[Paddler]

Hi -
I'm new to fly fishing and new to the forum. I have several large fly boxes with western flies and am trying to sort them out. How can I separate the emerger patterns from the nymphs and dry flies?

I'm trying to organize my fly boxes (whew!). Outside of a few basic patterns, it seems like all the fly shops have different names for patterns. So, organizing my boxes by fly names is not meaningful. I thought I'd separate them first by type of fly - Dry, emerger, nymph, & terrestrial.

However, in looking at this mass of color & hooks, I can't tell the difference between an emerger pattern and a dry fly. Or maybe emergers look more like nymphs....

Help, please!

Ron
a.k.a. paddler

[MBWCC]

These folks have nice photos of various flies:

FlyShack.com - Your Source for Quality Flies and Fly Fishing Gear

Premium Discount Fishing Flies, Trout Flies, Fly Fishing Shop

Fly Fishing Flies, Dry Flies, Nymphs, Streamers - Blue Fly Cafe

http://www.flydepot.com

They all pretty much lump "emerger" in "nymph", but if you search their websites using the word "emerger" you'll find some photos to give you help with your question.

[Davo]

Hi Ron

For most emerger paterns there will be little or no wings. Probably the best way for you to get familiar with spotting them would be to do a google search for emerger patterns. Or pull out a Cabelas or Orvis Catalog and look at the emergers they offer.

[Paddler]

Thanks you guys - I need all the help I can get!

Ron