Beadhead Tungsten Frenchie

The frenchie fly is one of those patterns that you need to have in your trout box. The frenchie nymph fly will catch trout on the South Holston in TN to New Zealand. The best trout patterns are often the simplest and this one is no different. The frenchie fly can imitate a wide range of mayflies and a variety of sizes. It can also be fished in a variety of ways. The traditional frenchie fly pattern is tied with natural pheasant tail, cdl tail fibers, red thread, gold wire and some flashy dub. Frenchie flies can be drifted under an indicator, tight lined, or dry dropped.

A frenchie fly can be tied with different color of pheasant tail for the body. The dubbing collar can be multiple colors as well.

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The frenchie nymph is typically tied on #12-20 nymph hooks. The color of the bead can also be changed. This is one of the popular euro nymph flies that can be tied on a straight shank hook or on a jig hook with a tungsten bead. The frenchie nymph pattern is a good choice to dry drop off the back of a dry fly because it could also be fished as an emerger with a brass bead. The frenchie fly pattern works so well because it has a little bit of everything that makes a good fly. The CDL fibers make the tail look realistic. The wrapped pheasant tail makes a great nymph body.

The wire wrapped around it helps keep the fly from falling apart as pheasant tail is a fragile material. The wire also adds segmentation. Finishing the frenchie fly with some ice dubbin and red thread helps the fly pop. The frenchie fly pattern is good for stained water because it is a dark fly and has bright features to it which will attract the fish. Not just for trout, the frenchie fly pattern also makes for a great bluegill fly. A lot of beginner fly fishermen start fishing for blue gill. Blue eat nymph flies and other aquatic insects, and since the frenchie has some flash it is a perfect bluegill fly. Frenchie nymphs are also a great fly for steelhead. Great lake steelhead will eat them because of their basic nymph appearance and a red-hot spot made of thread. Steelhead and stocked trout will key in on bright colors and sometimes it can be a day saver. If you have ever flipped over a rock in a trout stream, you know that there are a bunch of tiny dark insects scurrying around on the bottom. A lot of those bugs can be imitated with a frenchie fly pattern.

It can also be fished while using a two-fly rig. Often the heavier fly on the bottom and lighter fly on top, a frenchie fly can work as either depending on the size of the other fly. There’s no question of why it works, it’s just a variation of a pheasant tail nymph, basically the quickie version. In fact, the frenchie may already be the modern-day beadhead pheasant tail. We also carry a competition-style variant tied on premium Firehole Stix hooks.

Look at our full selection of Frenchie fly patterns to see the colors and style variations we carry.