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Current Tags for This Pattern
/ ant / Black / Flash / Flashabou / marabou / Pheasant / Squirrel / Tinsel / white /

Pheasant Hornberg

 
tied by cornmuse
Fly Type: Streamers,
Target Species: Freshwater Bass,
Recommended Region: Central US,
Imitation: General Baitfish,
Material List:
Hook: Gaelic Supreme streamer hook, 5xl size 2
Thread: Black
Body: copper tinsel
Underwing: Fox Squirrel
Belly: White Goat
Flash: 2 strands gold flashabou each side, to the end of the wing
Cheeks: Cock Pheasant flank feathers taken mirror image, one from each side
of the bird. These feathers come from the lower flanks near the marabou type
feathers and well below the "church window" feathers
Hackle: Dark Furnace
Tying Instructions: Start by tying in a copper tinsel body. I use a bit of Zap-A-Gap on the thread to help the tinsel adhere to the hook and give the fly some staying power. Nothing is more disappointing than seeing your productive fly fall apart after a few fish. I then overwrap the tinsel with saltwater size pearl mylar for a deep glow.

Add a sparse wing of red fox squirrel and a belly of white goat hair. You can use white bucktail or calf tail, but I like the goat as it is a bit more translucent. Tie on one piece of folded gold flashabou on each side giving you a total of four flashabou strands extending to the end of the squirrel tail wing.

Make sure to leave plenty of room for the overwing and hackle and a neat head.

Next, select two feathers from the flanks of a cock pheasant. I like to select one from each side of the bird to ensure symmetry of the final tie.

Strip the fuzz from the bottom of the feather and tie one on each side of the fly to shroud the body and wing assembly. Attach a dark furnace, black or dark brown rooster feather (saddle or neck) in front of the Hornberg body.

Carefully fold the hackle in half so all the barbules of the feather are on one side of the stem.

Wrap the hackle neatly. I like to use a drop of head cement on the thread wraps to help the feather stem adhere to the hook shank. Make sure you don’t crowd the eye of the fly. Leave plenty of room for a neat head. One of the tricks to fishing this fly (especially for trout) is to be able to use a riffle hitch when a little extra action is needed.