Pheasant Tail Dry Fly.Skues
Fly of the Month 12.24 - Pheasant Tail Dry Fly
What insect does a fly pattern tied using Pheasant tail represent? The Pheasant Tail fly patterns are a generic imitation of a mayfly, caddisfly or midge. The Pheasant Tail Dry Fly is intended to specifically imitate a blue-winged olive spinner. The use of Pheasant tail in a fly pattern has evolved to be many different flies including a more complex nymph, a wet fly, a dry fly and a variant or spinner in this case. The Pheasant Tail Dry uses hackle tips for wings. The Pheasant Tail Wet uses duck quill for the wings. The Pheasant Tail Soft Hackle uses partridge for a soft wing-like collar. The Pheasant Tail Parachute and Pheasant Tail Emerger uses a wingpost. The Pheasant Tail Variant and the Pheasant Tail Spinner has no wings.
I digress to the nymphs only for background. Created by Frank Sawyer in the 1930s to fish the chalk streams in the south of England, various versions of his original Pheasant Tail Nymph is used on other rivers and streams across the world and is a killer. Frank was employed by The Fishing Association in Wiltshire, England for forty-one years as the Riverkeeper along the upper Avon. Sawyer’s original nymph fly pattern was tied using only two materials: copper wire and fibers from the tail feather of a pheasant. The copper used as weight and, substituted as thread.
Frank Sawyer's Pheasant Tail Nymph
Hook: 2X Nymph, Size 14, 16, 18
Tail: Male Ringneck Pheasant Center tail
Underbody: Extra Fine Copper Wire.
Abdomen: Extra Fine Copper wire wrapped with Male Ringneck Pheasant Center Tail fibers
Thorax: Male Ringneck Pheasant Center Tail Fibers over a larger shaped thorax of wrapped copper wire
Wingcase: Male Ringneck Pheasant Center Tail Fibers folded over 2 times
Note: Only 2 materials, long Pheasant tail fibers from the center tail of a male Pheasant and very fine copper wire
A true classic fly pattern, the Pheasant Tail Nymph originated in England in the 1930s and came over to America in the 1950s and has been a favorite fish catcher ever since. The American Pheasant Tail Nymph uses Pheasant tail fibers for legs, turkey for the wingcase and peacock herl for the thorax. In general, the Pheasant Tail Nymph imitates various aquatic insects in their nymph or larval stage, primarily mayflies, but also caddisflies and midges. Its slender profile, natural coloration, and subtle movement make it an effective representation of these insects.
American Pheasant Tail Nymph
Hook: Nymph, #14-18
Weight: 0.015 or 0.020 diameter
Thread: Brown
Tail: Pheasant tail fibers
Rib: Copper wire
Body: Pheasant tail fibers
Thorax: Peacock herl
Wingcase: Pheasant tail fibers
Legs: Pheasant tail fibers
So again, what insect does a dry fly pattern tied using Pheasant tail represent? The Pheasant Tail Dry Fly is intended to specifically imitate a blue-winged olive spinner. Another English fly fisher, G. E. M. [George] Skues, was already tying a version of the Pheasant Tail Soft Hackle. These English patterns utilized Pheasant tail for both the thorax and the body. The Soft Hackles fell out of favor with the writings of F. M. Halford in the 1880's proclaiming the superior performance of dry flies by matching the hatching insects on the water with a fly of similar color and size.
G. E. M. Skues’ book The Way of a Trout with a Fly has a story about the Pheasant Tail fly: “On May 11, [1910] I found my friend [who was visiting Cornwell] on the water, not exactly displeased with himself over a basket of two and a half brace, all of them victims of the Pheasant Tail. That night I dressed some more of them for my friend and for a guest I had brought down with me, and one for myself.
I spent the following morning without using the pattern for some time. Then it occurred to me to try it, and I got a trout of two pounds two ounces. A bit later my guest got a perfect picture of a trout of two pounds with his example, and before I left at 4:30 I got another trout of one pound nine ounces with the same pattern, while my friend owned to it his brace of trout. I left him attempting to negotiate a trout of two and a half pounds or so.
During an admirable procession of red spinners coming down the water, taking with that head and back fin and tail sort of rise which, to the initiated, indicates spinner-taking. ... Particular, in the long hot evenings of July, August, and September, when the blue-winged olive is on, and the deep ruddy brown sherry spinner is plentiful.” - G. E. M. Skues
Skues set out to imitate a blue-winged olive spinner at the point where the olive body had turned to rust. No upright wings necessary, simply a fly built using hackle to float in the surface film. There are a number of version of the Pheasant Tail Dry. Skues’ fly pattern actually predates the Sawyer nymph as Skues mostly likely derived his fly pattern from the Pheasant Tail Wet or Pheasant Tail Soft Hackle flies used in the 1800s. Presented are four fly patterns that reflect the variations with the original dry. The featured Pheasant Tail Dry Fly is the original fly pattern coming from G. E. M. Skues:
[Aussie] Pheasant Tail Dry
Hook: Rede River dry fly, Size 14
Tail: Coq de Leon (CDL) hackle fibres.
Rib: Fine copper wire.
Body: Cock Pheasant tail fibres,
tied 'Kite's Imperial' style with a thorax and wing case.
Hackle: Red Game cock hackle.
Pheasant Tail Variant [Dry Fly]
Dry Pheasant Tail Variant
Hook: #12 Dry fly hook
Thread: 8/0 Rust Uni-thread or equivalent
Tail: Badger rooster hackle fibers (brown or variant hackle may be substituted )
Rib: Fine silver wire
Body: Pheasant rooster tail fibers
Hackle: Badger rooster hackle fibers (brown or variant hackle may be substituted)
Head: Whip-finish and head cement
Fly of the Month 12.24
Pheasant Tail Dry Fly
Fly Name [G. E. M. Skues’] Pheasant Tail Dry Fly
Hook 10, 12, 14
Tread Hot orange silk
Whisks (hackle) 3 strands, honey dun cock’s shoulder hackle
Ribbing Fine bright gold wire, several turns(to secure the herls from being broken by the teeth of the trout)
Body 3 or 4 strands of herl(from the ruddy part of the center feather of a cock pheasant tail
Wings A sharp sparkling golden-dun cock’s hackle of high quality
Originated by G. E. M. Scues, early-1900s
Directions:
Pheasant Tail Dry Fly
What insect does a fly pattern tied using Pheasant tail represent? The Pheasant Tail fly patterns are a generic imitation of a mayfly, caddisfly or midge. The Pheasant Tail Dry Fly is intended to specifically imitate a blue-winged olive spinner. The use of Pheasant tail in a fly pattern has evolved to be many different flies including a more complex nymph, a wet fly, a dry fly and a variant or spinner in this case. The Pheasant Tail Dry uses hackle tips for wings. The Pheasant Tail Wet uses duck quill for the wings. The Pheasant Tail Soft Hackle uses partridge for a soft wing-like collar. The Pheasant Tail Parachute and Pheasant Tail Emerger uses a wingpost. The Pheasant Tail Variant and the Pheasant Tail Spinner has no wings.
I digress to the nymphs only for background. Created by Frank Sawyer in the 1930s to fish the chalk streams in the south of England, various versions of his original Pheasant Tail Nymph is used on other rivers and streams across the world and is a killer. Frank was employed by The Fishing Association in Wiltshire, England for forty-one years as the Riverkeeper along the upper Avon. Sawyer’s original nymph fly pattern was tied using only two materials: copper wire and fibers from the tail feather of a pheasant. The copper used as weight and, substituted as thread.
Frank Sawyer's Pheasant Tail Nymph
Hook: 2X Nymph, Size 14, 16, 18
Tail: Male Ringneck Pheasant Center tail
Underbody: Extra Fine Copper Wire.
Abdomen: Extra Fine Copper wire wrapped with Male Ringneck Pheasant Center Tail fibers
Thorax: Male Ringneck Pheasant Center Tail Fibers over a larger shaped thorax of wrapped copper wire
Wingcase: Male Ringneck Pheasant Center Tail Fibers folded over 2 times
Note: Only 2 materials, long Pheasant tail fibers from the center tail of a male Pheasant and very fine copper wire
A true classic fly pattern, the Pheasant Tail Nymph originated in England in the 1930s and came over to America in the 1950s and has been a favorite fish catcher ever since. The American Pheasant Tail Nymph uses Pheasant tail fibers for legs, turkey for the wingcase and peacock herl for the thorax. In general, the Pheasant Tail Nymph imitates various aquatic insects in their nymph or larval stage, primarily mayflies, but also caddisflies and midges. Its slender profile, natural coloration, and subtle movement make it an effective representation of these insects.
American Pheasant Tail Nymph
Hook: Nymph, #14-18
Weight: 0.015 or 0.020 diameter
Thread: Brown
Tail: Pheasant tail fibers
Rib: Copper wire
Body: Pheasant tail fibers
Thorax: Peacock herl
Wingcase: Pheasant tail fibers
Legs: Pheasant tail fibers
So again, what insect does a dry fly pattern tied using Pheasant tail represent? The Pheasant Tail Dry Fly is intended to specifically imitate a blue-winged olive spinner. Another English fly fisher, G. E. M. [George] Skues, was already tying a version of the Pheasant Tail Soft Hackle. These English patterns utilized Pheasant tail for both the thorax and the body. The Soft Hackles fell out of favor with the writings of F. M. Halford in the 1880's proclaiming the superior performance of dry flies by matching the hatching insects on the water with a fly of similar color and size.
G. E. M. Skues’ book The Way of a Trout with a Fly has a story about the Pheasant Tail fly: “On May 11, [1910] I found my friend [who was visiting Cornwell] on the water, not exactly displeased with himself over a basket of two and a half brace, all of them victims of the Pheasant Tail. That night I dressed some more of them for my friend and for a guest I had brought down with me, and one for myself.
I spent the following morning without using the pattern for some time. Then it occurred to me to try it, and I got a trout of two pounds two ounces. A bit later my guest got a perfect picture of a trout of two pounds with his example, and before I left at 4:30 I got another trout of one pound nine ounces with the same pattern, while my friend owned to it his brace of trout. I left him attempting to negotiate a trout of two and a half pounds or so.
During an admirable procession of red spinners coming down the water, taking with that head and back fin and tail sort of rise which, to the initiated, indicates spinner-taking. ... Particular, in the long hot evenings of July, August, and September, when the blue-winged olive is on, and the deep ruddy brown sherry spinner is plentiful.” - G. E. M. Skues
Skues set out to imitate a blue-winged olive spinner at the point where the olive body had turned to rust. No upright wings necessary, simply a fly built using hackle to float in the surface film. There are a number of version of the Pheasant Tail Dry. Skues’ fly pattern actually predates the Sawyer nymph as Skues mostly likely derived his fly pattern from the Pheasant Tail Wet or Pheasant Tail Soft Hackle flies used in the 1800s. Presented are four fly patterns that reflect the variations with the original dry. The featured Pheasant Tail Dry Fly is the original fly pattern coming from G. E. M. Skues:
[Aussie] Pheasant Tail Dry
Hook: Rede River dry fly, Size 14
Tail: Coq de Leon (CDL) hackle fibres.
Rib: Fine copper wire.
Body: Cock Pheasant tail fibres,
tied 'Kite's Imperial' style with a thorax and wing case.
Hackle: Red Game cock hackle.
Pheasant Tail Variant [Dry Fly]
Dry Pheasant Tail Variant
Hook: #12 Dry fly hook
Thread: 8/0 Rust Uni-thread or equivalent
Tail: Badger rooster hackle fibers (brown or variant hackle may be substituted )
Rib: Fine silver wire
Body: Pheasant rooster tail fibers
Hackle: Badger rooster hackle fibers (brown or variant hackle may be substituted)
Head: Whip-finish and head cement
Fly of the Month 12.24
Pheasant Tail Dry Fly
Fly Name [G. E. M. Skues’] Pheasant Tail Dry Fly
Hook 10, 12, 14
Tread Hot orange silk
Whisks (hackle) 3 strands, honey dun cock’s shoulder hackle
Ribbing Fine bright gold wire, several turns(to secure the herls from being broken by the teeth of the trout)
Body 3 or 4 strands of herl(from the ruddy part of the center feather of a cock pheasant tail
Wings A sharp sparkling golden-dun cock’s hackle of high quality
Originated by G. E. M. Scues, early-1900s
Directions:
Pheasant Tail Dry Fly
- Mount hook in vise after debarbing. Start thread about one third from the eye.
- Select six or eight honey dun fibers from a feather and strip with the tips aligned.
- Measure the length of the tail to about the length of the hook shank and tie in on top of the hook shank with several firm wraps and inspect the length. If the length is good finish securing the tail with tight touching turns of thread to the mid shank after trimming any waste tail barbs.
- Select a three inch piece of gold oval braid tinsel and tie in on the side of the hook shank and advance the thread in tight touching turns to the hook bend.
- Select two or three pheasant tail cock feathers and after aligning the tips, pull from the feather stem. Tie in the pheasant on the top of the hook shank by the least amount of tips feasible starting as close to the oval tinsel as practical and advance the thread to about a third back from the eye.
- Wrap the pheasant tail in a reverse manner in tight touching turns. Keeping the pheasant barbs parallel to each other will heighten the amount of texture from the pheasant barbs. Tying in reverse will add strength to the pheasant. Bring the pheasant to the one third mark and tie off beginning with reverse thread wraps (two) and then with “normal” wraps to finish. Trim the waste pheasant.
- Wrap the tinsel in open turns to form the segments advancing to the one third mark and secure with several wraps of thread. Trim the waste tinsel.
- Select a honey dun feather and remove from the skin. Holding the feather by the tip, stroke the barbs gently to make them stand out at right angles to the stem. Tie in the hackle by the tip and secure. Trim any waste hackle and the make one and one half to two turns of hackle being careful to avoid overlapping barbs. Secure the hackle with two or three thread wraps. Trim the waste hackle and make several whip finishes of thread.
- Trim the thread and coat the head in lacquer of choice.