Pheasant Rump Baitfish

This past fall I had the pleasure to tie along side Jason Taylor at the International Fly Tying Symposium (2019), where Jason showed me a pattern called the Pheasant Rump Deceiver coming in around 2.5".

Now, more often than not, I tie big. For most of my fishing situations when river fishing, I'm trying to invoke territorial/reactionary responses, and a large fly demands a predators attention. That being said, smaller baitfish occur at much higher densities than their adult counterparts and thus deserve our attention as anglers, especially when fish ARE feeding. The Pheasant Rump Deceiver that Jason showed me is the PERFECT size, shape, and color for matching a prolific baitfish within my local smallmouth river, and I knew the moment I got home I needed to give Pheasant Rump a go!

This is the result of that. Highly inspired by JT, and combined with Kelly Galloup's Smoke Wagon, the result is an easy to tie 2.5" baitfish pattern, using nothing more than a Pheasant Cape!

To purchase these materials you can head to my website: https://streamersbygunnar.com/pheasant-rump-kits

Materials: Pheasant Cape
Tail: Pheasant Rump
Body: Palmered Pheasant Rump (Long, to Short)
Wing: Stacked Pheasant Marabou
Eyes: 3/16th Sticker Eyes, Super Pearl
Thread: 0.006" Mono
Hook: Ahrex sz. 6 Saltwater Streamer