Emergers -- Need a mayfly emerger

[goby]

Yesterday emergers kicked my butt. Huge trout were taking PMD emergers and wouldn't touch my dry.

So what is the go to emerger for a PMD hatch? I'm guessing the emergers were right under the surface since I could see the trout's back, but never their mouth, and there was nothing on the surface when the took the fly.

The dries were about a size 16 or so. Does that mean I should use a size 16 emerger?

I have the fly tying book "Emergers" but I was wondering what worked in Northern California, and in particular, the Trinity River.



Thanks!

[Bruce Slightom]

http://www.blue-ribbon-flies.com/how-to/adams_cripple/

[DLJeff]

Pheasant tail tied emerger style or cripple style works well for PMD's. The trouble with PMD's is they can vary a lot in color. Some areas they're cinnamon brown and in others they can be a pale yellow with a touch of pink on the head. So it helps if you know what the local variation looks like and then just modify your favorite emerger pattern with those colors.

[John Sv]

I like Klinkhamers and tie them up in size/colors to match. The pmd one is pale dubbing over dark thread and it seems to work. I have had luck upsizing by one size (16 should be tied on a 14 hook) and just use a light wire scud hook as opposed to the Klinkhamer hook. They are a more general impression that are caddis-y or mayfly-y, which is nice for me because it is less flies overall.

[DAVID95670]

Yesterday emergers kicked my butt. Huge trout were taking PMD emergers and wouldn't touch my dry.

So what is the go to emerger for a PMD hatch? I'm guessing the emergers were right under the surface since I could see the trout's back, but never their mouth, and there was nothing on the surface when the took the fly.

The dries were about a size 16 or so. Does that mean I should use a size 16 emerger?

I have the fly tying book "Emergers" but I was wondering what worked in Northern California, and in particular, the Trinity River.



Thanks!


GILLIGANS ROCK AS DOES QUIGLEY'S CRIPPLE

http://gilligansguideservice.com/flies_and_hatches.html

[EricW]

DHE (Deer Hair Emerger from Bob Wyatt) (http://globalflyfisher.com/video/dhe-20-deer-hair-emerger-20) is a super easy tie and works well for me. Sometimes a little tough to see but I think most low-riders are.

edit: I use TMC 2487

[Terry Thomas]

2nd Quigley's cripple as well as his "extendo" pattern.

[Dan LeCount]

Fly choice depends a lot on your water type. If the water is more riffly glides, maybe try a cripple, hackle stacker or a sparkle dun type pattern. For picky fish in really flat water I like CDC patterns, along the lines of Rene Harrops emerger or even CDC RS2s and F flies.

http://flypatternsfortrout.com/2011/12/22/cdc-biot-emergers/

[ycflyfisher]

Goby,

In recent years that hatch (since the T got the elevated spring hydrograph) has become difficult at best, and absolutely maddening in the worst case scenario (i.e. most of the time). Prior to the elevated spring flows, the fish didn’t usually start getting uber selective until ~mid-August. The hatch by my account has also become shorter in duration and with not nearly as many bugs on the water as previous years. As a result, the “big heads” with lots of real estate from snout to fork tend to work much wider feeding lanes and their movements are much more difficult to isolate. The bugs I use for this particular hatch are as follows:

That pale (not the luminescent) fiber-tailed para-dun pattern that Herb sells when the fish are on the duns.

A Quigley style calibaetis cripple with a wing of coastal deer hair dyed pale yellow when the fish are on emergers in the film:
http://www.danica.com/flytier/sschalla/callibaetis_cripple.htm

A size 14-18 Monroe leech style pattern (as the nymph) with an natural ostrich herl tail and body suspended 2-3 inches under the film by some biostrike putty for the situation you describe where the fish are bulging the film, but not breaking the film with their heads.

The Monroe style nymph pattern can be modified by putting a small “bump” of yellow biostrike putty on the top of the fly to simulate a bug splitting the case. A few minutes of exposure to the 95+ degree heat is usually enough to secure the biostrike to the bug.

Overcast the feeding lanes and Hat Creek Skate the bugs into position. Concentrate on short drifts.

When all the above fails (which in recent years for me is more often than not…) I note the locations of the big heads and beat up on ‘em when they’re not locked into the hatch with a Neil Rea style muddler with a pearlescent white body, and a crystal flash and olive arctic fox wing on 0X tippet on an fairly fast greaseline. Try to control the sideways tension so the muddler “dives” in front of the lanes the fish are working the PMDs.

[Charlie Gonzales]

I swing soft hackle pheasant tails, red fox squirrel tails and tan birds nest.

good to see the Klinkhamer isn't a forgotten fly!

[Frank Alessio]

Great Video... Thanks....

[Troutstalker55B]

Dan's advice is spot on, more often it's the type of water and feeding lanes that will dictate which pattern to use. My go to PMD emerger is the sparkle dun. It has passed with flying colors on the Little Truckee, the Fall, and the Lower Yuba by both my guests and myself. Your presentation is often more important than the pattern and why a "fly first" drift downstream is so successful, trout only see the fly coming into their vision with no leader or line to alert them of immediate danger. Quigley's cripple works too well, for whatever reason those fish take it so deep that it can be a problem when removing the fly, even when barbless.

[goby]

Thank you so much. I did a ton of research and learned a few things....

Trinity trout are selective. The key for me was a long leader and perfect presentation. I got the recommended emerger pattern from The Fly Shop, verified by someone with a seine, and it still didn't work. I bought a great pattern (1/2 quill, 1/2 dubbing) and modified it myself, using Z-Lon for the tail and little more hackle It's been amazing. I then went into "predator mode" and only cast to rising fishing. I caught 2 fish last night, and caught the biggest fish of my life on a dry fly. I'm not great at measuring, but after looking at pics of 10 lb fish, I'm guessing this one went 7 lbs, caught on a 2wt Orvis Superfine with my beloved CFO reel with a long 4lb fluorocarbon tippet and a size 16 fly.

The key was an absolutely perfect cast I was actually 5 feet from the shore (not in the river) when I made the cast.

7277


I'm going to look up the suggested patterns and start tying them. I am pretty ignorant about emergers, and it's time I start using them. The only ones I've used are the WD-40 and the EC/2 (Ralph Cutter's caddis) and they have both worked great.

[Bryan Morgan]

Can't say enough about the Klinkhamer. It creates a pretty sexy fly.