Forked-Tail Nymph SBS

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The Forked-Tail, tied with a black (or brown) ostrich herl body, was developed in the 30's by Don & Dick Olsen and popularized by Doug Prince; he came up with that peacock-bodied pretender-to-the-throne variation that bears his name. Can't argue with peacock, but the ostrich looks cool, too, and is a nice change of pace.


hook - Mustad 79580 #6
thread - Danville 6/0 black
underbody - non-tox wire .025
tail - biots black
rib - silver wire x-fine
body - ostrich herl black
hackle - hen black
legs/feelers/wings/whatever - biots white



Part 1


mash barb, wrap shank with non-tox

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start thread, wrap underbody; taper front and back

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even up biots, curving away from each other

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measure for length (hook gap), tie in and smooth butts

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tie in rib

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measure a pair of biots (shank length), moisten (makes them more pliable), tie in a "V" over the eye, curving down; when folded back, I've found this way allows for a neater head

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Part 2

tie in ostrich herl, twist around thread, and wrap body

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counterwrap ribbing through body and tie off

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prep hen hackle and tie in by tip (run scissor blade along both sides of quill to create folded hackle)

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sweep fibers back while wrapping forward; tie off

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push the legs back over the fly

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tie down, build up the head, whip, SHHAN

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Regards,
Scott

The flies I've seen tied by Doug Prince look just like that, with black ostrich. The peacock version with brown biot tails, used to be called the Brown Forked-tail.

And thank you for tying the "wings" with the tips curving up.

Very neat and tidy tying I like the smooth body profile. Will see if N.Z. trout will like to sample it. Thanks.

Nice SBS. You know Jax, I was thinking the same thing! I bet this will do well here. It's just too buggy not to.

- Jeff

Scott,

Thank you for a most excellent SBS and very neat tie!! I might give this one a try for my Wis. trout although honestly, I'd miss the Peacock herl as it's a major attractor IMHO.

Still, a very good tie done neatly and very well. She certainly looks good enough to give it a go. Nice job!

Jeremy.

Great tip about how to tie in the "wings".

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jeremy

I might give this one a try for my Wis. trout although honestly, I'd miss the Peacock herl as it's a major attractor IMHO.

---

Jeremy,

The peacock-bodied version is one of the best nymphs ever and there are a lot of great vids and SBSs out there showing how to tie it. Just wanted the original to get a little attention, too. I actually had real good luck fishing it for salmon on a Lake Ontario trib; couldn't believe a fish that wasn't even eating at that point would take one (and I was using a #12).

Regards,
Scott