By Ben Romans

OK, I’m going to bump everyone up a step on the difficulty scale with the beadhead pheasant tail nymph.

For this fly you need a rooster pheasant tail plume, peacock herl, a hook like a No. 12-18 Tiemco 3761, and some thin copper wire (you don’t have to use a bead if you don’t want to). All these items are inexpensive and probably available at either a local craft or sporting goods store. The trick is teaching your fingers to deal with small amounts of material. As you wind the fibers forward from the tail, you’ll have less and less to work with, so it takes some fancy maneuvering to get it all wrapped up and lashed down with thread.

If someone were to design a Top 10 list of best all-time fly patterns, I’d have to believe this pattern would make the list. Check out the video, learn to tie this one, and I’ll have another one for you in a few days. —Ben