Feathersmith was born from the passion we have here at Barbless Flies for fly fishing. We treat all of our flies as we would a piece of jewellery and look at each as a miniature work of art - it's all about quality materials and attention to detail.

This second in the series of kits focuses on a variant of the Pheasant Tail Nymph - a nymph pattern first devised by Frank Sawyer in the 1950's, tested and developed on the chalk streams of southern England.

This nymph is perfect for targeting both Trout and Grayling and is an amlagam of our best-selling nymphs of all time - the Red-Neck Pheasant Tail and Hare's Ear tungsten nymphs.

Our Red-Neck Hare's Ear kit contains:

• Ahrex FW561 Barbless Hooks (10 each of size 14, 16 & 18)
• Tungsten Beads (Nickel) 2.5mm, 3.0mm & 3.5mm
• Semperfli Classic Red 12/0 Thread
• Whiting Coq de Leon Pardo
• Copper Wire 0.1mm & 0.2mm
• Lead-Free Wire 0.4mm
• Wapsi Turkey Biot (Brown)
• Hare's Mask Natural Dubbing

PLEASE NOTE: If you're just starting out on tying flies, these bonus videos from our fly-tying maestro in Bosnia will give you a great grounding. They are designed to, give you the basic skills required to tie any fly in our Feathersmith kits. Click here to access the Beginners Tying Video Course.

First lets explain a little about the history of the Pheasant Tail Nymph, and why it is considered one of the most successful nymphs of all time:

You should always aim to have your flies not overdressed – the final fly should be quite thin – a good guide is to always use about half as much material as you think you will need. This nymph, like all river flies should be tied to match the river conditions … for example, in faster water you may need to add slightly more weight, in slower water less weight is required, so you could opt to use a smaller bead. It’s always good practice to tie up 2 or 3 variations of the same fly to match the different conditions you will face on the water.

Hook/Bead Sizes:

• Size 14 hook = 3.5mm Bead
• Size 16 hook = 3.0mm Bead
• Size 18 hook = 2.5mm Bead

Hook/Wire Sizes:

• Size 14 hook = 0.2mm Wire
• Size 16 hook = 0.2mm Wire
• Size 18 hook = 0.1mm Wire

Coq De Leon feathers are from a specific region in Spain. Feathers have long, speckled, durable and stiff fibers. Fibers are coloured on each side and translucent. Feathers from neck area (Rihnon) have longer fibers compared to feathers from saddle area (Colgadera) and are considered the best quality. This fly tying material is recognized as ideal for tails on both dry fly and nymph patterns.

I'm assuming you now have a box full of Red-Neck Hare's Ear nymphs - all tied by yourself. So, how do you get the best from them when fishing?