Wes,
Over the last few years I have changed the way I tie the Chopaka Emerger
(after all, how can you not fix something even if it ain't broke). I
borrowed some ideas from Norm Norlander and made some observations of
emerging Callibaetis and the current version is as follows:
Hook: Standard 1x fine dry fly, #14 in the spring down to #18 by fall
Tail: small clump of deer hair
Body: Nature's Spirit Callibaetis dubbing
Wing: deer hair
I dub the body 1/2 to 2/3 of the way up the shank, tie in the wing at that
point (tips of the hair should extend to about half the length of the tail).
Dub over the butts of of the deer hair then bring the wing forward over the
back and tie it down just behind the eye of the hook, leaving the tips
flaring up over the eye. Take three or four turns under the deer hair tips
to prop them up a little and whip finish.
What led me to start using the deer hair tail was the observation that
Callibaetis lie horizontally in the surface film as they emerge. I have also
tied it with a well greased Z-lon tail (after all, how can you.....) to
represent a trailing shuck and it seems to work just as well. One thing
that I like about this fly is that it gets better looking as more fish chew
on it and the dangling broken strands of deer hair begin to look like legs
and other appendages. I fish this pattern right through the hatch and the
fish generally seem to prefer it to imitations of the dun.
Preston
