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.