r/flyfishing • u/Apprehensive_Pair63 • 1d ago
Fly Id help.
I received a pack of flies for my birthday, but am confused on a few of them. Are they you or emergers? What are they suppose to mimic? Thank you.
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u/MongoBongoTown 1d ago
Bright green one (just called a Caddis larva) is a nymph, fished deep under an indicator or as the bottom fly in a dry-dropper rig.
The puffy one is an emerger, some derivation of a LaFontaine Sparkle Pupae. Fished as an emerger, it can be fished on a normal nymph rig, or more commonly as an unweighted dropper on a dry dropper rig, so it sits high in the water column and looks like an emerging insect.
Both are great flys and will serve you well in a river with a good caddis population.
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u/Apprehensive_Pair63 1d ago
Do I need to put any type of floatant on this emerger or emergers in general?
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u/MongoBongoTown 1d ago
Nope, you want it to sink a little below the surface. This pattern is especially designed for that style of fishing since it looks like a little gas bubble coming from an emerging insect underwater because of the fine fibers around the hook shank
Adjust how far you have it hanging off the dry fly to adjust depth if you're fishing it in a dry dropper rig. Usually about 18-24 inches, but can go a bit longer.
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u/Apprehensive_Pair63 1d ago
I often hang a nymph only 18-24 inches off my dry dropper. Is that too short? I’m sure it depends on water depth. 18-24 just seems long for an emerger in my limited knowledge
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u/iluvcee 1d ago
Not at all, keep in mind an 18" dropper doesn't mean your nymph is 18" below the water surface. The current makes it ride up a bit. At 18" it could be riding 10" below the surface.
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u/Apprehensive_Pair63 1d ago
I guess I thought emergers were supposed to be like 1-3 inches below the waters surface. Like they were supposed to be clinging to the u derided of the waters surface tension. Not sure where I got that idea from.
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u/iluvcee 1d ago
Emergers can be anywhere from right beneath the surface to nearly 12" beneath it. You just have to do a bit of experimenting with the length. Gotta keep in mind that emergers don't just suddenly appear in the surface film, they have to quite literally emerge from the bottom water column.
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u/Rhummy67 1d ago
If you are casting to fish and they are porpoising - you see their backs but not their nose- you can add a little Floatant to keep it just below the film if they aren't taking it at the level it's floating. That way you don't have to adjust your dropper length to get it in their take zone.
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u/Other_Quality6888 23h ago
Try fishing that emerger pattern 18”-24” behind a collared caddis. Fish a normal upstream cast but when it gets to the end of the downstream drift lift your rod slowly until the dry fly starts to drag and tumble on the surface. Let the dry fly tumble for a few seconds while the dropper comes taught and starts to rise in the column. That mimics the emerging caddis and you’ll be surprised how many fish hit the dropper on the lift. The tumbling dry fly will also draw hits because caddis bumble on the surface naturally. It’s a deadly combination when there’s a caddis hatch.
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u/nimblybimbly3000 1d ago
We have caddis but I’ve never seen green nymphs in the system…
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u/shmiddleedee 23h ago
There's gotta be at least a dozen species
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u/nimblybimbly3000 23h ago
All green?
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u/shmiddleedee 23h ago
I'm not sure. I doubt it. The ones I see in my area are green but they're in a shell they make out of rocks.
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u/tkrw 46m ago
JHC. This thread is embarrassing.
The top pattern is a meant to be a caddis nymph, fished down near the bottom. Yes, might be a rhyacophila, or possibly a hydropsyche; regardless, fish it as near to the bottom as you can/dare.
The 2nd, lower pattern is a version of LaFontaine's deep sparkle pupa. It is a pupa pattern. It is not intended to be fished in the surface film as an emerger. Note the bead. That means it's intended to sink.
You can fish this pattern anywhere from the the bottom up. The pupa first show up by coming out from underneath the rocks they have been pupating under. So down near the bottom is entirely appropriate for this pattern. You can also let it sink and then swing it up and through the current like a wet fly/soft hackle. Caddis pupa are active, capable swimmers, unlike ascending mayfly nymphs. And trout love a rising pattern.
The LaFontaine pattern meant to be fished as an in-the-film emerger is the sparkle pupa, which doesn't have a bead, and has some deer hear on the top of it to aid it in buoyancy/getting caught in the surface film.
Over the last several decades there has been a fair amount of pollution between the two pattern recipes, to the point that you will see a bead-headed version w/ deer hair. Doesn't really make a ton of sense and shows that most people don't seem to understand why Gary LaFontaine had two versions of the same basic pattern. But I suppose it's no more ridiculous than saying a pattern with a bead is meant to be fished as an emerger.
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u/MattManSD 1d ago
Both are Rhycophelia (sp) Caddis Nymphs, the lower being an emerger, upper being a pupae. If you have a caddis hatch use the lower one as a "Hopper Dropper" rig with a well floating dry fly (Like an Elk Hair Caddis)