Showshoe & UV Finish Emergers

The flies above are the result of some experimentation I've done with #16 Klinkhamer hooks and snowshoe hare's feet wings. Both bodies were finished using Loon's Clear UV Finish - Thin. On the left, I spiral-wrapped dun WonderWrap with UV Pearl Flashabou wrapped between the WonderWrap spirals. On the right, I used a grizzly hackle quill. The idea is that the bodies will easily sink below the surface, with the super-boyant showshoe hare keeping them afloat in the surface film.

CDC March Brown Emerger

Hook: #12-14 dry or emerger 

Thread: rusty brown 70 denier

Tail: natural Hungarian partridge 

Body: thread

Rib: round gold tinsel

Thorax hare's ear

Wing case/wing: CDC dyed wood duck (I left the trimmed butts exposed for a buggier cripple look)

West Branch Report

I spent a couple of hours on the waters between Walton and Delhi tonight and while there were definitely bugs out and about, there wasn't nearly the surface activity I expected. I netted a few Red Quill (male hendrickson) spinners and saw quite a lot of small dark dun caddis (Chimarra, I believe) and slightly larger greed caddis (apple?) out and about, but the fish seemed to be feeding elsewhere. Perhaps I arrived too late for the main feast. Even so, I did manage to hook up with a few small browns. I'm guessing the stocking truck came through recently because the fish I caught were in the 6-8" range and were pretty pale.

Once again, the dark dun CDC emerger was a killer, as was the Madison Guide Cripple in red quill coloring. While the CDC Emerger is deadly, it's tough to fish in that it's hard to see and a little fish slime pretty much trashes it. I fish it mostly as a dropper off of a larger, more visible fly (a Hendrickson or klinkhamer for example) unless the water is fairly calm. Last night it was my go-to for sight-casting to a rising trout. I stuck with the MGC for prospecting in the faster water since the parachute made it easier to track and it's far more durable.

CDC Emerger

As promised, my first fly that caught me a fish. It's a great little pattern that's quick to tie and represents a number of bugs. I originally tied it to be a BWO, but last night it did duty as a spent caddis and/or a blue quill or quill gordon and landed me a beautiful fish on the first presentation. 

Hook: #16 emerger

Thread: 70 denier, black or olive

Abdomen: stripped peacock herl

Thorax: olive dubbin

Wing: 2 dark dun CDC feathers tied facing rearward and then pulled forward over dubbin ball to form a wing case and tied behind the eye to form the wing.  

West Branch Report - Get your dries!

My first fish on a dry of the season _and_ my first fish on a fly that I tied EVER _AND_ it's my largest trout to date (at just shy of 20")! I am disgustingly proud of myself.

Last night was a beautiful night for fishing with temps in the 60s and no breeze to speak of when I arrived near Hamden at 5:15PM. There was a lot of insect activity with Hendricksons mating in the air, blue quills drifting past, and clouds of small, dark dun caddis flies everywhere. I also noticed nymph shucks floating past in the water. The surface activity wasn't phenomenal, despite the bugs, but there were fish rising. Based on the slow rises and what I was seeing in the water, fish seemed to be slurping up spent caddis flies (dark dun, size 18 or so). The Hendricksons weren't yet depositing eggs and there wasn't a spinner fall so perhaps tonight will show some more action on that front.

The above fish was caught on a dark dun CDC emerger pattern, size 16 with a stripped peacock herl body. I'll tie a few more up and post a pattern soon. It's an easy fly to tie, though the CDC requires a lot of maintenance to keep it floating (many thanks to Hareline's Amadou fly dryer!) and it was pretty much toast after the tussle with the fish pictured above. I tried a few other flies including a more traditional Hendrickson pattern, a blue quill, and even a pheasant tail nymph over a few risers but they weren't interested. A dark Madison Guide Cripple (brown with grizzly hackle, size #14 or 16) drew a savage take from a nice looking fish who managed to get away. It popped my tippet during a brief lapse in concentration as I tried to get into a better position to land it. Unfortunately, I didn't have a spare in dark coloring and the remaining rising fish had no interest in the cream colored variation I showed them next.

All in all, an excellent evening spent on the water and with the warm temperatures continuing, I expect things will only pick up from here.

BWO CDC Cripple

A modified Madison Guide Cripple pattern using CDC for the wing and colors to imitate a BWO. 

Hook: #16 Emerger

Thread: black 70 denier 

Shuck: Himalayan goat fur

Body: Olive hare's ear

Wing: dark dun CDC tied cripple style (trim butt end to protrude from hackle to end of thorax)

Hackle: natural dun (take 2-3 wraps over CDC butts and 1-2 in front of wing. Trim notch in lower hackle so that hackle is slightly less than the hook gap)

CDC Biot Caddis Emerger

Hook: Dry 12-16

Thread: brown or black

Shuck: silvery Zelon or poly yarn 

Abdomen: tan or olive goose or turkey biot (goose pref)

Thorax: small ball of olive dubbin under wings

Under-wing: silvery Zelon or poly yarn

Wing: pair of natural CDC feathers. Bend down butts to create beard/legs before trimming

Antennae: 2 duck flank fibers

Head: 1 peacock herl

Check out Hans Weilenmann's video for how to do it right:

Elk Hammer

I'm a bit infatuated with the klinkhamer, I admit. This is another modification I'd like to try out this May. Elk body hair for the tail and abdomen to give it hopefully a Hendrickson look. I haven't seen elk hair used for body wraps much so maybe it's a mistake, but added wire counter wraps should make it more durable and I love the look. 

Hook: Klinkhamer 14-16

Thread: brown

Tail: elk body hair

Abdomen: elk (same as tail)

Rib: Wapsi wire (used silver and wine so far)

Thorax: March brown or Hendrickson pink dubbin

Wing Post: poly yarn or calf tail

Hackle: natural dun

Madison Guide Cripple

Quick to tie hi-vis cripple/emerger pattern. 

Hook: emerger 14-18

Thread: to match (cream/brown shown)

Tail: Zelon or hair (Himalayan goat fur shown)

Abdomen: peacock herl or dubbed (caddis green & march brown shown)

Wing: Poly yarn tied cripple style

Hackle: to match (grizzly)

Notes:

- trim wing butt to end of thorax. 

- cut notch out of bottom of hackle so fly rides low in the water. 

Black Beauty Emerger

Hook: Emerger or dry 16 or smaller

Thread: black

Tail: poly yarn

Abdomen: thread

Ribbing: silver Wapsi wire

Thorax: black or gray dubbin

Wing: poly yarn

Note: based on black beauty nymph which is the same pattern minus the poly tail and wing, tied on a scud or nymph hook. 

CDC & Elk

This is a very simple fly created by Hans Weilenmann in the 1990s.  The CDC & Elk is a variation on the Elk-hair Caddis that is both easy to tie and versatile.  Using only two materials, you can churn out a few of these in relatively short order. 

Pattern:

Hook: Dry Fly (12 or 14)
Thread: Brown
Body: Dark Dun CDC
Wing: Elk Hair (Deer hair subbed above)

Instructions:

1. Starting your thread a little behind the hook eye, wrap back to the barb and trim your tag end.
2. Holding your CDC feather in your left hand, stroke the fibers forward with your right-hand and tie in the first 1/4-1/2" of the tip per Hans' technique: two pinch wraps on top, one wrap in front around shank only, then another wrap on top.
3. Advance thread forward to an eye space or two from the eye.
4. Using a hackle pliers, wrap the CDC forward to your thread.  The rear end of the fly will be nicely dubbed as the CDC fibers are all trapped.  As you advance, more and more fiber ends will be freed up and create a leggy/buggy look.  Be sure to stroke these fibers rearward as you wind.
5. Tie off CDC behind eye and trim.
6. Select a small clump of hair (I like to hold mine to the hook shank before cutting to help gauge size), remove fuzzy under-fur and use a stacker to line up the ends.
7. Size the wing such that the deer hair ends even with the bend of the hook.
8. Per Hans, pinch the butts at the hook eye and trim the hair square at the hook eye.
9. Maintaining your pinch grip, tie in the hair with two pinch wraps and tighten down forming your nicely balled head.  A third wrap should go at 45 degrees through the head ball and a final wrap around the hook shank only, under the head and behind the eye.
10. Whip finish and cement.  (This is a great pattern to practice whip finishing by hand.  The control you get by hand allows you to get the whip finish under the head much more easily than you would with a tool.)

And since my summary could never equal learning from the creator himself: 

Fishing the CDC & Elk:
As an elk-hair caddis variation, this fly is ostensibly a dry caddis imitation.  However, per Hans, it's useful for prospecting, can be successful as a mayfly imitation, makes a decent emerger when a bit damp, and can be swung as a wet fly as well.  I'm looking forward to trying the CDC & Elk this season.  A quick and easy tie that covers several different scenarios?  How can you go wrong?

For more on CDC patterns: Tying with CDC

Blue-wing Olive Parachute Emerger

Pattern:

Hook: Emerger or Dry Fly

Thread: Olive

Tail: Dun Hackle Fibers
Abdomen: Stripped Peacock Herl

Thorax: Olive  Super Fine Dubbing

Wing Post: Poly Yarn (or calf-tail or similar)

Hackle: Dun, tied parachute style

Instructions:

• Strip fibers off of peacock herl leaving only stem and save (I use a pencil eraser though traditional is to soak the hurl in a bleach solution)Start thread behind eye, wrap back halfway, then forward half-way back to eye.
• Tie in Poly Yarn
• Tie in Dun Hackle behind eye
• Create post with Poly yarn and hackle (leave hackle dangling out of top of post for now)
• Wrap thread back and tie in tail.
• Tie in stripped peacock herl at tail and advance thread forward to thorax
• Wrap peacock herl forward to thorax, tie down and trim.
• Coat peacock lightly with head cement to strengthen and add luster.
• Form tight dubbing noodle and dub thorax.
• Wrap hackle parachute style 3-4 wraps, then tie in with two thread wraps around post.
• Wrap thread behind eye, whip finish and cement.
• Trim poly yarn to proper height (~ body length of fly)

For a great demo on creating parachute flies, check out this excellent instructional video from Tightline Productions.

Pheasant Tail Patterns

Pheasant Tail Nymph:

Pattern:

Hook: Nymph

Thread: Olive or Brown

Tail: 3-4 Ring-neck Pheasant tail fibers
Ribbing: Copper Wire

Body: 10 pheasant tail fibers

Wing Casing: Pheasant tail fibers (same as body)

Thorax: Peacock Herl (traditional) or dubbed (IE hare's ear)

Legs: Pheasant tail fibers (same as body)

Instructions:

• If desired, wind lead-free wire around hook to weight fly.
• Bind down wire/wrap hook with thread to tail tie in.
• Tie in tail.
• Tie in ribbing wire on near side of hook (this way, counter wrap doesn't disturb tail).
• Tie in pheasant tail for body and advance thread to thorax.
• Wrap PT to thorox.  Tie off but DON'T TRIM PT.  Wrap twice in front of PT.
• Counter wrap copper wire using palmer wraps. Tie in with PT and trim wire only.
• Tie in Peacock Herl for thorax in front of PT.
• Wrap herl forward leaving space behind hook eye, tie off, trim close. 
• Fold PT fibers over top of peacock herl to form casing, tie off behind eye, DO NOT TRIM PT yet.
• Using thumbnail, push PT butts pack. This should force them to fan out.  
• Evenly divide PT to either side of the hook, hold with left hand, and bind in place with thread wraps.
• Whip Finish and trim thread.
• Trim PT legs such that they extend back about the length of the thorax.
• Cement head and wing casing.

Parachute Pheasant Tail Emerger:

Pattern:

Hook: Emerger or Dry Fly

Thread: Olive or Brown

Tail: 10 pheasant tail fibers
Ribbing: Copper Wire

Body: 10 pheasant tail fibers (from tail)

Wing Post: Poly Yarn (or calf-tail or similar)

Hackle: Brown, tied parachute style

Instructions:

• Start thread behind eye, wrap back halfway, then forward half-way back to eye.
• Tie in Poly Yarn
• Tie in Brown Hackle behind eye
• Create post with Poly yarn and hackle (leave hackle dangling out of top of post for now)
• Wrap thread back and tie in tail with 2-3 wraps but DO NOT TRIM PT.
• Bend PT up and wrap twice in front.
• Tie in ribbing on near side of hook.
• Wrap PT forward to just behind hook eye, tie down and trim, leaving space for head.
• Counter-wrap wire palmer-style and tie in with PT.
• Wrap hackle parachute style 3-4 wraps, then tie in with two thread wraps around post.
• Wrap thread behind eye, whip finish and cement.
• Trim poly yarn to proper height (~ body length of fly)

For a great demo on creating parachute flies, check out this excellent instructional video from Tightline Productions.