HISTORY OF PHEASANT TAIL NYMPH

for you history buffs!

from the book of 'fishing flies' by robert atkinson

in 1928, Frank Sawyer began a career as a river-keeper on a stretch of the River Avon in Hampshire's chalkstream country, much in the manner of William Lunn on the neighbouring Test. Whereas Lunn was a contemporary of Halford, Sawer had embraced the more expansive views of Skues. This led him to devise a general pattern which would sink quickly to the level of targeted fish. Dispensing with the traditional tying silk, Sawyer used copper wire from a dicarded electrical transformer to serve the dual purpose of forming a weighted underbody and securing the pheasant-tail herl from which his pheasant tail nymph is constructed. the pattern proved to be as successful on stillwaters as it was on rivers, imitating the darker olive and iron blue dun.
Sawyer also tied one with grey goose fibers he called the grey goose nymph.

looking at the colored picture the complete fly is made of pheasant tail, tail, abdomin and thorax which is ribbed with copper wire. the thorax is built up more than the abdomen. the wing case looks like folded down pheasant tail fibers with strands of pheasant tail as legs.

That's your history lesson for today!

great fly & very interesting post thanks

Thanks, that was a great post.

I don't know why, but I've always thought the pheasant tail is one of the prettiest nymphs. I've always liked the look of it.