The Frenchie is one of my go-to patterns. It’s quick to tie, and fish love it. The Frenchie is my version, or my favorite color combination of a common competition fly. When I first entered the world ofcompetition fly fishing Iwas introduced to many fly patterns that seemed too simple to work, or too flashy, gaudy & outrageous to take fish. Yet, my boxes are now adorned with similar atrocities.Anyway, the Frenchie was one that seemed tolerable.

Though I never had great success on standard pheasant tails, I had caught a few fish on them and I’d certainly taken note of the regularity withwhich customers purchased pheasant tails, so somebody was getting them towork. The first Frenchie style fly I saw used natural pheasant tail fibers for the tail and body and had a hot spot behind thebead which varied in color. I simply found a color combination that consistently caught fish utilizingthe standard frenchie theme.


So, for clarification, I did not invent this style of fly. Egan’s Frenchieis a variation of this style of fly.

– Lance Egan, Umpqua Signature Tyer