Soft Hackle Emerger 01/07/2025 Photo Album

I have been tying this fly for quite a few years now, and my post of 12/19/2023 will initiate a deep dive into the history should the reader desire to pursue. It is a pattern that is present in Charlie Craven’s book, Charlie’s Fly Box. Initially I tied them without a bead, but subsequently I fell into the trap of adding a small nickel bead to obtain more sink. I have now come to realize this is exactly what one should not do for an emerger pattern. In addition, I already possessed an arsenal of beadhead RS2’s and beadhead sparkle wing RS2s for drifting deep nymphs.Size 20

Over the last three years I have come full circle. If you click on the previous link and follow the embedded link there, you can read about my favorable experiences with the soft hackle emerger on windy days and scenarios, where my CDC blue wing olive is rejected. I suspect that under certain conditions the trout key into fluttering and motion, and the soft hackles and angled wing more closely imitate cripples and struggling mayflies. Blue wing olives tend to emerge under adverse weather conditions, so wind and cold are more prevalent than still air and warm atmospheres.

Side View

When my CDC BWO is rejected, I now confidently tie on a soft hackle emerger and apply floatant to the body in an effort to fish it in the surface film. It is difficult to track, so I sometimes combine it with a buoyant hippie stomper and trail the small emerger on a one foot dropper. I also often execute an across and downstream cast and manipulate the emerger to float into the feeding trout’s window first. All these steps have served me well and enabled me to land some gorgeous fish under challenging conditions.

Seven New Soft Hackle Emergers

I tie these beadless soft hackle emergers in three sizes; 20, 22, and 24. I counted my supply of each, and then I produced an additional eight. Six were of the size 20 variety and two were tiny size 24’s.

Sparkle Wing RS2 01/05/2025 Photo Album

Should you like to trace my reports on the sparkle wing RS2 back in time, utilize the link in my 12/13/2023 post. I use the classic RS2 and sparkle wing versions fairly interchangeably; however, I feel the my preference has actually tilted back in favor of the classic. Nevertheless, I deploy the sparkle wing quite a bit, especially when I sense that the fish require a bit more flash to attract their attention. How do I sense this? I cannot explain it.

Sparkle Wing RS2

As stated in my 12/13/2023 post, I have settled on white fluoro fiber as my wing stub material. I already use it for the split tail, and I believe it offers a slim profile, and it does not generate much bulk in attempting to maintain a narrow body profile. Working with the tiny fluoro fiber material makes this fly slightly more challenging to tie, but it remains quite simple compared to other patterns.

Batch of Eight

Apparently I lost more of the sparkle wings than I realized, as my count suggested that I needed to tie eight to return to my targeted inventory levels. I completed this task, and I am armed for spring blue wing olive activity.

Classic RS2 01/05/2025 Photo Album

My post of 12/13/2023 is a good starting point to learn about the classic RS2. It has a link that will transport you farther back should you desire to deep dive. The creator of this fly is Colorado based, but I am certain that its popularity now spans the globe. I would never want to be on a western stream without an adequate supply of RS2s. They are easy to tie and a reliable imitation of baetis nymphs and other small mayfly nymphs.

Rather Scruffy

I also carry sparkle wing RS2s and soft hackle emergers for baetis hatch heavy lifting, but amazingly, the classic RS2 remains a consistent producer. Three natural materials comprise this fly. The original pattern prescribed muskrat guard hairs for the tail, but I substitute a few brown hackle fibers. They are much easier to prep than plucking guard hairs.

Three Replacements

I counted my supply, and I determined that I only needed a couple to restore my inventory level, so I tied three, with one going to my young rookie angler friend. Blue wing olives hatches are just around the corner, and I am ready.

Supernova PMD 01/01/2025 Photo Album

My post of 12/12/2023 provides a brief description of my usage of the Supernova PMD. As stated in that post, I stopped tying pheasant tail nymphs and replaced them with salvation nymphs and the supernova PMD nymph. The supernova nymph is much easier to tie than the pheasant tail, which uses fragile pheasant tail fibers for the tail, abdomen and wing case. In spite of my desired abandonment of the pheasant tail,

Freshly Minted Supernova PMD

I resorted to them quite often in 2024, and consequently I did not deplete my supply of the supernova to any significant degree. Nevertheless, I tied five additional imitations to add to my inventory along with refurbishing one pheasant tail nymph that was unravelling. For two of my new ties, I modified the Juan Ramirez recipe. I replaced the thread abdomen with a fine light gray dubbing, and I added a flashback black over-wing that ran over the top of the abdomen and extended as a wing case. I like the look of these quite a bit.

Variant with Gray Body and Flashback Black Wing Case

Below is a table with the materials recipe provided by Juan Ramirez:

Batch of Six Including Refurbished Beadhead Pheasant Tail Nymph

Below is my adaptation of the Ramirez pattern.

Iron Sally 12/22/2024 Photo Album

Review my post of 12/11/2023 for additional incite on the iron sally. As mentioned there, it has become a workhorse fly among my arsenal. It combines flash and weight for depth and attraction.

Size 12

It is not an easy fly to tie as a result of the actions taking place in the thorax area, but I persevered. The effort is worthwhile since the finished product is quite pretty. I tie the iron sally in sizes 12 and 14. I suspect fourteens mimic the nymph of yellow sallies, and the twelves imitate golden stonefly nymphs.

Size 14

For whatever reason I did not deplete my supply as in past years. It seems as if I never encountered strong stonefly emergences as was the case in prior summers. I counted my supply and determined that I needed to tie three flies; one size 12 and two size 14’s. I finished them today, and I am pleased with the output.

Materials and Completed Flies

Emerald Caddis Pupa 12/21/2024 Photo Album

A good starting point to deep drilling this fly is my post of 12/08/2023, and that narrative contains a link to a 2012 post with a wealth of additional information. As stated in the 12/08 post, I believe much success of this fly derives from the emerald body color. I have captured caddis that have the same color at the tip of their abdomen, and I have also harvested caddis worms with a similar body color.

Angled Emerald Caddis Pupa

All my caddis pupa follow the design created by Gary LaFontaine in his milestone book Caddisflies. The antron sheath was the foundational design concept that LaFontaine devised, and all my pupa contain this feature. The antron sheath imitates the air bubble that forms around the pupa, as it ascends to the surface to transition into an adult.

A Group of Three New Flies

I suffered very little shrinkage of this fly in 2024, so I only tied three additional models. One was deposited in my storage box, and two were gifted to Ben, the young man I mentored during 2024.

Go2 Caddis Pupa 12/21/2024 Photo Album

The go2 caddis pupa is a favorite offering for me during the spring grannom hatch. The grannom hatch is famous on the Arkansas River, but I have also encountered it on other Colorado rivers during the pre-runoff time frame.

New Go2 Caddis Pupa

Check out my post of 11/20/2022 for a bit more information on this fly, or click on the link on that post to drill further into my experience with this fly. I love the substitution of the bright chartreuse diamond rib material for the body of this fly.

Three Go2 Caddis Pupa Added to Iinventory

For some reason I did not lose many of these flies in 2024, so I produced only three new ones for my fly boxes. I kept one to increase my supply to a multiple of five, and I made two additional flies for Ben, the young angler that I mentored during the summer of 2024.

Psycho Prince 12/18/2024 Photo Album

Was it the name or appearance? If a prince nymph is an effective fly, why wouldn’t a psycho prince be an even more dynamic fish magnet? I decided to tie some and test the allure of this flashy subsurface fly.

Not Bad for an Early Attempt

I found a YouTube tying video and collected the requisite materials. Various body material combinations were suggested, but I settled on purple. Brown and white goose biot wings were carryovers from the prince nymph. I used copper wire for ribbing, as detailed in the fly recipe that I followed, and brown ice dubbing was used for the collar behind the bead. I deviated from the prescribed pattern in four ways. For the abdomen, I did not possess purple ice dub, so I substituted a fine purple synthetic material. The YouTube video utilized six strands of pheasant tail fibers for the covering over the abdomen. I felt that material was too fragile, so I replaced it with a strand of pearl flashabou over a strip of flashback black, and I coated this overlay with UV resin, before I completed the forward part of the fly. My third modification was the usage of white antron for the wing stub at the back of the thorax area. For a fourth modification I wrapped a strip of weighting material around the hook in the thorax area as a foundation.

A Batch of Five

Since this fly is at an experimental stage with me, I only tied five prototypes. Three were size 12 and two were size 14. These flies went into my active fleece wallet immediately. I plan to tie one to my line instead of a prince nymph at my first opportunity.

Prince Nymph 12/17/2024 Photo Album

For a brief rundown on the prince nymph and a link to prior year posts, please click on 11/19/2022. The prince nymph is always among the top five nymphs cited as necessary flies to maintain in one’s fly box, and I agree with that assessment.

Small Version

I always carry an adequate quantity of sizes 12 and 14 in my fleece wallet. I also weight these flies with non-toxic wire, and I tie with a bead. This fly sinks, and I frequently deploy it as the top subsurface fly in a dry/dropper arrangement, thus, assuring deep drifts. Quite often the fish demonstrate a preference for the weighted nymph over the smaller end fly.

Size 12

My count suggested that I needed four prince nymphs of each size, so I applied my talents to the vise and produced that quantity. Three of the smaller nymphs were derived from old prince nymphs that outlived their usefulness.

A Batch of Eight Awaiting Storage

20 Incher 12/13/2024 Photo Album

I have little new information to offer on the classic 20 incher. Check out this link to last year’s post for more insight.

Classic 20 Incher

The 20 incher continues to be a stalwart offering among my collection of nymphs. The stonefly imitation represents a large fly on a heavy wire with added weight. When I sense that my flies are not getting deep enough in a dry/dropper configuration, the 20 incher is often the answer. It is a fine fish attractor in addition to providing ballast for deeper drifts.

I cycled through several materials for the wing case, but I settled on turkey quill segments for the time being. They are more fragile than Tyvek, but when topped with UV resin, I like the natural look.

Additions to Inventory and Materials Required

I counted my stock and determined that I needed five additional to bring my total to a nice round number going into 2025. I produced five size 12’s, and I am ready for some early season stonefly nymph action.