Fly Tying

This Hi-Vis CDC Emerger is a simple and effective fly developed and refined through years of fishing. It is not just a copied pattern, but a practical emerger designed to solve two important problems: how the fly sits in the water and how easily the angler can see it.

A good emerger should sit correctly in the surface film, with the body slightly under the water, just like an insect moving from the nymph stage to the adult stage. Many emerger patterns do not sit naturally because of their construction, and this can make trout more suspicious.

The second important detail is visibility. Small CDC emergers can be difficult to track on the water, especially when tied with CDC feathers in only one colour. A simple solution is to combine two contrasting CDC colours, such as white and grey, white and black, grey and yellow, or grey and pink. This makes the fly much easier to see without losing its natural look.

For this pattern, I use an emerger hook in size 16. I particularly like the Demmon Supreme E500 BL because it has a beautiful shape for this style of fly. The body is made from yellow tying thread and ribbed with brown 50DEN Sumo Power Thread. For the CDC wing, I combine natural grey and white CDC.

One small tying tip: after many years of fishing this type of fly, I’ve found that the ideal CDC wing length is equal to the distance between the hook eye and the hook bend. This proportion helps the fly keep the right balance and position in the water.

I hope you like this fly 🙂

cheers,

Lucian