Tail:  Ginger cock hackle fibers.
Rib: Fine gold wire.
Back & Thorax cover: Pearl flat tinsel brought up the full length of the nymph.
Body: Natural pheasant tail.
Thorax: Hends Spectra dubbing no 46 with some of the red thread showing behind the bead.

These three nymphs are not that far apart in their dressings but yet I do find that with pheasant tail nymphs even the slightest of difference in the dressing of the fly can be very important in trying to match what the trout are looking for.
I hope you enjoyed this post and if you would like to see some more flies that I have found to be productive you can follow this blog by putting your email in the follow box on the right. Thank you for taking your time to read this.