Pheasant Tail Nymph
Frank Sawyer's Pheasant Tail is the mayfly nymph distilled - a few twisted tail fibers that imitate the slim swimming nymphs trout eat more than any other food.
An English riverkeeper tying with nothing but pheasant-tail fibers and copper wire created what may be the most useful fly on earth: the slim, leggy, red-brown profile of the Baetis-type nymphs that outnumber everything else on a trout's menu. Decades on, some masters still fish little else beneath the surface.
What it imitates
Slim 'swimmer' mayfly nymphs (Baetis and kin) - the standing crop of nearly every trout river on earth.
When & where it wins
Always and everywhere subsurface, PEAKING before and during mayfly hatches when nymphs get active. If you're only carrying two nymphs, this is one (the Hare's Ear is the other).
How to fish it
Dead-drift near bottom - under an indicator/dry, on a Euro rig, or swung up at hatch time (the induced lift Sawyer invented: raise the rod so it 'emerges').
Sizes & variants
12-20; beadhead for depth, 'Frenchie' hot-spot version for competition water, original wire-only for purists.
Tying notes
Pheasant fibers + copper wire, four steps - a beginner's second fly and a lifetime's staple.
Mistakes at the vise and on the water
Fishing it too shallow (the fish are on the bottom), too fat (slim IS the imitation), and never trying Sawyer's lift at hatch hour.
Kit for fishing flies
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