1 2

ChompFly.com

Flash Back Pheasant Tails Size #16

Flash Back Pheasant Tails Size #16

$17.88 USD
$17.88 USD
Sale Sold out
Shipping calculated at checkout.
FREE SHIPPING WHEN YOU BUY 6 DOZEN OR MORE!

This pattern sold out

Drop's over for this batch. Get on the list and we'll email you the moment it (or the next pattern) is back.

The Flash Back Pheasant Tail #16: The Legendary Generalist with a Neon Sign Attached
If Frank Sawyer’s original 1950s Pheasant Tail is the grandfather of all nymphs, the Flash Back Pheasant Tail #16 is the cool uncle who showed up to Thanksgiving on his motorcycle, a hot drunk chick he met at the gas station, and a bottle of hot sauce. The classic PT relies entirely on buggy realism. The Flash Back variation says, "That’s nice, grandpa, but I have a client who can’t see the friggin indicator and we need a fish to bite right now."

The Flashy Boy PT It fixes the biggest flaw of the original pattern: invisibility in dirty water.
  • The "Look at Me" Factor: In fast, roily water or off-color spring runoff, a regular pheasant tail disappears into the background gravel. The Mylar wing case catches the sun like a tiny mirror, flashing a strobe light directly into a trout's field of vision.
  • The Emergence Trigger: As natural nymphs get ready to hatch, gas bubbles build up under their wing pads, making them look shiny underwater. The flashback perfectly mimics this exact moment of vulnerability, triggering aggressive, instinctual "eat it before it flies away" strikes.
  • The Ultimate Locator Fly: Because a #16 has enough weight and presence, it acts as a phenomenal "scout." If trout are refusing larger stoneflies but ignoring microscopic midges, the #16 Flash Back bridges the gap and tells you exactly what depth and speed the fish are feeding at.
How to Fish It Like a Pro
  1. The "High- Noon" Indicator Rig: When the sun hits the water at midday, the flashback properties double in effectiveness. Run it under a high-vis dry fly or an indicator in shallow, choppy riffles. The undulating flash in the sunlight is pure trout crack.
  2. The Swing and Lift: Don't just dead-drift it. At the very end of your drift, let the line tighten up and allow the fly to rise smoothly toward the surface (You can hang deep and pull this off!). That pearlescent wing pad rising through the water looks exactly like a nymph ascending to hatch, and trout will absolutely hammer it on the swing.
  3. The Dropper Behind the Bomb: Tie a heavy, ultra-thin nymph (like a Cory's Micro May), or a fat Mop Fly up top to pin your rig to the rocks. Then, tie a 14-inch piece of 5X tippet to the bend of that hook and trail the Flash Back #16 behind it. The top fly drops the rig; the flashy PT seals the deal.
It’s buggy, it’s shiny, and it has been paying guides' truck payments for decades. If you don't have at least a dozen of these in size 16, you aren't actually serious about catching fish. Seriously bro. Do you even lift?

- Cory Dean
View full details