Michigan Flies

Flies / Nymph

Pheasant Tail Nymph

A

Old Au Sable Fly Shop names a #12 to #14 Pheasant Tail as the Hendrickson nymph, and it covers every Michigan Ephemerella and Baetis nymph before and during a hatch. A beadhead #10 is a standard trailer fly in U.P. steelhead rigs, and #12 to #20 versions take pink salmon in clear water. Fish it dead-drifted under an indicator or on a tight line in the weeks before each mayfly hatch.

#10–20NaturalBeadheadFlashback
What the pattern looks like
Reference photos of the Pheasant Tail Nymph tied by others, shared by their photographers. Not our flies; our own product photos replace these as they are shot.

Photo © Quinn for Fly Deal Flies, used with permission · Pheasant Tail - Nymph

Season
Months this pattern is in play across Michigan, derived from what it imitates.
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
Imitates

The naturals

Fish it for
Brown troutBrook troutRainbow trout (resident)SteelheadPink salmonAtlantic salmon

Setups

  • Indicator nymphing
  • Euro / tight-line nymphing
How it's tied
A
Sawyer's Pheasant Tail Nymph. Frank Sawyer's two-material Baetis nymph, cock pheasant tail twisted with fine copper wire and no thread at all; slim, quick-sinking, and the root of every beadhead and flashback PT since. Our own write-up of the standard tie, checked against the sources below. Recipe by Tom Sutcliffe, The Spirit of Fly Fishing (2011).

Materials

Hook
Standard or 1X-long nymph hook, sizes 14-18 for the original (Sawyer favoured 15 and 17 on the old scale); 12-20 for American versions
Thread
None in the original: fine red copper wire replaces the thread. Brown 8/0 or 70 denier for the Troth-style American tie
Wire
Fine (about .005 in) red-coloured copper wire; UTC Ultra Wire extra-small copper is the modern substituteAlso the underbody, thorax hump and weight.
Tail
Four (up to six) long fibres from a cock ring-necked pheasant centre tail
Abdomen
The same four fibres twisted with the wire into a rope
Thorax
A hump of copper wire under the fibre butts (Sawyer); peacock herl (Troth)
Wingcase
The fibres folded back and forward over the thorax; a strip of pearl Flashabou or Mylar under them for the Flashback
Legsoptional
None (Sawyer); the fibre tips left pointing back on Troth's tie
Beadoptional
Copper or gold brass bead for the Beadhead variant

Steps

  1. 1.Cover the shank from bend to eye with touching turns of fine copper wire, taking the first turns back over themselves so the wire cannot spin on the shank.
  2. 2.Wind the wire back to where the thorax will sit and build a small hump there with extra turns; then wind it back to the bend and let it hang.
  3. 3.Take four long fibres from a cock pheasant centre tail and hold them by the tips so the points stick out about an eighth of an inch past the bend as tails on a size 16; bind them at the bend with two or three turns of wire.
  4. 4.Lay the fibre butts along the hanging wire and twist the two together into a single rope.
  5. 5.Wind the rope forward in touching turns, over the hump and up to just behind the eye; the fibres get darker where they pile up at the thorax.
  6. 6.Untwist the fibres from the wire at the eye, take the wire forward and lock it, then fold the fibres back over the hump and secure them behind the thorax with a turn or two of wire.
  7. 7.Bring the wire forward to the eye, fold the fibres forward over the thorax a second time, and finish with half a dozen tight turns of wire behind the eye; cut the fibre butts and the wire flush.
  8. 8.Variants: for the American (Troth) tie use thread, add a peacock herl thorax and leave the fibre tips as legs; for the Flashback lay a strip of pearl flash on top before the wingcase; for the Beadhead slide a bead on before you start.

From the tier

  • Sawyer meant the fly to look like a Baetis nymph swimming with its legs tucked to its body, which is why there is no hackle; the copper wire adds weight and, in his words, gave the pattern translucency (Sutcliffe).
  • Tom Sutcliffe ties the original on 14-18 with four to six fibres, secured entirely with wire; the doubled-back butts make the wingcase noticeably darker than the abdomen.
  • John Kreft (RiverKeeper Flies) traces the American variants: Al Troth added the peacock thorax and legs, Andre Puyans the flashback and bead head. On the Muskegon the PT is listed in 12-20 for resident trout (DIY Fly Fishing).

Tying the PTN to the Original Pattern Steps paraphrase Sawyer's method as presented by Sutcliffe and Kreft, both of whom condense his published instructions; the variants line is from Kreft. Unconfirmed: Neither fetched page gives the year Sawyer first published the dressing; hook-size conventions differ between Sawyer's old numbering and modern sizes. Also checked against John Kreft, RiverKeeper Flies (2023), Frank Sawyer's Pheasant Tail Nymph and DIY Fly Fishing (2022), DIY Guide to Fly Fishing the Muskegon River in Michigan.

Materials to buy
Everything one Pheasant Tail Nymph takes, each item once: 3 items, plus 4 optional. Quantities are for a single fly. We do not sell components yet; when we do, these will link to them.

Hook and hardware

  • Nymph hooks1 pack of 25

    sizes 14-18

    Hook

Feathers and fur

  • Cock pheasant centre tail1 pair of feathers

    natural

    TailAbdomenWingcaseLegs

  • Peacock herloptionala few strands

    Thorax

Synthetics, flash and legs

  • Copper wire1 spool

    extra small, copper · UTC Ultra Wire

    ThreadWireThorax

    Does duty as thread on the original.

  • Flashabouoptional1 hank

    pearl

    Wingcase

Thread and finish

  • Brown threadoptional1 spool

    8/0 or 70 denier

    Thread

    Only for the American thread-tied versions.

Other

  • Beadsoptional1 pack

    copper or gold, 5/64-3/32 in

    Bead

Sources