Pop-Up Emerger

Peter writes:

"The Pop-Up Emerger is my variation of the Sangre de Cristo Emerger pictured and described in Dave Hughes' excellent book, “Trout Flies”. Always tinkering with pattern variations, I replaced the standard dry fly hook with a lightweight scud hook, borrowing the idea from the popular Klinkhamer Special. While Dave's pattern (from the Sangre de Cristo Flyfishers in Sante Fe, New Mexico) specifies a strip of yellow closed cell sheet-foam for the post, I chose a white foam cylinder sold under the Rainy's label. In addition to the fact that I can't pronounce Sangre de Cristo, I named my variation the Pop-Up Emerger because the little white dot of foam on the completed fly reminded me of the little white Pop-Up thermometers found on those famous-brand roasting chickens.

During the winter of 2002, the Pop-Up Emerger was my most effective fly on the Swift River, a tailwater fishery in western Massachusetts. The Swift is crystal clear and flows rapidly over a generally smooth bottom covered with sand and green vegetation. I first fished this fly on a windless midday in January, in blazing sunshine. The water temperature was near 40 degrees and the air temperature was in the 50's. Though my dry-fly fishing skills are modest, I caught nearly two dozen native brookies during three hours of fishing and walking, before my feet got cold. I concluded that this was a “pretty good fly”, as neither of the two fishermen I met that day had found much success.

I have not yet fished this fly on other rivers. I suspect that this is because once spring arrives I find myself on rougher rivers where I enjoy primarily nymph fishing. And my limited summer trout fishing is on small mountain streams in northern New England where the standard fare includes foam ants and beetles, Adams parachutes, Griffith Gnats, and small Elk Hair Caddis. September is my time to experiment with hopper patterns and in October I am back to nymph fishing. Nor have I fished this pattern on stillwaters, as my only stillwater fishing is with larger flies targeting bass and panfish.

As a final note, only recently have I been able to tie a reasonably decent parachute. If you don't yet have a parachute tying technique with which you feel comfortable, or if you just like to read about various tying techniques, check out Rob's parachute article and photos, right here on his Web site. His demonstration photos show a calf body-hair post, but his step-by-step instructions will work equally well with a foam post." -Peter Frailey, Massachusetts, USA.

04/02/05