Fly tier Bob Brooks created the Sprout series of emerger flies while serving as the riverkeeper of Hot Creek, near Mammoth, California. The bright white foam post makes even tiny flies easy to see and aids in flotation. Once you’ve mastered the tying steps and proportions, you can tie Sprout Emerger versions of any mayfly hatch by altering the size of the hook and the colors of the body and hackle. Brooks has created patterns to imitate everything from a size 24 midge to a size 10 Flavilinea.
In this video from Tim Flagler of Tightline Productions, he offers several tricks that will help you deal with tying on a tiny a hook. Tim’s thread management is always enlightening, and for this pattern he shows off a unique method for wrapping the foam post. He even offers advice on the best way to whip-finish.
And if you’ve got the bandwidth, make sure watch Tim’s videos in full 4K resolution. You’ve never seen fly tying look so good.
Brooks’s Sprout Midge Emerger
Hook: Emerger hook (here, a Dai-Riki #125), sizes 18-24.
Thread: Black, 8/0 or 70-denier.
Trailing shuck: Black Antron yarn.
Post: Cylindrical soft foam, small.
Hackle: Black dry-fly hackle.
Thorax: Black Superfine dubbing.
Body: Red Sili Worm, half a strand.