For the longest time, pheasant tail legs on my nymphs were a mystery to me. I couldn’t, for the life of me, see how on earth tiers made them work. I always ended up with a clogged hook eye or something that was completely off kilter.
Then a few years ago at my local fly tying expo, I sat down with one of the pros and watched just how easy he made it seam. It was the same “trick” used by Tim Flagler in the Orvis video above, using the hollow end of the bodkin (the guy I watched at the expo used a cocktail straw).
Since then, I’ve always had pheasant tails in my box, albeit, not as slick the as the finished fly Tim ties above. It’s these little tricks that keep me coming back to the vise.
— Chris Hunt