This fly is one of many variations of the Pheasant Tail SoftHackle that I tie for different intended purposes. In this case, it’s a hivis mayfly emerger. It features a trailing shuck in combination with the tail to imitate the nymphal shuck being shed. The thorax is a combination of soft rabbit fur that absorbs water to help keep the fly drifting subsurface and sparkle dubbing that reflects light. The head is tied with orange thread to give a brighter target and match the thorax creating more contrast between the colors of the fly. Finally, the highly mottled brown partridge feather adds the appearance of mayfly nymph/dun leg segmentation and also the nymphal shuck opening up and wings unfurling. As I say in the video, it can be tied with attractor coloration or as a species specific emerger if you match the hatch species with appropriate colors in the thorax and thread head.

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