Turkey Tail Nymph

All about flies Fly Tying
1

In honor of all those gobblers who (literally) put their heads on the chopping block. A Pheasant Tail nymph in every other sense.

hook - Tiemco 200R #12
thread - Uni 8/0 camel
tail/abdomen - turkey tail fibers
rib - copper wire small
thorax -peacock herl
wingcase/legs - turkey tail fibers

Part 1

mash barb and attach thread

tie in wire on underside of hook; per Hans Wired Olive note the tag end on the far side of the bend

wrap wire back to point above hook barb; by keeping the wire on the far side, thread wraps automatically align the wire neatly on the underside of the hook (a big help if you’re tying skinny-bodied flies where any unsightly bumps/lumps are magnified)

measure some turkey tail fibers (hook gap distance) and tie in

wrap turkey butts up to 60% mark, tie off and trim

wrap wire forward, tie down, helicopter to break and smooth over tag end

tie in 8-10 turkey tail fibers with tips extending over hook eye about 1/2 shank length; tyers with a keen sense of proportion can tie with the tips facing backwards, extending the proper distance to allow them to pull forward as the wingcase, then fold back as the legs and get them the right length every time. I can’t so I cheat. I also like the fact that the butts make a bit of a meatier wingcase.

tie in some peacock herl

twist herl around tying thread

wrap herl forward and tie off 1 hook eye length back from eye

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Part 2

divide protruding fibers evenly

pull turkey butts forward to form wingcase

tie off and trim

fold near side legs back and tie down

repeat on far side

whip finish, SHHAN and you’re done

These lend themselves well to speed tying, like the PT, although the velcro effect between the barbules and hamuli (I looked this stuff up on the interweb so it must be true) of the individual barbs makes turkey tail a bit “sticky” and harder to separate. I’d imagine Charlie Craven could still get one out the door in under 2 minutes.

Regards,
Scott

3

>Scott wrote:
“tie in 8-10 turkey tail fibers with tips extending over hook eye about 1/2 shank length; tyers with a keen sense of proportion can tie with the tips facing backwards, extending the proper distance to allow them to pull forward as the wingcase, then fold back as the legs and get them the right length every time. I can’t so I cheat. I also like the fact that the butts make a bit of a meatier wingcase.”

That’s me - I can never get the length right :wink: Thanks for the tip on tying them in separately, that makes so much sense.

4

Nice tie! I’ll have to do some for spring. The weather has held so the yard cleaning has been getting top billing. The little snow we had is melted, back to the yard!
Mike