When I first started tying I had a bad problem with crowding
the eye of the hook, especially on nymphs. I started working
to develop this pattern. I was aiming for something simple,
versatile, and functional. It can be adapted to nearly every
nymph pattern, from a hare's ear to a pheasant tail.
Materials for the Pull Back Nymph:
Hook: Any nymph hook (here I am using a Mustad, size 14).
Thread: 10/0 to match body color (the fine thread is important) .
Tail and wing case: Pheasant tail or hen back fibers.
Body: Your favorite dubbing.
Tying Instructions for Pull Back Nymph:
1. Lay out materials .
2. Start thread on the hook, take it down to the bend.
3. Select 5-7 pheasant tail fibers (or substitute) and tie
them in, don't clip the butts.
4. Dub the body/thorax, try to get the upper 1/3 of the
shank thicker than the body.
5. "Pull back"(hence the name) the pheasant tail fibers.
6. Tie down the pheasant tail butts to form the wing case.
The fine thread is less bulky and makes the fly look neater.
7. Clip the butts, tie off, clip thread.
8. Brush out the body/thorax to form the gills.
9. You're done.
10. Here's a version in olive.
Fishing the Pull-Back Nymph:
I fish this as any other nymph, drifted under an indicator, or
on a 2 fly dropper, with something like a hopper, foam beetle,
or wulff. ~ NN
