Foam Emerger

Foam Emerger, PMD
Floating Nymph, PMD
Tying Instructions
Materials:

Notes: Craig Mathews, Owner of Blue Ribbon Flies, came up with this pattern sometime in the 1980's. It incorporated a trailing shuck of Z-lon and a 1mm foam segment that was doubled over at the thorax region. A hackle was placed in front of the foam wingcase to represent legs and emerging wings. The foam provided floatation within the surface film and at an angle that suspended the shuck and body beneath the film. Whe DuPont stopped producing Z-lon in 1985, Blue Ribbon Flies bought over 500 lbs of the material which is a lifetime of material for the fly tying industry as well as Umpqua Feather Merchants. A kinky version of Z-lon was developed later and marketed as "Crinkly" by Blue Ribbon Flies and "Kinky" by Umpqua Feather Merchants. The kinky attributes of the Z-lon give the shuck a much better structure than the straight version.
Craig Mathews has won numerous awards for the environmental work he has done over the 40 years he has been in the West Yellowstone area. He was awarded the "Frank and Jeanne Moore Award" by FFI in 2018 and the "Lee Wulff Award" in 2003. Craig co-founded 1% for the Planet with Yvon Chouinard of Patagonia Inc. 1% FTP is an alliance of businesses donating 1% of their gross sales to researched and approved environmental and conservation causes. To date 1% for the Planet has donated over $250 million to conservation and environmental programs.

 

Variations:

Floating Nymph, Baetis
Foam Emerger, Baetis
Materials:
Floating Nymph, Western Green Drake
Foam Emerger, Western Green Drake
Materials:

 

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