AP Emerger Variation

Cheech - February 25, 2016

When I was still fairly new to the sport, the annual outdoors expo was the highlight of my year because I could go wander around looking at flies, gear, etc... I was going through a phase where I fished lakes 90% of the time, so I was always looking for the latest greatest stillwater pattern. I tied flies a lot, and at the time, they boxes were loaded with leeches, buggers, and other abominations that I called flies. It was at this show where I saw Denny Rickards giving a presentation on his patterns and techniques for stillwater angling, and like he starts off so many times, he started by telling of a fly that was illegal in most states because it caught so many fish. We all knew it was BS, and so did Denny. I guess that was his way of getting people's attention by telling them that he had an effective fly. Don't quote me on it, but I think the "illegal" fly changed between the seal bugger and the AP emerger depending on which show it was. I never really bought in to the pitch wholeheartedly, but I'll guaran-damn-tee you that I tied some of those flies for my box! I was young and impressionable!

Just like any fly pattern that I tie, I immediately began tweaking these flies to suit my needs. The AP (stands for All Purpose) emerger is basically a larger sized soft hackle that had a wood duck, mallard, or partridge tail, a dubbed body with a wire rib through it, a peacock thorax, and a partridge soft hackle. Larger sized soft hackles really should be in any stillwater angler's box and they can be fished as anything from a mayfly nymph to a leech. The variation that I use now has a bit buggier dubbing than the original, and adds just a hint of flash in the body, thorax, and head. I also really like fishing these in natural hare's ear color, but with hints of other colors.

~Cheech