How to tie The Challenged Biot Emerger
In this week’s episode of Tying Tuesdays, watch as Brady Laher ties the Challenged Biot Emerger! The Challenged Biot Emerger AKA Cripple Emerger is another great imitation for a bug trapped within the water’s film trying to break through the surface tension. This one has a nice bushy hackle that will stay above the surface while allowing the body and tail/trailing shuck to dip down sub-surface. Our variation tied in this video is showing off this pattern in a Callibaetis style. These larger mayflies are most commonly found in lakes, and they tend to fall victim to hungry trout while stuck in this emerging stage on the regular. Trout are aware of this vulnerable window and will actively target the weaker bugs that struggle to break through to their adult stage.
Ingredients & Recipe
- Hook – X-Series XT040 JB Emerger/Pupa 10-16
- Thread – Veevus 14/0 Dun
- Tail – Coq De Leon Tailing Pack
- Body – Turkey Biots Light Cahill
- Dubbing – Wapsi Beaver Dubbing Natural
- Hackle – Whiting High & Dry Cape Golden Badger
Tools Used
- Vise – Griffin Mongoose
- Scissors – Dr. Slick Arrow Point
- Bodkin – Rising Stout Bodkin
- Whip Finish – Dr. Slick Brass Whip Finish
That’s a beautiful fly! I really like fishing heavily hackled emergers in fast water, well, because I have a lot of success with them. They float high yet it seems the fish can still pick out the abdomen and tail amidst the turbulence near the surface. I’m going to give this one a shot in BWO colors and probably use a badger hackle to keep with your theme of a darker core and lighter tips in the thorax area. I also have some dun-dyed deer hair which should work nicely with that theme.