Details
Over the years, I’ve contributed artwork or essays to over sixty books, and while these volumes are in print, we offer them on our website.
PHEASANT TAIL SIMPLICITY is an exception to this formula. We’re proud to offer this book because our good friend, Samantha Aronson, has contributed her artistic talents to illustrating it. Her deft hand and thorough knowledge of fly fishing have produced an exceptional book.
If you’d like a copy of what is destined to become a classic, signed by the illustrator… we can hook you up!
Softcover, 168 pages
Full color with over 200 photos
8.25 x 11 inches
Patagonia, October 14, 2025
About Pheasant Tail Simplicity: Recipes and Techniques for Successful Fly Fishing
Together, Chouinard, Mathews, and Mazzo have nearly 200 years of fly-fishing experience. They’ve tried—and refined—it all and share their knowledge here, demonstrating how you can catch fish—anywhere, any time—with just one type of fly.
Angling aficionados and authors Chouinard, Mathews, and Mazzo come together again, this time to reveal the many wonders of 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 additional experience, they offer the next step: the feather that can be used to tie flies from nymphs and dry flies to emergers, soft hackles, and beetles. Pheasant Tail Simplicity, conceived as an advanced follow-up to Simple Fly Fishing, explores the techniques required to tie and present these flies to trout and anadromous and saltwater species. More than just a guide, it challenges the norm that thousands of fly patterns are necessary to catch fish successfully.
Pheasant Tail Simplicity includes step-by-step illustrated instructions for tying 18 flies, along with materials lists and tips on how to use them. In concise text, with QR codes that link to how-to videos, this colorful book distills fly fishing to its core: one primary fly-tying material, a handful of techniques, and a mindset that prioritizes knowledge, craft, and creativity over all else.
The book includes 18 detailed fly recipes, with ingredient 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.
About the Authors and Illustrator
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 owner and founder of Blue Ribbon Flies, a retail fly fishing outfitter based 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 regularly 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.
Samantha Aronson is an illustrator specializing in the art of fly fishing, including flies, fish, and techniques. Her work is displayed in the American Museum of Fly Fishing, and has been featured in numerous fly fishing publications. She lives in Northfield, Vermont.
