Tying The Pheasant Tail Nymph
by Jim Browning

Step 1: Insert the hook into the vice.

Step 2: Start your thread about 1-½ eye-widths behind the eye and trim off excess.

Step 3: Run thread to just before the bend of the hook.

Step 4: Tail: Select four barbs from the pheasant tail feather. I normally try to select barbs that are right beside each other and are about 2-3 times the length of the hook shank. Make 3 wraps of thread around the materials on top of the shank, then make one wrap of thread underneath the exposed tail to help support it. The tail should be about the length of the hook shank. Do not trim off the excess yet. Lift up the excess feather shafts and make one wrap in front of them.

Step 5: Select a piece of thin copper wire and tie it in with one or two wraps; move thread forward to about one-third the distance behind the hook eye and wrap the excess pheasant forward to that spot; secure and trim excess.

Step 6: Make three wraps of wire, wrapping from the far side of the hook toward you; trim off excess.

Step 7: Thorax or Wing Case: Select four strands of pheasant; tie in butt first; trim off excess.

Step 8: Select 3-4 strand of peacock herl and tie them in by the tips. I normally cut off about one-quarter to one-third inch of the tip, that is normally pretty brittle and will break off. I don’t cut off the excess if there isn’t a lot, because I like my thorax a little bulky on this fly.

Step 9: Twist the peacock herl together to make a rope, then wrap that rope forward to where your thread is; tie off and trim excess.

Step 10: Pull the second application of tail feather barbs over the peacock herl to form the wing case; tie off directly in front of the peacock herl and trim off excess pheasant.

Note: This step makes the imitation look incredibly like the hard-shelled carapace of the generic nymph when you make sure to position these feather barbs on the flat, neatly positioned next to one another, before drawing their shafts together in the tie-in position forward of the herl. Because this fly may be tied in many different sizes you need to consider "proportion" in terms of amounts of materials used, positioning and density or thickness (volume.)  

Step 11: Create the head. Whip finish, add some head cement and you have a Pheasant Tail Nymph that is ready to be fished. I also put a little epoxy or head cement on the wing case to add a little extra protection to it.

Enjoy!