Tassie Emerger            

Hook:  Tiemco TMC 200R # 12

Thread: 6/0 Dark Brown 

Shuck:  Hi-Vis Colour # 20

Body: (thorax and abdomen) 50/50 mix of Scintilla Ernest Schwiebert Signature Series Colour #70 and Scintilla Multi Purpose Dubbing Colour #14

Wing: Hi-Vis light Chocolate

Hackle: Brown and Grizzle

Wingcase: Evasote Foam

Marker: Design 2 Art Marker Colour # D-85 Walnut

1/ First off wrap a nice even base of thread starting from near the front of the hook and extending to the point where you are going to tie in your first part of the fly, the trailing shuck. This point should be roughly level with the barb on the hook. Once this is completed go to the next step.
2/ Take a small amount of Hi-Vis and tie in at this point. The amount should be just enough to add a sparkling effect at the rear of the pattern. The length should roughly be equal to one half to three quarters the hook shank length. When this is secure trim the excess Hi Vis and lay a couple of extra turns of thread  to cover the clipped stubs.
3/ Next up pinch a small amount of dubbing from the packet. Form a slightly tapered rope starting thin and gradually getting thicker. It may take several goes to get the right amount but once you are familiar with the particular hook size you are tying the fly in you should be able to grab the correct amount pretty much first time, every time. You may need to add more as you go.
4/ Start winding this rope of dubbing you have constructed forward towards the upright wing you made in Step 2. Generally you will be winding forward each successive turn just to the front of the previous one. However use your judgement and if you have to wind more or less depending on how the tapered body is coming along. Stop about one fifth the hook shank length short of the hook eye.
5/ Grab a smaller section of the darker Hi Vis. Tie in a very sparse amount angled at 45 Degrees to the rear of the fly. This represents the emerging wing of the Mayfly trying to escape his nymphal shuck. This is more for the anglers benefit as it gets lost in amongst all the other materials later in the piece. Trim the excess Hi Vis and proceed to Step 6.
6/ Now find a piece of foam. Use Grey or Brown if you can source it out but don't despair if you cant. I have used white in this instance because many will not have the brown that would be preferred.. Tie in a substantial block of foam of about 7 - 10 mm in width. Angle this upwards and slightly to the rear. Take several turns to make sure it is secure and then trim the excess hard against the hook.
7/ Tie in two hackle feathers. Feel free to use feathers from a saddle if you want as with this pattern it is not a big issue. Tie them in one atop the other shiny side towards you and make sure they are on the far side of the foam post. Trim the excess feather stubs and bring the thread forward. Now proceed to Step 8.
8/ Once again we need to make a rope of dubbing. This will be used to complete the remaining body of the fly, the thorax. Apply less dubbing this time as you are only required to tie a much smaller section. Still use the mix of two dubbing colours to get the correct colouration of the pattern.
9/ Wind the dubbing rope forward and back making sure you get a nice tapering thorax. It should be thicker towards the foam wing and thinner nearer the hook eye. Be sure that when you have finished constructing the thorax that the thread is left at the base of the foam. This is where we want it to aid in tying off the parachute hackle.
10/ Next wind in the hackle. Being careful not to break the hackle wind it around the foam wing  in a counter clockwise direction. Use between two turns of each with successive turn beneath the previous one. When complete take the thread and make three horizontal turns catching the hackle feather and locking it in place. The first over the feather, second under and the third over it again. Repeat for second feather.
11/  Now take the foam wing and turn it into a wing case. Gripping the end of the foam between the thumb and forefingers of your right hand pinch a small bunched up wing case, like in the photo, and transfer to the same fingers on your left hand. Pinching this in place wind about five turns of thread behind the hook eye locking the foam down. You can even add a couple of half hitches behind the hook eye to be sure.
12/  Trim the foam as close to the hook as possible but be careful not to clip the thread or the actual foam of the wing case. If done correctly your wingcase should look like this. This is pretty much the completed fly. This fly floats extremely well with heavy hackle and foam as well. But the key is that most of it sits well below the water like a real emerger. Add a couple of half hitches to complete.
13/  Finally find a waterproof marker, if like me you used a white foam you must do this. If you used a dark grey or brown you can skip this part. Use your marker to dull the bright wingcase. Do this several times if you must to get the correct look. Some may wish to leave a bright wingcase for sighting purposes but I prefer to darken it and fish it with a more visible parachute dun pattern.

The Pattern

This pattern has proven itself over the past few years. Initial prototypes of it did extremely well and I have sort of settled on this tie (for now!). The combination of a low sitting, always floating fly that has most of its body sunk down below the surface is very effective. Add to this the trailing shuck and wing stub that flashes just like the natural and you have a fantastic emerger pattern for Tasmanian Dun fishing. Best effort for this pattern was 1 hours fishing for 5 fish between 3-5 lb while others with more traditional patterns struggled to move a fish. So tie a few up and try em in Little Pine or the Cowpaddock and let me know how you go!

Good Fishing!

Antony