LaFontaine Sparkle Emerger

[wsender]

A pretty good video of a very popular pattern.

http://www.orvisnews.com/FlyFishing/Tying-the-Lafontaine-Sparkle-Emerger.aspx

 

[turkey]

thats an effective bug for sure.

 

[jdaddy]

Anyone think the antron body is too heavy?

 

[turkey]

jdaddy wrote:
Anyone think the antron body is too heavy?

never thought about that. I always just assumed the deer hair is enough to keep it in the surface film.

 

[McSneek]

Granted I have not fished these much but this seems to be one of those flies that everyone else has success with and I never seem to catch anything on.

 

[ryguyfi]

The antron body is intended to trap bubbles. I agree it's too thick. i also like to pick out the tail.

I'm in the same boat as McSneek, I don't catch too many fish on ESP's so I don't tie too many. Maybe I'll try to rethink that next year during some of the great caddis hatches I typically run into.

 

[wsender]

jdaddy wrote:
Anyone think the antron body is too heavy?

Perhaps Poly Yarn?

 

[Lonewolve]

I had the opportunity to Tie flies and fish with Gary a couple years before he passed away,a fine gentleman and great angler.At the time 1997 , i was using one of my Steffen Bros,a 9'6" 4/5 and he couldn't believe any one here in the east knew about them.we fished an afternoon together believe it or not down the Lil Lehigh.
At the time i had half a box full of ESP's in three colors and about one dozen DSP's,he asked why i had so few of these,being young and full of **** an vinegar I told him that on any given day Limestoner or big river a ESP would out fish the DSP 12-1. I hqave never had much success with DSP.
Gary gave an excellent presentation with pics showing why his sparkle patterns were so effective.this was when his one book came out an descibed the egg laying baetis/Bwo pattern was effective an so many anglers had missed those espinners or had poor fishing during that haatch.The darn pattern is kinda not realistic at all, i know this because i have snorkled during an evening an had a buddy use both patterns drifted by me to see this for real and the naturals were comin off too that evening.
The antron is the trick,it collects lil bubbles.The Esp does this and also has the emergent/cripple thing going on thats what makes that pattern so effective.The esp and softhackles/flymphs are priority one in my trout boxes.
Tight Wraps & Tight Lines
Rick Wallace

 

[gfen]

jdaddy wrote:
Anyone think the antron body is too heavy?

I never use them, so my input is pretty much useless, but that's never stopped me before.

I was always under the impression these were to be across and down, so you get a swing.

I would think that if you feel they're going down too far, a dab of floatant on the wings combined with the lifting motion of a swing should take care of bringing it up to the surface nicely.

 

[jdaddy]

Sender, antron is the right material, however it seems to thick to me. It is supposed to be translucent and whispy so the underbody can be seen. As Ryan points out it emulates the air bubbles generated by a hatching caddis.

Gary, I always fish them in the film, dead drift, not as a swung fly. I am sure that would work as well. I would likely trail it with a deep sparkle pupa.

 

[gfen]

Dead drift works for things that aren't active swimmers. They tumble along looking for purchase. An emerging caddis fly, bouyed by gas and swimming to the surface is anything but dead.

Swinging should be quite valid for any caddis, as they're swimming to the top so as they go up the current moves them as well. Its a natural lifting motion, so the fly would take off from lower through the column and up to the surface. You're giving it a lifelike motion and triggering the instinct to take the fly before it escapes, which to me is why caddis rises are splashy affairs from below rather than sipping takes.

If you do, however, do not weight the leader, but weight the fly. When you weight the line, you'll create a pivot point at which everything beneath that point will swing much quicker, and more unnaturally. This would hold true in a cast of flies, where if you have one heavy fly at the bob followed by a lighter point fly the point will swing too quickly.

 

[Lonewolve]

DSP= DEEP SPARKLE PUPA...i fish underneath up and across,dead drift, twitched, also classic 45 degree down an across and lifted {ala Leisenring} catch a few but have never done real well with this pattern, switch to soft hackles... tight lines happen all the time

ESP= EMERGENT SPARKLE PUPA.....simply deadly never over dress the sheathe,if you dress anything on this fly with floatant it is only the lil sparse amount of deer/elk hair wing,body is nver dressed.fished all the above as well as you can pull it under and let it hang or pull under an lift it up several seconds later...just probabaly the single deadliest caddis emerger pattern ever created.

 

[sandfly]

that is not the body but a sheath around the body. They have it to thick and tight. body should be slender tied in another color with the sheath over it. pics have to wait till I get finished transfering to hard drive to another, to many pics !!

 

[gfen]

Trailing shuck or not? I've seen both. I tend to not have it because my bodies are so poorly constructed I don't want to give up any of the bubble.

 

[sandfly]

found one;
you can see the egg case and body under the sheath. this is a apple green caddis sz. 12

 

[RowJimmy]

jdaddy wrote:
Anyone think the antron body is too heavy?

Swap antron for Cdc.

 

[jdaddy]

RowJimmy wrote:

jdaddy wrote:
Anyone think the antron body is too heavy?

Swap antron for Cdc.

Ahhh. Hell. I see what people are thinking now. They are thinking what I said. That is flawed. LOL.

I meant that there is too much antron material on the body, thus killing the gas bubble/translucent effect.

 

[jdaddy]

sandfly wrote:
found one;
you can see the egg case and body under the sheath. this is a apple green caddis sz. 12

These are prefect sandlfy and exactly what I was trying (poorly) to communicate.

I've always called the contrasting material under the shuck, "underbody" thus my determination that the outside was the body. Sheath. Huh.

 

[JohnnyUtah]

The antron Traps actual tiny air bubbles, which gives it the mercury look. lonewolf said it in gary's own words.

I totally agree that the one tied in the video is tied way to heavy. Sandfly ties a very good esp. These are very similar to the way gary tied them. imo they are way more effective this way.


The problem i see all the time in the tying world is very clear here.

esp was designed to catch fish. Take a look at sandfly's ties. They will catch more fish no doubt, but only the wiser fly fisherman knows this. Now the fly tied in the video. It will catch fish, but it will catch even more fisherman tied this way.

The problem i see all the time is that fly tiers look at patterns that are sold and then start to copy them. They fail to realize they are tying the fisherman catching versions.

I think it is a far better practice to learn tying techniques rather than tying patterns. If you copy patterns your bound to copy fisherman catchers. Tying by technique will allow you to be more creative and think outside the box as to come up with your own patterns, or your own version of patterns.

 

[JackM]

Personally, I would fish either version and unless some placebo effect takes place, I'd do as poorly with sandfly's tie as I would with the Orvis one. The Orvis fly looks to me like it would properly trap and release air as designed. All flies are tied to catch fisherman even if you tie them for yourself. That expression irks me because it seems to be used often by folks that insist that only the flies they use and/or tie are effective-- or at least will insist they are more effective. I don't really buy it.