Thinking Of Dries Already

There's an awful lot of water within day trip range of my house- many miles of it-and, although none of it is exactly unknown or un-fished, there's a lot of it that's overlooked and gets damned little pressure.  I try to remind myself of that whenever I get to complaining about our declining and overcrowded fisheries. After all, most are declining because they're crowded, and they're crowded because they're on the short list of places where everyone goes. You know, the spots they'll tell you about down at the fly shop even if you haven't just spent five hundred dollars. - John Gierach

Size 20 Snowshoe Emerger

It happens at this time every year and maybe it's happening sooner as I get older.  I fish the tailwaters through the winter BUT I, like most, am really are looking forward to this winter to get over quickly so I can ply the waters of SPRING when winter disappears and insects begin to hatch and I can cast a dry fly.  That dry fly has become the EMERGER, half floating and half submerged and it works.  Here's my favorite emerger:

Hook - size 14 through 26 curved hook

Thread - size 12/0 olive (I like thin thread on dries)  The thread forms the body.

Thorax - brown or olive fuzzy  rabbit

Wing - Snowshoe hare OR very fine post wing material tied slanting backwards

Head - olive or brown fuzzy dubbing tied in just behind the hook eye

NOTE - The thorax and wing are tied in towards the middle of the hook to leave room for the head of the fly.  The head gives this fly the perfect insect profile.

This fly was born to float with little of no floatant outside of fumed silica.  Use any colors that you like to represent whatever insect is on the water.  In fact, you can color the snowshoe wing with a gray sharpie without hurting its floating properties.  I color the wing gray and use gray post wing material BECAUSE many mayflies have grayish wings.  This pattern was perfect last summer during the sulphur hatch on the Swift.

Fishing The Swift

Yup, there are still a lot of trout in this river and I had a good few hours this past Monday.  There were few rising fish but they fell for pinheads in the size 22 range.  Wring out those few remaining hours left in that 2019 license and don't forget to get that 2020 license soon.

Hope that you Christmas was a good one!!!


Ken