Itty Bitty Emerger
(The materials are listed in the order they are tied in)
Like most of my patterns, the Itty Bitty Emerger is a generic imitation. Adjust color scheme to reflect the naturals in your area. It uses a subtle, but pretty neat, technique to produce the splayed hackle to assist this emerger pattern to float in the surface film. I use the Reverse Splay mostly for emerger patterns, like this one, but also for sub-surface patterns which I want to sink slowly. In that case the splayed hair hackle acts as an underwater parachute.
I generally use pine squirrel hair because it has just the right texture and color for most of my emerger/nymph patterns, but you can use any kind of straight, smooth hair or hackle fibers.
To explain the Reverse Splay I will describe it while tying the Itty Bitty Emerger pattern.
Tying instructions:
- Attach thread immediately behind the eye and run it well into the bend. Optionally tie in the wire rib. Make a thin dubbing rope or touch dub to form a slender, slightly tapered abdomen. Rib with wire, if applicable.
- Make a tiny 'V' in the tip of a small partridge back feather by snipping the stem. You do not want any stem for the length of the downwing. Pull the feather through thumb/finger to somewhat bunch it up, then tie it in on top of the hook in front/partly on top of the dubbed abdomen. Pull gently on the butt to slide/coax the downwing to the desired length, and hugging the top half of the hook shank. Secure with a couple of tight wraps. Cover the thread wraps with a _small_ amount of dubbing. Now fold the feather back over the abdomen.
- Cut off a small amount of hair from the back of a pine squirrel pelt. Remove most, but not all of the underfur. Measure to desired length and tie in the squirrel hair, tips pointing over the abdomen, tight up against and on top of the folded back partridge feather.
- Make a thin dubbing rope, lift up partridge butt/squirrel to sneak one turn of dubbing behind/under, and use remaining dubbing to form the thorax. Do not make the thorax too bulky and make sure you leave sufficient space near the eye for the head.
- Now for the fun part! Push down gently with the edge of your thumb on the squirrel tie-in point to split the bunch in equal halves and pull the partridge butt forward. If the chemistry is right you will be rewarded with a near 360 degrees splay of the hair.
- Tie the partridge feather down and trim. Complete the fly with a whip finish a drop of varnish.