Soft Hackle Pheasant Tail

This is one of my all time favorite nymphs, something I would never be on the water without. If I don't have a Harey Moose tied on, it's probably because I have a soft hackle pheasant tail on. A variation of the pheasant tail, but more versatile in my opinion. This can be a moderately difficult fly to tie. Most of the materials are fairly delicate, which just adds to the difficulty of the pattern. Despite that, it's worth learning to tie!

BH Soft Hackle Pheasant Tail

hook: mustad 9671 or equivalent 1x nymph hook
head: brass bead
thread: black
tail: pheasant tail
ribbing: brass wire
body: pheasant tail
thorax: peacock
wing: grouse

step1:
Slip the bead over your hook and push to the eye. I then place 6-7 wraps of weight on the shank and push the end into the hole at the bead.













step2:
start the thread at the base of the weight and begin wrapping it to secure the weight and wrap the thread to the base to the base of the hook. Now tie in the copper ribbing. Secure it good and wrap the thread back to the base of the hook.













step 3:
Tie in the pheasant tail to the base of the hook. The tail should be the length of the hook, if not a little bit longer. I personally prefer a little longer tail. Don't use too much pressure on the thread to eliminate excessive flaring of the tail.













step 4:
Carefully wrap the pheasant tail up 3/4 of the length of the hook. Wrapping the opposite direction, wrap the brass wire 4-5 times up to the bead and then secure.

















step 5:
tie three pieces of peacock herl after trimming the tips. Twist the herl into a rope and wrap to the bead head leaving room for the wing.














step 6:
Prepare the grouse feather by removing the fuzzy barbs on base of the feather, and all barbs on the inside bend of the natural curve of the feather. Tie in the grouse feather so that the side without barbs is facing the hook.














step 7:
Carefully wrap the grouse feather around the head of the fly, taking precaution not to let the barbs go everywhere. It's OK to cheat a bit by forcing the barbs to lay back by using the thread to hold it down. It's a bad habit, so try not to do it too much. I went through a lot of grouse feathers trying to tie them right!




















This another dynamite fly! I tie it from size 10 to 18, usually in a natural and dirty yellow color. It's a fairly heavy fly, so If it's used as a dropper, something pretty big will have to be used above it to stay afloat. I fish this fly under stimulators and elk hair caddis usually, or as a double nymph rig with a small nymph trailing the pheasant tail. This is also a very effective fly for fishing like a wet fly on the swing. I used to clean up on fish in tail waters by casting across a current and letting it swing up at the end of the drift and then retrieve in quick little twitches. In the end there is really no way to fish it wrong!