Pheasant Tail Simplicity - by Yvon Chouinard & Craig Mathews & Mauro Mazzo (Paperback)

About the Book

"Angling afficionados and authors Chouinard, Mathews, and Mazzo join together again to reveal the secret to successful fly fishing: the pheasant tail fly. In Simple Fly Fishing (Patagonia, 2014; 2018), they made the case for replacing unnecessary gear with knowledge and technique. Now, after years of continuing to experiment and simplify, they offer the next step: the feathers that can be used to tie any kind of fly: nymphs, dry flies, emergers, and beetles. Conceived as an advanced follow-up to Simple Fly Fishing, Pheasant Tail Simplicity focuses on essential fly patterns that all share one critical ingredient--pheasant tail."--

Book Synopsis

Together, these anglers have nearly 200 years of fly fishing experience. They've tried -- and refined -- it all, so you can catch fish -- anywhere, any time, with just one type of fly.

Angling afficionados and authors Chouinard, Mathews, and Mazzo join together again to reveal the secret to successful fly fishing: the pheasant tail fly. In Simple Fly Fishing (Patagonia, 2014; 2018), they made the case for replacing unnecessary gear with knowledge and technique. Now, after years of continuing to experiment and simplify, they offer the next step: the feathers that can be used to tie any kind of fly: nymphs, dry flies, emergers, and beetles. Conceived as an advanced follow-up to Simple Fly Fishing, Pheasant Tail Simplicity focuses on essential fly patterns that all share one critical ingredient--pheasant tail. The book explores the techniques required to tie and present these flies to trout, anadromous, and saltwater species. More than just a guide, it challenges the industry norm that thousands of fly patterns are necessary to catch fish. Instead, it distills fly fishing to its core: one shared fly tying ingredient, a handful of techniques, and a mindset that prioritizes knowledge, craft, and creativity over all else.

The book includes 18 detailed fly recipes, with ingredients lists and step-by-step photos.

• Wet Fly Patterns: Flymph, Bead Head Flymph, Soft Hackle, Soft Hackle Dry Fly, Trico Spinner
• Nymph Patterns: Nymph, Bead Head Nymph, Jig, Red Tag, Caddis
• Dry Fly Patterns: Mayfly Emerger, Sparkle Dun, Mayfly Spinner, Iris Caddis, X Caddis, Zelon Midge, Foam Beetle
• Saltwater Pattern: Bonefish

Then they tell how to use this one type of fly to catch any kind of fish. In concise text, with instructional photos throughout and QR codes that link to how-to videos for tying and fishing with these flies, this book and its techniques force you to rely on your skills and to be creative to be successful. You will catch fish as you never have before.

Review Quotes

"A minimalist manifesto for the modern angler, Pheasant Tail Simplicity is the perfect gift for fly fishers who believe less gear and more wisdom leads to more fish. . . . it's both a practical guide and a celebration of simplicity in the sport." - Fly Fisherman Magazine

"While this book features only a single main fly-tying material, it promotes an increasingly rare mindset: prioritizing knowledge, craft, and creativity." -- The Drake

"Inspiring you to keep turning the pages, learning more and to adopt this book's over-arching message of K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid)" --The Mission Fly Fishing

"With its spectacular color photos, pattern recipes, expertly written instructional text, and feet-on-the-ground philosophy of better fly fishing through simplification, Pheasant Tail Simplicity is a book that appeals on multiple levels. It's the sort of volume you'll open again and again, if only because the gorgeous photos make it so enjoyable to flyp through. Fly tiers will want to keep a copy close by the bench. And it would make a fine coffee table book for guests to peruse in a home or fishing lodge. Highly recommended." --Fly Fisherman Magazine

About the Author

Yvon Chouinard is the founder and former owner of Patagonia. He is a world-recognized fly fishing expert. He is the author of several books, including Simple Fly Fishing: Techniques for Tenkara and Rod and Reel (Patagonia, 2016) and Let My People Go Surfing (Penguin Press, 2006, 2016, and 2025). His home waters are Jackson Hole, Wyoming and Ventura, California.

Craig Mathews, with his wife, Jackie, is the founder of Blue Ribbon Flies, a retail fly fishing outfitter base in West Yellowstone, Montana. Craig has authored five books on fly fishing in the western United States and Yellowstone National Park and is renowned as an expert fly fishing guide.

Mauro Mazzo is an FFF Certified Master and THCI Casting Instructor, and he writes and photographs on a regular basis for European fly fishing magazines. He has fished around the globe, from the Italian Alps to Himachal Pradesh, from Cuba to the Kola Peninsula. He lives in Milan, Italy.