Fountains of Youth – Classic trout flies that have withstood the test of time … flies that remain “forever young”
by Rusty Dunn
What is your absolute favorite trout fly? The fly that catches trout for you on any stream, day after day, week after week, month after month, throughout the season? If you were mandated to carry but a single fly pattern, what would fill your fly box? Many experienced anglers, including both everyday fly fishers and distinguished experts, would opt for a Pheasant Tail Nymph. The Pheasant Tail is one of history’s greatest flies; perhaps THE greatest fly. A prominent online vendor of commercial trout flies today offers no fewer than 36 variations of the venerable Pheasant Tail. It’s for good reason; the fly is simply a trout-catching magnet.
Most fly anglers rightfully credit Englishman Frank Sawyer for designing and popularizing the Pheasant Tail Nymph, which was first published in Sawyer’s 1958 book Nymphs and the Trout. Among the dozens or hundreds of Pheasant Tail variations currently in circulation, Sawyer’s design is unquestionably “The Granddaddy of Them All”. Ahh, but every granddaddy descends from a great granddaddy, who in turn descends from a great, great granddaddy. The genealogy of today’s fly designs can be difficult to decipher, but that of Sawyer’s Pheasant Tail Nymph is fairly straightforward. It descends from Englishman Payne Collier’s “Pheasant Tail” dry fly, which originated in 1895, more than a decade before Sawyer was even born. The defining feature of authentic Pheasant Tails is an abdomen and thorax of rooster-pheasant center-tail feather barbs wrapped about a hook shank and reinforced with fine wire. Pheasant feathers have been used for centuries in fly tying, but Collier’s Pheasant Tail was the first fly (at least in print) with such a pheasant-wrapped body. Collier’s fly was tailed and hackled with honey dun rooster hackle.
Collier published his Pheasant Tail pattern in an 1895 issue of The Fishing Gazette, which was a British weekly magazine dedicated exclusively to angling. First published in 1877 and continuing until 1966 (!), The Fishing Gazette was hugely popular among British anglers. Each issue consisted of angling news, fishing reports, opinion pieces, instructional articles, fly pattern recipes, and a lengthy section of correspondence (sometimes flaming) among the readership. It was angling social media of the day! Collier’s Pheasant Tail provoked considerable interest among readers, and active discussions about the fly ensued in the magazine. G.E.M. Skues, one of the most influential anglers of the time, entered the discussions and persuasively argued that Collier’s Pheasant Tail likely imitates rusty spinners. Skues admired Collier’s Pheasant Tail very much, and he often described it as the “Pheasant Tail Spinner”. Skues tied both wet and dry versions of the fly and raved about the Pheasant Tail’s effectiveness, especially the wet version when fished just below the surface during a BWO hatch or spinner fall. Skues’ literary influence on early 20th century angling made the Pheasant Tail wildly popular, and variations of Collier’s pattern proliferated.
Frank Sawyer studied this angling literature, corresponded with Skues, and tied a variation of the Pheasant Tail that he called a “Pheasant Tail Red Spinner”. It was a dry fly similar to both Collier’s and Skues’ Pheasant Tails but tied of Rhode Island Red hackle in lieu of Collier’s honey dun. Sawyer described the fateful day when inspiration struck like lightning and led to his design of the legendary Pheasant Tail Nymph. Sawyer was fishing a Pheasant Tail Red Spinner dry fly during a wonderful BWO hatch. Fishing was great, and Sawyer caught fish after fish. His dry fly, however, became so tattered and torn by trout that it lost all of its hackle. The fly no longer floated, yet it continued to catch trout, even better than when floating. Sawyer surmised that (i) hackle is irrelevant for success during such hatches and (ii) trout prefer nymphal stages drifting below the surface to dun or spinner stages drifting atop the surface. This “aha moment” prompted Sawyer to design his now-famous Pheasant Tail Nymph, which contains no hackle and is armored with wire to promote sinking.
If Sawyer’s Pheasant Tail Nymph is “The Granddaddy of Them All”, then Skues’ Pheasant Tails should be the great granddaddy, and Payne Colliers’ Pheasant Tail the great, great granddaddy. And so it goes with trout fly ancestry and evolution. One great fly leads to the next, which in turn leads to the next, which ultimately leads to the many Pheasant Tail sons and daughters that we know so well today.
Copyright 2024, Rusty Dunn
The Original Pheasant Tail
Today’s Pheasant Tail Nymphs descend from Payne Collier’s Pheasant Tail dry fly published in 1895 in The Fishing Gazette.
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Hook:
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Limerick bend, light wire, size to match natural
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Thread:
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Not stated by Collier, but Skues tied the same fly with hot orange silk
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Tail:
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Honey dun rooster hackle fibers
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Body:
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Ruddy-brown rooster pheasant tail fibers
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Rib:
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Fine gold twisted tinsel (substitute with fine gold wire)
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Hackle:
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Honey dun rooster
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The Original Pheasant Tail
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Posted: October 2, 2024 by Drew Kasel
by Rusty Dunn
What is your absolute favorite trout fly? The fly that catches trout for you on any stream, day after day, week after week, month after month, throughout the season? If you were mandated to carry but a single fly pattern, what would fill your fly box? Many experienced anglers, including both everyday fly fishers and distinguished experts, would opt for a Pheasant Tail Nymph. The Pheasant Tail is one of history’s greatest flies; perhaps THE greatest fly. A prominent online vendor of commercial trout flies today offers no fewer than 36 variations of the venerable Pheasant Tail. It’s for good reason; the fly is simply a trout-catching magnet.
Most fly anglers rightfully credit Englishman Frank Sawyer for designing and popularizing the Pheasant Tail Nymph, which was first published in Sawyer’s 1958 book Nymphs and the Trout. Among the dozens or hundreds of Pheasant Tail variations currently in circulation, Sawyer’s design is unquestionably “The Granddaddy of Them All”. Ahh, but every granddaddy descends from a great granddaddy, who in turn descends from a great, great granddaddy. The genealogy of today’s fly designs can be difficult to decipher, but that of Sawyer’s Pheasant Tail Nymph is fairly straightforward. It descends from Englishman Payne Collier’s “Pheasant Tail” dry fly, which originated in 1895, more than a decade before Sawyer was even born. The defining feature of authentic Pheasant Tails is an abdomen and thorax of rooster-pheasant center-tail feather barbs wrapped about a hook shank and reinforced with fine wire. Pheasant feathers have been used for centuries in fly tying, but Collier’s Pheasant Tail was the first fly (at least in print) with such a pheasant-wrapped body. Collier’s fly was tailed and hackled with honey dun rooster hackle.
Collier published his Pheasant Tail pattern in an 1895 issue of The Fishing Gazette, which was a British weekly magazine dedicated exclusively to angling. First published in 1877 and continuing until 1966 (!), The Fishing Gazette was hugely popular among British anglers. Each issue consisted of angling news, fishing reports, opinion pieces, instructional articles, fly pattern recipes, and a lengthy section of correspondence (sometimes flaming) among the readership. It was angling social media of the day! Collier’s Pheasant Tail provoked considerable interest among readers, and active discussions about the fly ensued in the magazine. G.E.M. Skues, one of the most influential anglers of the time, entered the discussions and persuasively argued that Collier’s Pheasant Tail likely imitates rusty spinners. Skues admired Collier’s Pheasant Tail very much, and he often described it as the “Pheasant Tail Spinner”. Skues tied both wet and dry versions of the fly and raved about the Pheasant Tail’s effectiveness, especially the wet version when fished just below the surface during a BWO hatch or spinner fall. Skues’ literary influence on early 20th century angling made the Pheasant Tail wildly popular, and variations of Collier’s pattern proliferated.
Frank Sawyer studied this angling literature, corresponded with Skues, and tied a variation of the Pheasant Tail that he called a “Pheasant Tail Red Spinner”. It was a dry fly similar to both Collier’s and Skues’ Pheasant Tails but tied of Rhode Island Red hackle in lieu of Collier’s honey dun. Sawyer described the fateful day when inspiration struck like lightning and led to his design of the legendary Pheasant Tail Nymph. Sawyer was fishing a Pheasant Tail Red Spinner dry fly during a wonderful BWO hatch. Fishing was great, and Sawyer caught fish after fish. His dry fly, however, became so tattered and torn by trout that it lost all of its hackle. The fly no longer floated, yet it continued to catch trout, even better than when floating. Sawyer surmised that (i) hackle is irrelevant for success during such hatches and (ii) trout prefer nymphal stages drifting below the surface to dun or spinner stages drifting atop the surface. This “aha moment” prompted Sawyer to design his now-famous Pheasant Tail Nymph, which contains no hackle and is armored with wire to promote sinking.
If Sawyer’s Pheasant Tail Nymph is “The Granddaddy of Them All”, then Skues’ Pheasant Tails should be the great granddaddy, and Payne Colliers’ Pheasant Tail the great, great granddaddy. And so it goes with trout fly ancestry and evolution. One great fly leads to the next, which in turn leads to the next, which ultimately leads to the many Pheasant Tail sons and daughters that we know so well today.
Copyright 2024, Rusty Dunn
The Original Pheasant Tail
Today’s Pheasant Tail Nymphs descend from Payne Collier’s Pheasant Tail dry fly published in 1895 in The Fishing Gazette.
Hook:
Limerick bend, light wire, size to match natural
Thread:
Not stated by Collier, but Skues tied the same fly with hot orange silk
Tail:
Honey dun rooster hackle fibers
Body:
Ruddy-brown rooster pheasant tail fibers
Rib:
Fine gold twisted tinsel (substitute with fine gold wire)
Hackle:
Honey dun rooster
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