Sawyer's Pheasant Tail And My Millers Christmas Present

General shape and coloration, together with the right size, is of greater importance than an exact copy. My two favorite patterns, as I call them, are the Pheasant Tail and the Grey Goose.  The Pheasant Tail serves for the darker colored nymphs and the Grey Goose for the lighter ones." - Frank Sawyer


SAWYERS PTN

Everybody knows of this great generalist mayfly nymph and I use the "generalist"tag  because with just a tweaking of the general shape and coloration (read the Sawyer quote above) this little nymph will represent just about every mayfly in a river.

Was Sawyer the first to use PT as a body material?? Not by a long shot.  G.E.M. Skues, the patron saint of nymph fishing, created a pheasant tail soft hackle a few years earlier but that creation must of bothered Sawyer.  His PTN was built to mimic the Baetis family of mayflies which tucked their legs up against their bodies when they were swimming. So, off goes any vestige of hackle to mimic legs and one has the killer, streamlined pattern that we have today.  (It's interesting to see how fly tiers just had to throw the legs back onto the PT over the years much as in the same way that tiers bastardized Carrie Stevens venerable Grey Ghost streamer which was  built to be streamlined with material on the sides  of the hook instead of the traditional (dumb) way of balancing material on the top of the hook shank.)

                                                                                   PTN With A Plastic Bead

I will sometimes include a plastic seed bead (found in craft stores) to mimic the head of the insect without adding too much weight to the fly. These beads come in a thousand colors and work well with hook sizes down to about 22.

You may also want to try this trick during hatch time.  Mayflies, when they are about to hatch, will send a lot of blood into their wing cases which will darken them considerably. You can imitate that by making your wing cases out of black duck quill or by making the pheasant tail wing case and then coloring it up with a trusty black sharpie.

Streamlined with legs tucked under

If you think that this is all too much to deal with then forget about the essence of this pastime (fooling trout with imitation insects) and just keep tossing your rainbow warriors, chartreuse mops and the rest of the junk flies.  But remember, it's not how many fish that you catch but how you catch them.

< Photo of Baetis Nymph from The History of Fly-fishing in fifty flies by Ian Whitlaw

Here's a gift for next year.  There is a spot on the Millers that is usually empty when the Kempfield, Occutt, Bridge Street and the Upper Trestle are being fished hard.  I know that last year I saw NOBODY there on some perfect June evenings and the fishing was great.

It is big, wide, of moderate depth and easily waded. Trout rise freely and are suckers for a soft hackle on the swing.

I'm going to divulge this spot but I have no fear of it being overrun. First, it's a big spot with lots of room for everyone.  Second, this gift may go the way of so many Christmas gift cards - thrown into a bureau and forgotten or maybe you're just too jaded by tailwaters to value it.  If you're smart you will not do that!!!!

Turn onto Arch Street in Erving, cross the bridge, bear right and keep going.

Good Luck and Merry Christmas!!!!!

Ken