I'm trying to understand a little bit about emergers. It is my understanding that emergers are the stage, just before an insect hatches, when the nymph moves toward the surface and shucks is nymphal skeleton, in preparation to break the surface and fly as an adult. Now I've heard when trout are dimpling near the surface with no visable hatch, they are probably feeding on emergers, but would you fish them at any other time when you don't see trout dimpling? How about during a hatch? Can I assume that during a hatch that there would be both emergers and adults or is the time period between when the adult emerges from the water, to when it dries it's wings, too great that emerger patterns wouldn't be effective. Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
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Emergers...when to fish?
- Thread starter pmjasper
- Start date
NJFred
Trout Hunter
I normally fish emergers first any time I see fish rising to a hatch be it mayfly or caddis. The stage is very vulnerable when the maylfy is just floating beneath the surface film. Most often you will be successful with an emerger even if they are eating the duns floating on top. The converse is not true. Present a dun to a fish eating emergers and they will 90% of the time ignore it in rich systems.
The only time I will fish a dun is when I have seen a fish actually eat a dun or two. Of course, there is nothing quite like watching a fishes head fully emerge from the water to eat a dun!
Hope this helps.
The only time I will fish a dun is when I have seen a fish actually eat a dun or two. Of course, there is nothing quite like watching a fishes head fully emerge from the water to eat a dun!
Hope this helps.
coolkyle
De nalgas!
At some rivers I have seen trout pouncing at emerging caddisflies as if they were adults. When I'm seeing a "nothing hatch" where fish are rising to something invisible to me I will first try various small mayfly emergers, and if that doesn't work I switch to spinner patterns. One good way to imitate emergers is to swing beadhead soft-hackles. The bead and bubbles and the motion of the fly has fooled some nice rainbows and cutthroats for me.
Light Hendrickson (females) Red Quill (males) hatch last of April and most of May, the trout tend to key in more on the emergers than the duns.
Corndog
Ephemerella Subvaria
AK's right on the money! If you fish the BFB, put this info on your calendar and you will hammer the rising trout. Also, if you don't have some large #14 red or ginger quill duns in your box you're missing all the fun.
Cdog
Ken at the Baxter House has a nice emerger pattern that he showed me.
Best one for me was the one a guide who use to work KLG, he had an emerger pattern that was very simple to tie and was absolutely deadly.
#14 curved hook, fine dubbing in the colour of your choice, and for a wing CDC puff.
Split shot along the bottom, un-weighted right in the film.... many different ways to fish it, and all of the deadly.
Best one for me was the one a guide who use to work KLG, he had an emerger pattern that was very simple to tie and was absolutely deadly.
#14 curved hook, fine dubbing in the colour of your choice, and for a wing CDC puff.
Split shot along the bottom, un-weighted right in the film.... many different ways to fish it, and all of the deadly.
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