Emerger
Nymph
Pheasant Tail Nymph
Frank Sawyer’s nymph — pheasant fibre and copper wire, and nothing else at all.
$18.99
$1.58 per fly
Available at Amazon
- Hook size
- 20
- Imitates
- Mayfly
- Best water
- Freestone River, Spring Creek, Tailwater
- Colour
- Brown
- Pack
- 12 flies
How to fish it
Fishing notes
Upper dropper above a heavier anchor, on fine tippet. Long dead drifts through slow, clear, technical water. When a Flashback is being refused, this is the same fly without the thing they are refusing.
About this fly
Frank Sawyer’s nymph — pheasant fibre and copper wire, and nothing else at all.
Sawyer tied the Pheasant Tail with no thread, using only copper wire and cock pheasant tail fibres, because he wanted a fly with the exact weight and silhouette of a baetis nymph and nothing to spoil the outline. Nearly a century later it is still one of the best small mayfly imitations available.
Size 20 is the tailwater and spring creek size. It is the fly to fish when trout are refusing anything with flash on it.
Key features
- Frank Sawyer’s original design — pheasant fibre and copper wire only
- Precise baetis nymph silhouette with no flash to spook pressured fish
- Size 20 for technical tailwater and spring creek trout
- The fly to switch to when flashy nymphs are being refused
- Effective year-round wherever mayflies live
Further reading
- Fishing the Blue-Winged Olive Hatch 5 min read
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