The Best Anglers Never Stop Learning

The Best Anglers Never Stop Learning

Emerger

Cloud Emerger

Insect Species Icon Midges, Quill Gordon, Callibaetis and 4 others
Difficulty Icon Medium - 3-5 Min
Water Category Icon Coldwater

Tying Video

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Tying Recipe
  • Hook: Straight eye, emerger hook (bent nymph hook dairiki 125 or equivalent)
  • Thread: UTC 70 Thread
  • Dubbing: Possum dubbing
  • Tail: Zelon
  • Wing Case: Goose wing feather
  • Thorax:  Peacock Herl and Hares ear dubbing formed in a dubbing loop

It’s really easy to crowd the hook eye on this pattern when you’re starting out. The goose feather is bulkier than it appears in the video.  Make sure to leave ample room (2x hook eye length) in the front to make sure it comes out clean.  Make as few of wraps as possible up on the head cause it fills up fast even with 70 denier or 10/0 veevus/thin thread.

  • Hook: Straight eye, emerger hook (bent nymph hook dairiki 125 or equivalent)
  • Thread: UTC 70 Thread
  • Dubbing: Possum dubbing
  • Tail: Any synthetic dubbing like polar dubbing, ice dubbing etc
  • Wing Case: Partridge, Starling, or Schlappen feathers.  Something long enough to make a wing case and thick enough to “tent”
  • Thorax:  For smaller flies above a size 20, a small mix of peacock dubbing and hares ear dubbing works better and builds less bulk to the fly.  Dub a small amount onto the hook shank directly with no dubbing noodle.

Major vairations are in color and I like doing olive and grey and black though many more will work well.

This is a cheap fly to tie and anyone living next to a pond or park can go pick up a few goose feathers and use the dubbing they have at home to piece this together. It’s a more difficult pattern than it appears and the portions around the head take a little practice not to crowd the eye, but it’s end result is a super buggy and imitative mayfly emerger pattern that’s great for fishing anytime you see or are just in front of a mayfly hatch of any kind.

The back eddies where the water spins and creates a foamy surface is a great spot for emerging insects.  Trout feed without worry here as they are well protected.  Fishing a bright colored strike indicator in the foam with this as a trailing fly is a great way to detect strikes and fish this type of water.  For the more common runs holes and riffles where fish feed on emerging mayflies as well, fish this as part of a 2 fly set up with a mayfly dry like a parachute adams in front to detect any strikes.  This fly will float on the first few casts, but sink just slightly after and that’s when the fish seem to like it best.

Callibaetis

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: West
Callibaetis
Sizes: #12 - #18
Region: Northwest
Callibaetis
Sizes: #12 - #18
Region: East
Callibaetis
Sizes: #12 - #18
Region: Midwest
Callibaetis
Sizes: #12 - #18

Hendrickson

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: East, Midwest
Hendrickson
Sizes: #10 - #16

Isonychia

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: East
Isonychia
Sizes: #12 - #18
Region: Southeast
Isonychia
Sizes: #12 - #18
Region: Midwest
Isonychia
Sizes: #12 - #18

Light Cahill

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: East
Light Cahill
Sizes: #12 - #20
Region: Midwest
Light Cahill
Sizes: #12 - #20
Region: Northwest
Light Cahill
Sizes: #12 - #20

March Brown

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: West, East
March Brown
Sizes: #10 - #14
Region: Northwest
March Brown
Sizes: #10 - #14
Region: Midwest
March Brown
Sizes: #10 - #14

Midges

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: West, Northwest, East, Southeast, Midwest
Midges
Sizes: #14 - #26

Quill Gordon

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: East, Southeast
Quill Gordon
Sizes: #12 - #16

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