Fly tying the emerger pattern (visualize)

The fly fisher fishes top to bottom and strategizes on what food sources are in the water and what the fish might want to eat. Part of this enjoyable game is tying (or buying) the fly that represents a stage of life in that watery world and presenting it to entice. It is helpful to visualize your offering as it entices…such is the ’emerger’ fly pattern. The pattern can be just below the water’s surface or hanging in the film (half in/half out) preparing to emerge or perhaps stuck in the process (stillborn) and highly vulnerable. I offer up three photos: The first one, I apologize because, I cannot source it (perhaps someone will note and comment) and the other is a pattern I tied of an emerger pattern.

The ’emerger’ pattern is most often depicted in this manner. However, an unweighted nymph, or an nymph pattern with a tuft of something protruding from the wingcase can be fished just below the surface as an ’emerger’ with great effectiveness too. Query Google Images “emerging nymphs” and you can see numerous patterns. Ignore the freaky women ’emerging’ as nymphs from the water shots.