Gary Tanner Flies

Name	Golden Pheasant Spey
Category	Atlantic Salmon
Hook	The G.P. Spey lends itself beautifully to hooks like Bob Veverka's Daiichi 2139
Tag	Oval copper tinsel, sized to suit hook size
Tail	Golden Pheasant crest over orange Polar Bear. I like the length just a bit longer than the fly's body
Body	Rear half hot orange floss or silk, ribbed with oval copper tinsel and veiled with yellow Golden Pheasant rump feathers; black ostrich herl dividing the two body halves; front half oval copper tinsel wrapped in touching turns
Hackle	Claret hackle (I like Whiting American hen; others may prefer cock.) Bob's original recipe calls for two Golden Pheasant breast feathers over the claret. I dyed a G.P. skin claret, and use those claret-dyed feathers....just looks so regal against the copper
Head	Claret

Golden Pheasant Spey was tied by contributing fly tyer Gary Tanner. See Gary's notes below about this fly and read more about it on his blog: The River's Course. See more of his flies on his contributor page, The Flies of Gary Tanner.

Gary's Notes: The Golden Pheasant Spey fly was developed by my good friend and salmon fishing campmate, Bob Warren. Bob edited the beautiful Fishing Atlantic Salmon The Flies and the Patterns by Joseph D. Bates, Jr. and Pamela Bates Richards. His flies can be seen in that book, as well as in Bob Veverka's Spey Flies and How to Tie Them, Dick Stewart and Farrow Allen's Flies for Atlantic Salmon, and others.