Pheasent Tail Simplicity
- Thread starter flybill
- Start date
Simple is good. I don't have the attention span for complexGood video!! Us fly guys love to keep it simple..not!
That is a killer fly. I used to tie those with a darker hackle (might have been grouse). Looked better to me, the fish probably don’t care. The combo of pheasant tail and peacock just seems to work. I’m not sure if the fake peacock dubbing is quite as effective as the real thing, but it’s so much easier to work with.
I sometimes use real peacock (wound around the tying thread for strength). I use the more brownish partridge feathers. Here's one I just tied, a 2 minute tie (size 12).
See also:
I buy PT tail pieces that have 3 or 4 feathers still attached at the bottom. They have fibers long enough for me. By a "properly tied" PT nymph, do you mean one using copper wire for the 'thread' and lots of doubling back of the PT fibers?
I'd love to see some pictures of those! My PT and wire nymphs look like crap!
I have mentioned this additional PT variation before that has fooled hundreds of fish. It's my confidence fly with a T-rod.
The Takayama Sakasa Kebari is a "reverse spider" wet fly for highstick tightline presentations typically tied with a thread body and no tail on a straight shank hook. This variation uses a PT body with copper wire ribbing for reinforcement and a segmented look tied on a scud or lighter wire Klinkhammer hook. It also has the PT fly pattern's Peacock Herl thorax reinforced by spinning it on the thread, or using Olive Ice dubbing that looks better ("buggy") after its picked out or chewed on by fish.
The Takayama Sakasa Kebari is a "reverse spider" wet fly for highstick tightline presentations typically tied with a thread body and no tail on a straight shank hook. This variation uses a PT body with copper wire ribbing for reinforcement and a segmented look tied on a scud or lighter wire Klinkhammer hook. It also has the PT fly pattern's Peacock Herl thorax reinforced by spinning it on the thread, or using Olive Ice dubbing that looks better ("buggy") after its picked out or chewed on by fish.
I will also mention that I have variations of variegated hackle for different types of water. For slower deeper water Partridge or hen Grizzly moves when manipulated (twitching, upstream - downstream & sideways jigging, etc). For higher gradient shallow pocket water a Griz rooster hackle can help slow the fly down and help me keep it in an eddy for a bit longer.
To be honest, I don't change flies at every gradient change. And hen Griz seems to be a good middle of the road.
I don't know man, it looks pretty crappy to me!I doubt they look like crap.. I'll do some testing with them sometime!!
Looks like a cased Caddis, the kind that makes cases from pine needles, like these
Caddisfly Species Brachycentrus americanus (American Grannoms) https://www.troutnut.com/hatch/1756/Caddisfly-Brachycentrus-americanus-American-Grannom
Cowlitz Bottomfeeder
Life of the Party
I did a bunch of upland game hunting when I was younger and found that pheasant tails from mature birds are far superior to the young birds which are raised for the commercial market. Years later I gathered a few road kills along the way to Dry Falls.