Description

The Fakey Nymph is one fly you will want to make sure is in your favorite fly box. It is one of my favorite all round nymph patters to fish. I guess it is because I catch so many fish on it! I first strated tying this fly to fish on the Gunnison River, my home water. It works everywhere that I have fished it for trout. I even caught some Iwanna (type of Char) in Japan on this pattern. It is fun and simple to tie. Tie some fish them and let me know how it works for you.

Materials

Hook: TMC 2488 #10-#18

Thread: UTC 70 Black

Bead Head: Gold, Copper, Silver, Black, Olive Brass or Tungsten Bead To Match Hook Size

Tail: Ringneck Pheasant Tail Fibers

Ribbing: Copper Wire

Abdomen: Pheasant Tail Fibers Wrapped

Thorax: Ice Dub (Peacock or Black)

Flashback: Pearl Mirage Tinsel

Legs: Small Round Rubber Legs

Hackle: Brown or Dark Brown Hen Neck

Step 1

Place a bead on the hook and then put the hook securely into your vise.

Step 2

Next start your tying thread on the hook behind the metal bead head.

Step 3

Use small or fine copper wire for the ribbing. Cut or break off a piece about six inches long from the spool of wire.

Step 4

Tie the copper wire in near the bead and wrap towards the back of the hook over the wire with your tying thread until you your thread is directly above the barb of the hook. You can wrap back farther if you want the body to have more of a curved look to it.

Step 5

Select about 8-12 pheasant tail fibers to make teh tail and the body of the fly. The larger the hook the more fibers you will need and the small the hook the fewer fibers you will need.

Step 6

Hold the pheasant tail fibers along the hook shank to measure the length of the tail. I like to measure the fibers to be about one hook shank long. You can make them shorter or longer if you like. There are no rules with fly tying!

Step 7

Use a pinch loop to tie the tail onto the hook and make two or three tight wraps of thread after it is on the hook.

Step 8

You will only need a short piece of the pearl Mirage tinsel for the flashback on your Fakey Nymph. You can use any thin flashy material for this, even flashabou or krystal flash will work just fine.

Step 9

Tie the end of the Mirage tinsel in by the end at the same spot the tail is tied on. Make sure your two or three wraps of thread are real tight so it holds the tinsel in place.

Step 10

Now pull the long ends of the pheasant tial fibers backwards over the tail and wrap your tying thread forward towards the bead head. Stop your thread about one length of the bead behind the bead.

Step 11

Wrap the pheasant tial fibers around the hook from the tail to the the spot where your thread is hanging and tie it off to make the body. I made a mistake and did not make my first wrap on top of the spot where the tail and tinsel is tied on the hook. See the black tying thread showing! Yikes, I do not like that but this fly will still fish just fine. It is good to tie your best but remember your flies do not have to be perfect to catch fish. Just have fun.

Step 12

Pull the Mirage tinsel over the top of the body and tie it down to the hook with several tight wraps of thread. Make sure to keep this on the top of the body. It is slide and will try to slide over the side of the hook.

Step 13

Wrap the copper wire ribbing over the tinsel and body to make it more durable. Use three or four tight wraps of thread to hold the wire in place after you have wrapped it forward.

Step 14

Trim off the the excess tinsel and pheasant tail fibers with your scissors and then rotate the copper wire while pulling on it with some pressure so it breaks off close to the thread. This will help keep your scissors sharp. Cutting wire will dull your scissors very fast.

Step 15

Tie a small round rubger leg on each side of the hook so they extend back towards the tail. Trim them so they are about one hook shank length long from where they are tied in to the end of them. You can play with differenet color legs. Sometimes I use orange or bright yellow for dirty water conditions. White is the standard color I use.

Step 16

Select a brown hen neck feather for the hackle collar at the front of the fly. You can try different lengths of hackle to see what works best for you. I like the hackle to extend past the bend of the hook when the fly is finished.

Step 17

Trim the fluffy stuff off the bottom of the feather and tie the hen feather in right in front of the body. The curve of the feather should be curving away from you towards the backside of the fly.

Step 18

Wrap the feather to form the hackle collar on your Fakey Nymph. You can try some with more hackle and some with less hackle to see wha tthe fish like best. You should wrap almost to the bead and then tie off the hackle feather with your tying thread and trim off the excess hen feather.

Step 19

Start to place some Ice Dub on your tying thread and begin to twist it on tight so it can be wrapped on the hook right in front of the hackle.

Step 20

This shows the Ice Dub twisted on the thread nice and tight ready for wrapping. Remeber to only twist dubbing material one direction when you are trying to make it tight on the thread.

Step 21

Here is the Ice Dub wrapped on the hook in front of the hackle collar to finsih off the fly. Once the dubbing has been wrapped you can half hitch or whip finish the thread and trim off the tying thread.

Step 22

Super Job! You have just completed a Fakey Nymph. Try some different colors, go fish them and have fun catching some big fish on this one.

Step 23

Here is a Fakey Nymph with bright orange legs and pink Ice Dub head. I have done real well with this color for bass in some bigger sizes.