Fishing Emergers/ Emerging Caddis Patterns?

[AllWaterAngler]

Hey all,

I feel kind of bad about asking this, but i need help. I was on a stream that had fish rising slightly out of the water for emerging caddis and i was lost. Even though i try to convince myself differently, I am useless when it comes to fishing emergers. I have hardly any practice doing it, and I hardly tie any because of this. I was just wondering if anyone had advice on how to get a natural presentation in front of these fish that were about three to four inches under the film? And if so, do you have any patterns that work best? I know of the sparkle pupa and such, but my knowledge ends there....

Thanks!

 

[Lonewolve]

Soft hackles Soft hackles Soft hackles swung quartering downstream

 

[troutpoop]

What soft hackle pattern(s) might you suggest?

 

[SBecker]

Peacock and Partridge is my favorite to use. I wrap one turn of cdc in dun color before the partridge. Helps catch air bubbles and imitate that caddis emerging. I am fishing this pattern just under the surface or in the film.

 

[krayfish]

If the water is kind of flat, I'll fish a leader that's "greased" up to 3-4" in front of the fly.

 

[McSneek]

troutpoop wrote:
What soft hackle pattern(s) might you suggest?

I do pretty well with a simple soft hackle pattern.

Hook - #14 or #16 wet fly
shuck - sparse tan antron or equivalent
abdomen - Loosely dubbed tan or green dubbing
thorax - darker dubbing (cinnamon or grey)
hackle - couple of turns of partridge

I usually rib it with fine gold wire or tying thread. After you finish, brush out the body to make it "buggy."

 

[shakey]

troutpoop wrote:
What soft hackle pattern(s) might you suggest?

all of them.

 

[mike_richardson]

This post made me want to start tying more pupa patterns. Are the pupa a lighter color than the larva and emerged adult. Seems like a neat type of thing to tie. It seems these guys have pretty predominate eyes. I am thinking of tying a pupa with mon eyes. These pupa flies would be successful on a lift, correct?

 

[tyeager]

if you want a good picture of a peacock soft hackle check out thefeatheredhook.com about 2/3 down the page there is a good picture

 

[dc410]

I got into a pod of rising fish on the Tully. I didn't know exactly what they were on but it appeared to be some type of emergers. Having read this thread earlier I decided to try two soft hackles. Well, it really worked! Fished for about an hour. Brought 7 to hand, employed the long distance release on 4 and missed many others. The top producer was a flashback pheasant tail soft hackle which is a traditionally tied PT with partridge hackle. I tie a piece of pearl or green flashabou over the back underneath the gold rib. Most of the takes were on a fairly tight line as the wet flies swung right through the zone of the feeding fish. It was a very effective technique and a lot of fun!

 

[Chaz]

Just add a trailing shuck to your dry fly pattern, usually that's all it takes.