SBS Clarkman's [almost] all pheasant tool fly that works

[clarkman]

@Billy, I'm honestly surprised I remembered....

Anyway, I'll start off with apologies for the severe lack of professional photos, my photographer should probably be fired as he's costing me followers....hand held phone....sheesh... ...not sure how I can maintain my influencer status.

I actually prefer these in 14, but I was out. the 12s are a little better when steelhead are around as they're pretty stout.


Both the 12 and 14 will take a 2.3mm to 4.6mm slotted bead (this is a 4.6 because of the water I'm fishing mostly)...edit: sidebar: don't cheap out on slotted beads. I get these from Hareline. I've tried buying in bulk for cheaper and the holes are either way too big or too small for their size rendering them all but useless.


Now comes the pheasant. I use the under feather for this, just something that has more of a marabou flow to it.



Then the under feather of the under feather for the body.....just make it look buggy.




Any of the back feathers will do depending on what kind of mottling you want for the collar (and length).


I usually go with two wraps, you could easily just do 1.


I really like this dubbing for a ton of different trout bugs. If the rubber legs bother you, pull them out.




This dumb thing has accounted for far more trout this fall than I feel like it should....but it works.

 

[Wade Rivers]

Perfect timing. I'm on vaca in JAckson hole and the local shop has FTD material at half off. I'll look for some krap.

Cheers

 

[Matt B]

Would be better with eyes.

J/k thanks for sharing your “guide fly”! I think pheasant tail feathers have some magic visual refractive qualities that attract fish.

 

[clarkman]

Would be better with eyes.

J/k thanks for sharing your “guide fly”! I think pheasant tail feathers have some magic visual refractive qualities that attract fish.

whatever.....

Yeah, I really like the sheen on some of the feathers, that's why I chose what I did for the collar on this one.

 

[Matt B]

whatever.....

I’m big on keeping some traditions alive, even if I don’t necessarily fully believe in them.

 

[clarkman]

The funny thing about this dumb little fly is, I LOVE it with the 14 jig hook because it catches the shit out of fish (on my waters), but I LOOOOOVE it tied on the 12 and 10 of the same hook just cause I think it looks a touch better....shows what I know!

accidentally posted on the wrong thread....now it's home

 

[Tom Butler]

Thanks for posting this. When you fish it with an unweighted egg what does your leader setup most often look like? I've had the opportunity to fish below Chinook redds this fall but not getting many on the egg. Maybe they just like craws and my nymphs more. Also wondering if I might pick up more cute faces than my normal sz. 8-10's.

 

[clarkman]

Thanks for posting this. When you fish it with an unweighted egg what does your leader setup most often look like? I've had the opportunity to fish below Chinook redds this fall but not getting many on the egg. Maybe they just like craws and my nymphs more. Also wondering if I might pick up more cute faces than my normal sz. 8-10's.

I just run it off the eye of the tool fly instead of a tag above (I think that helps a ton when fishing the shallow water behind the redds), but still fishes very effectively with deeper runs. I do think that the key is to keep it short, like 6-8" off the eye. I've found that I really don't get very many tangles with this setup either over the course of a day, which I despise (probably the reason I ended up going this route). One of my friends rigs it more standard with the tool on the very bottom and catches lots of fish that way too though, so I don't know if it's actually a more effective way to rig it or not.

I'm just really liking the versatility of this particular iteration of tool fly because it also works great as a little streamer in addition to whatever they think it is dead drifted (maybe crayfish, stonefly or little hurt sculpin).

 

[Tom Butler]

I just run it off the eye of the tool fly instead of a tag above (I think that helps a ton when fishing the shallow water behind the redds), but still fishes very effectively with deeper runs. I do think that the key is to keep it short, like 6-8" off the eye. I've found that I really don't get very many tangles with this setup either over the course of a day, which I despise (probably the reason I ended up going this route). One of my friends rigs it more standard with the tool on the very bottom and catches lots of fish that way too though, so I don't know if it's actually a more effective way to rig it or not.

I'm just really liking the versatility of this particular iteration of tool fly because it also works great as a little streamer in addition to whatever they think it is dead drifted (maybe crayfish, stonefly or little hurt sculpin).

Thank you

 

[Billy]

Just one of those sexy, buggy flies that screams eat me!

Appreciate the sbs @clarkman!

 

[ggmiller]

@Billy, I'm honestly surprised I remembered....

Anyway, I'll start off with apologies for the severe lack of professional photos, my photographer should probably be fired as he's costing me followers....hand held phone....sheesh... ...not sure how I can maintain my influencer status.

I actually prefer these in 14, but I was out. the 12s are a little better when steelhead are around as they're pretty stout.
View attachment 173451

Both the 12 and 14 will take a 2.3mm to 4.6mm slotted bead (this is a 4.6 because of the water I'm fishing mostly)...edit: sidebar: don't cheap out on slotted beads. I get these from Hareline. I've tried buying in bulk for cheaper and the holes are either way too big or too small for their size rendering them all but useless.
View attachment 173452

Now comes the pheasant. I use the under feather for this, just something that has more of a marabou flow to it.
View attachment 173453
View attachment 173454

Then the under feather of the under feather for the body.....just make it look buggy.
View attachment 173455
View attachment 173456
View attachment 173457

Any of the back feathers will do depending on what kind of mottling you want for the collar (and length).
View attachment 173458

I usually go with two wraps, you could easily just do 1.
View attachment 173460

I really like this dubbing for a ton of different trout bugs. If the rubber legs bother you, pull them out.
View attachment 173461
View attachment 173463
View attachment 173466

This dumb thing has accounted for far more trout this fall than I feel like it should....but it works.

This looks like a great fly! The FTD dubbing is fantastic, also.