"Foxy Pheasant" Strymph by Joe Webb

Tying instructions: Mash down barb & place bead on hook. Add 20 wraps of lead wire (or enough to cover front half of hook shank). I like to push the wire into the bead to hold the bead in place. Add thread beginning at halfway point of hook shank. Tie in fox squirrel tail hair, a clump of 5-6 pheasant tail fibers and ribbing. Wrap over squirrel hair to form underbody, finishing where lead wraps begin at halfway point. Trim butt ends of squirrel hair. Wrap pheasant tail fibers forward and tie-off with a figure-8 at halfway point, allowing butt ends to stick straight up (these will become the wing case---this allows you to use one clump of pheasant tail for the whole fly without having to trim & re-tie). Wrap thread in front of pheasant tails, then wrap ribbing forward with fairly even gaps. Make 2 or 3 tight wraps of wire in front of pheasant tail butts to help form body taper. Tie in Kreinik ribbon and wrap back to halfway point. Dub peacock ice dubbing forward in a taper toward the bead (make sure to leave space to tie in hackle). Pull Kreinik ribbon forward and cover with pheasant tail butts; tie-off and clip remaining ends. Tie in grizzly hackle, wrap 2-3 times, tie off, clip butt end and whip-finish.

The story: Nothing terribly special about this fly and probably not anything original either. With so many years of fly-tying and so many great tyers out there, I find it hard to believe that there's anything anywhere that someone, somewhere hasn't tried already! Nevertheless, I was inspired to tie this pattern after spending an evening at the bench with my 6-year-old daughter, Amanda. I'm teaching Amanda to tie by letting her pick out whatever material she wants to use, under the condition that the fly must have a head, body, and tail; and the materials for each part need to be appropriate to that part (we have lots & lots of Krystal Flash tails and flashback wing cases!), but she can make it as colorful or otherwise wild as she wants (she also names each fly, but I'll be darned if I can keep track of what all the names are!). We started tying streamers, but they've morphed into more like big soft-hackle nymphs in most cases....thus the "Strymph" classification for this pattern. Anyway, Amanda specified the pheasant tail & fox squirrel tail materials for her tailing material, the PT fibers for the body, a dubbed thorax, and the copper bead on "her" fly. I looked at the pattern in the vice and got the idea for the "Foxy Pheasant" Strymph. I kept the tailing & body materials, added the copper ribbing, and changed the thorax dubbing to the Peacock Ice Dub (I'm sure peacock herl would work just as well...I like the Ice Dub because it goes on easier and holds up longer). I also added the Kreinik ribbon under the pheasant tail fibers to add a little sparkle under the wing case (Kreinik ribbon is one of my favorite wing case materials...it comes in a variety of colors to match a lot of different natural materials, plus, it sparkles like flashback). I thought it would be a good pattern to use as a point fly in a tandem rig and would also fish well on the swing or worked like a streamer. I can't tell you what the trout took it for, but my first trip to the water with it proved its worth. So did the second. I can't wait for the third!