Davie McPhail demonstrates how to tie a Haystack Emerger in this fly tying video. This fly pattern is a variant of the original Haystack developed by Fran Betters in the 1930s, only tied without a tail to allow rear of the fly to sink below the water surface to imitate an emerging mayfly.
Haystack Emerger Fly Tying Tips
Davie provides some great fly tying tips in this video including how to select deer hair, a really neat way to tie in deer hair without creating a large bump at the tie in point, and lastly how to create an anchor point for your dubbing rope that allows you to easily apply dubbing. All priceless tips that can be applied to many flies.
Haystack Emerger Material List
Hook: Kamasan B160, Size 12
Thread: Uni-Thread 8/0, Olive
Rib: Uni-Mylar Pearl, No.14
Body: SLF Dubbing, Medium Olive
Thorax: SLF Dubbing, Medium Olive
Wing: Coastal Deer Hair
Enjoy!