Bodkin / Patterns

Bi-Colored Pheasant Tail Nymph

Nymph · Trout · Grayling · Intermediate · 1 version

Lucian Vasies

  • Hook Straight nymph hook, 1.5x-2x long, 14-20
  • Thread Yellow or brown Sumo 50 denier

Materials

  • Weight (tungsten)
  • Body thread A8 body thread (Perdigon Flat Body Thread 90 denier)
  • Back and thorax cover Natural case (ring-neck pheasant tail barbs)
  • Thorax SM5 or SM6 (squirrel mask dubbing)
  • Legs Natural grey rubber legs (partridge barbs)

How to tie it

  1. Start the Sumo 50 denier thread and add tungsten at the thorax. Vasies is explicit that you should use tungsten rather than lead here, lead wire bulks the body out and this fly depends on staying slim.
  2. Tie in a bunch of pheasant tail barbs at the bend pointing rearward; these will later be pulled forward as the back, so leave them long.
  3. Wrap the A8 Perdigon flat body thread forward to the 60% mark to form a smooth two-tone abdomen, then pull the pheasant barbs over the top and tie them down. The contrast between the flat thread underneath and the pheasant back is what makes this a bi-colour fly.
  4. Dub a squirrel mask thorax over the tungsten, keeping it compact, and tie in partridge barbs each side as legs.
  5. Pull the remaining pheasant barbs forward over the thorax as a wingcase, tie off and trim.
  6. Wax the thread before forming the head, Vasies insists on this, because wax makes the thread grip and stops the head unravelling after a season of fish. Whip finish and cement.
  7. Tie it small for best results; at size 18-20 it takes trout, grayling and even whitefish.

Tying videos

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