Kapok Emerger
| By Luca Montanari
Ephemera nymphs swim just under the river surface, ready to make their last metamorphosis into winged insects. In order to keep their balance under the surface and facilitate the rising during hatching, they produce small gaseous bubbles inside of their bodies. The insect abdomen appears translucent, nearly evanescent, when the ephemera makes itself free from its juvenile dress. The up-wing, which is crossing the culminating phase of its emerging stage, can be imitated by all artificials that keep air within their tissue and that do not have a well-defined shape. For this reason, many emergers are realised with dubbing of hairs or fibres. Due to their fineness and water-repellent properties, some materials are better suited for the creation of these flies than others, enhancing the similarity to the real ephemera, such as kapok and opossum hair. Patterns which have the body tied with kapok and the wing built with opossum hair belong to this group of very imitative emergers, such as the fly showed in the photo. This fly was elaborated by me to imitate a particular Baetis of ochre yellow colour that I appreciate for the good buoyancy characteristic of its wings. Such quality renders the Kapok Emerger, which is the name of my artificial, very suitable for fishing on the more turbulent and fast rivers: places where I often do not want my fly to sink completely to induce the fish to make a rise for it and let me do a well-timed strike. |
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Tying instructions: |
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Step 1:
I start the first step of the Kapok Emerger building by inserting the hook into the vice jay and then wind the beige thread onto the shank. Next I secure, over the bend, a tuft of partridge hackle fibres, placing it in order to represent the tails, and the tip of a natural red cock hackle stem. |
Photos and fly by Luca Montanari |
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Step 2: I wax a section of thread and distribute a pinch of dyed ochre yellow kapok over it. With the thumb and the index finger of my right hand, I compact the dubbing and wrap it along the two rear thirds of the hook shank to make the abdomen. |
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Step 3: |
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Step 4: From the dyed pale brown, or grey natural, opossum fur, I take a consistent tuft of hairs and tie it in at the front edge of the abdomen, arranging it so that the hair tips extend backwards for a length equivalent to the double of the hook shank. |
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Step 5:
Using the dubbing spinner, I form a loop with the beige thread and I insert in it a pinch of hare hair. Next, I make a few turns of the dubbing spinner, in order to form a downy rope, and I wrap it around the front third section of the hook shank in order to create a robust thorax. |
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Step 6: I push the opossum hair tuft forwards, placing it to cover the upper part of the thorax, and I secure it just behind the hook eye. |
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Step 7: |
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Step 8: I complete the last step of the Kapok Emerger building by distributing a small drop of clear glue on the head, in order to make the fly more durable and able to resist many battles on the river. |
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Luca Montanari
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