PFG Bird's Nest

The Bird's Nest is a nymph pattern designed by the late Calvert "Cal" Bird in 1980. Cal was a master fly tier, who owned a small fly shop in San Francisco in the 40's and 50's. According to Chuck Stranahan: "Cal and Helen were frequent visitors when I had a shop near Burney, California, during the late '70's and early '80's. We fished Hat Creek and the Fall River, where our experiments with fly design took shape under the acid test of those two exceedingly demanding and difficult waters. Late in the 1980 season I got a phone call from Cal: "Chuck, I've come up with a new fly. It's simpler than a Hare's Ear, more versatile than a Muddler Minnow, and it's a wonder nobody has come up with it before." He went on to describe his success with the new pattern on Arcularius Ranch on the Owens River the weekend before, where he caught an eight pound brown on this new fly he called the Bird's Nest." 

Usually tied in tan colors to imitate caddis pupae, other colors used are cream, brown, and olive. 
The Bird's Nest is generally considered an attractor pattern that can be fished on a dead drift, either weighted or unweighted. Use short strips to gives the Bird's Nest a lively action with the hairs of the body pulsating to the action of the Woodduck hackle. Application of dessicant powder works well with this pattern as the powder will help to trap air bubbles within the hackle overbody. This produces a shimmering effect that is often seen within natural pupa rising to the surface.