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The Pheasant Tail Nymph (PTN)

This is the universal beginners fly, loved by anglers whatever thier experience. Fished in still water and river a great fly to start with.

This pattern is simplicity itself but that does not mean to tie a good PTN is simple.
The tools required are minimal needing just a vice, scissors, bobbin holder and whip finish tool.

 

1. Wind thread to the bend of hook and catch in copper wire



2. Catch in the three tail fibres at the bend to create the tails of the nymph (note the proportions for the tail from the photo) and run thread two thirds of the way up to the eye, catching the fibres in on top of the hook as you go. The remaining fibres will later form the thorax cover.



3.Catch in the two remaining feather fibres so the remaining protrudes over the bend(See illustration)



4.Take the thread up the hook to the 2/3 mark then follow with the feather fibres. Wind the feather fibres in an anti-clockwise direction and catch in with a couple of turns of thread. Keep the turns of fibre tight and even. Cut off the remaining fibres.



5. Now wind on the rib in open turns in the opposite direction to the fibres, clockwise, and catch in with a couple of turns of thread in front of the thorax cover. Do not trim the wire.



6.Wind the remaing wire round the hook in a ball like shape in the thorax area, take care to leave enough room at the eye to whip a tidy head.
Now dub some SLF dubbing onto the thread in a sparse rope as in the photo.



7. Wind the dubbing rope over the wire ball. The key is to not make these turns to tight as the wire should show through and the dubbing needs to be sparse as this give a better impression of life.



8. Pull the thorax cover over the dubbing and secure with 2/3 turns of thread.



9. Trim the excess fibres and whip finish. Varnish the whippings and leave to dry.



Experiment with dubbing colours, cinnamon is my choice for this tying, other colours can be equally succesful, try orange or olive or just experiment and let me know what colours catch for you. The original tying had no dubbing and left the copper wire thorax bare, I beleive.