SLP Grab Pupa: Heavyweight Pheasant Tail Nymphs

Sometimes you need to get down to the riverbed and quickly and when I need to do this, I tend to reach for a double tungsten beaded PTN as this certainly sinks like a stone.

Pheasant Tails are a ‘Go To’ pattern especially for Spring for me on the rivers after watching good friend Liam Stephen work these below a New Zealand style wool indicator to devastating effect while I was sitting by patiently waiting on a hatch and rising fish.

For deep water where heavier flows keep lighter flies too high off the riverbed, the addition of the second bead makes all the difference and it’s possible to work these effectively up to a 3.8mm countersunk tungsten bead behind a slightly larger 4.0mm one at the head.  Using a smaller second bead allows you to tie them tight together without losing the profile and opting for the countersunk type means they will sit snugly.  It also means you have a small ‘groove’ between where you can drop in a bit of dubbing (or in this case Semperfli Straggle Legs which makes a fantastic ‘leggy’ thorax on your nymph patterns) which ‘masks’ the second bead slightly leaving it showing through rather than in front of the dressing.

The SLP Grab Pupa is the perfect hook for these style of nymphs with excellent hooking and holding power for a barbless hook thanks to the sharpness of the hook and the up-turned point.

Based in Moray in Scotland's North East, Allan has specialises with the wild trout from the rivers and burns, lochs and lochans throughout Mainland Scotland and the Isles.

A strong passion for fishing simple dries he feels there's nothing better than to see the fish take off the top, but isn't slow to fish a range of different styles when mood or conditions dictate. Although trout is his first love Allan occasionally chases the Salmon, Grayling stocked fish and even dabbles in salt water when the chance arises.