Since such prominent books like Swisher and Richard's Selective Trout arrived on the fly-tying scene in the 1970's, tyers have been busy evolving various stillborn patterns. Such in-depth aquatic study and photography has sold us all on the importance of imitating the easy-to-eat cripples and emergers that trout are served during hatch times. As that evolution has persisted, I feel that the tying community has created a connotation that an insects' emergence is an event rather than a process.

Most mayfly nymphs migrate to the surface film where the subimago erupts from the nymphal shuck, dries it's wings, and flies off. Yes, some emerge subsurface and others emerge on streamside debris. But for the bulk of the mayfly population, and certainly for those where imitating emergers is important, the process takes place near the surface, often in the meniscus.

My Break-Out Emerger (BOE) is simply my stab at imitating this phenomenon. None of the skills used in tying this pattern are new or original, so to say I originated it would be false. At best it is a collage of ideas I've learned over the decades. Many are skill or ideas shown to me by Dan Shields and Steve Sywensky of State College, PA.. What I feel does make it unique, thus the name, is that I am aiming to represent the process itself and not a single snapshot. As the name indicates, visually the fly is intended to portray the dun actually splitting out of the nymph. This is not a trailing shuck type deal. The fly is mostly nymph, yet with the wings erupted and the thorax of the dun starting to become exposed. To that degree it is beyond a floating nymph concept. This pattern imitates both a living insect and the process of emergence.

It's in the design and material choice where I try to capture life and the struggle of emergence. And this is where I am still evolving the pattern. I want this fly to sit in the film by the wing, with the rest of the fly wet. The soft hackles undulate and wiggle, and the broad thorax gets rocked slightly by the turbulence of the water. The entire fly should wiggle and rock like the struggling and shuddering natural. The fur wing should be dense so that entrapped air creates buoyancy yet the fibers still move. Best still, the material will stand up to repeated fish which I feel makes it superior to CDC. NOTE: It is best to use untanned fur so that the natural properties are not destroyed.

This is a concept pattern, or style, in that it can be adapted to any insect and accepts a broad array of materials. Alice Conba of Ireland has been tweaking this pattern a great deal over the past year and her customers seem to be pleased with her results. You can see some of her variations here.

So, let's tie it!

MATERIAL LIST

Hook: Mustad C49S; sized to match the nymph

Tail: Soft hackle Barbs to match nymph (Hun. Partridge shown)

Abdomen: Coarse dubbing blend to match nymph

Wing: Dense tuft of Muskrat Belly Fur from an untanned hide

"Wingcase": Synthetic dubbing rope (color to match dun)

Thorax: Same as abdomen, roughened to form a broad base

Legs: Soft hackle to match nymph (Hun. Pat'. shown)

Debarb and mount the Mustad Signature C49S. Hook size should match the nymph, not dun.

Mount thread and wrap back to the bend, past the barb location.

Select a Hungarian or Grey Partridge feather from near the base of the tail.

Select a few barbs, measure to equal 1/2 the hook, and secure at the rear.

Return thread to the middle of the shank and apply a tacky dubbing wax.

Touch-dub the coarse dubbing.

Apply 2 layers (mid to rear and back again) to form the abdomen. If the dubbing blend has long fibers, some chopping may be helpful to get shorter fibers to maintain proportions.

Select a healthy bunch of muskrat fur, form an untanned hide-preferably belly fur. Tie it in, with the tips up and to the rear, at the rear of the abdomen.

Select a long-fibered synthetic dubbing to match the color of the dun. Shown is Fly-Rite.

Pull out a section of long fibers.

Double the section and roll it to form a rope.

Tie the dubbing rope in just ahead of the wing to later form the "wingcase."

(Not shown) Dub a healthy thorax, about twice as dense as the abdomen.

(Shown) Select a partridge hackle that is well-marked. Stroke the fibers down to expose the tip. Remove the tip using scissors.

Feather with tip removed. Fold back the base barbs to expose the stem-this will be your tie-in location.

Secure the hackle behind the eye with two loose turns of thread.

Pull the feather through the thread wraps until the exposed barbs are about 1/2 the hook length.

Clip the excess. Notice the natural division where the center tip was removed.

Fold the "wingcase" forward between the divided hackle barbs. Secure and clip excess. This forms the emerging dun splitting from the nymphal shuck.

Nearly completed fly.

The final step is to use your dubbing tool to rough-up the thorax. You want the fibers to extend from the sides, not the bottom. This will provide the wide base for the pattern to "rock" on. The fibers will also undulate adding life.

The finished product.