As an alternative to unweighted nymphs, has anyone tried Parasol Nymphs?
A lot probably have, but I thought I’d ask.
Used them a few times. The one memory that persists was a bow wave running 10 feet across a still pool ending in the parasol disappearing. The caddis pupa was only about 3/4 or an inch below the parasol but the fish didn’t break the surface. I took quite a few fish on them that day.
When I tie them I like to use a flexible post to the parasol. Then the fly can move more in the current. Many are tied with a stiff post made of monofilament. I’m not so keen on these. Though I can’t say for sure if the soft post really makes a difference.
Cheers,
A.
There’s a FOTW article some time back by Kelly Glissmeyer on parasols. He’s a really good fly tier, and a really good fisherman, and he really likes them.
Personally, I haven’t tied or tried them. I prefer to just trail the unweighted nymph off a dry fly of the same “hatch.” That gives the fishy two options for dining out.
John
P.S. Here’s a link to Kelly’s approach.
There’s a FOTW article some time back by Kelly Glissmeyer on parasols. He’s a really good fly tier, and a really good fisherman, and he really likes them.
Personally, I haven’t tied or tried them. I prefer to just trail the unweighted nymph off a dry fly of the same “hatch.” That gives the fishy two options for dining out.
John
P.S. Here’s a link to Kelly’s approach.
Have used James Ferrin’s Drymerger (aka “Dandelion fly”) in the past with good effect in still waters. This pattern is tied with an antron or polypropylene post. While they can be used in similar situations, I don’t really see these sorts of emergers as an alternative to an unweighted nymph, but more like a variant of the dry fly.
I have tried the Parasol, Piggy-back emergers and gave them up, although I think the concept is excellent. My problem was finding the best/correct material and length for the ‘post’ between the ‘bobber’ and the fly. If the post was too long or too soft, the ‘bobber’ ended up tangled in the tippet.
I have since moved to the Umbrella style when an emerger that is more submerged than a Usual, or Klinkhammer, is needed. At the end of March on Penn’s Creek (that really hot weekend), when Hendricksons and little Black Stones were hatching, the fish were not taking flies from the surface. Only the Umbrella worked that Saturday. The Umbrella is like the Dandelion although the posts come from the middle of the thorax - and probably are not as long/tall.
I have had an interest in all things ‘emerger’ for a long time.
Among my favourite books are W H Lawrie’s ‘Book of the Rough Stream Nymph’ (1947) and
‘Border River Angling’ (1939), in which he proposed one of the earliest Emerger Patterns which
he called a ‘Hatching Dun’.
If anyone can give me a source for the ‘Dandelion’, I would be obliged.
Donald, here are two Dandelion images from the web.
http://www.feather-craft.com/wecs.php?store=feacraft&action=display&target=JF004
http://hipwader.com/2003/dandelion-fly-pattern
However, if you are facinated by emergers, then you should purchase this book. Cost is $45US, but it is worth every penny. This one
is on page 190 and is my preferred ‘sunk’ emerger - as mentioned in previous post.
I hadn’t heard about parasols before. They’re an example of thinking outside the box, for sure:
Not sure if I think this box is cool, or gruesome, Sandy.
I’ve never gotten the point of the Dandelion or Parasol.
Strikes me as a solution in need of a problem. What does it solve that hanging a nymph 2"" below a dry or one of those little foam stick-on nidicators doesn’t handle?
John, be honest about that pattern. If that fly had rubber legs you’d be all over it. 
I’m thinking about modifying a Rat-faced McDougall to include ruber legs. I think it might have worked well on my last trip to the Duck. It might work well on my next trip out.
Ed
For me, there are 4 reasons, especially for an Umbrella Emerger:
The emerger can be 1/2 inch below the surface (or 3/4), guaranteed.
With the appropriate post there is no tangling.
The angle of the dangle - only chironomids emerge vertically, mayflies and caddis are closer to horizontal.
The tippet is connected directly to the fly (as with strike indicator), but with the advantages of the above.
1, 2, and 4 can all be handled with a stick-on indicator. In 15 years of flyfishing, I’ll admit I never thought about the angle of a bug breaking the surface.
I agree that parasols are not for everyone, but they offer just another option that may appeal to the fussy fish in front of you. I wrote an article a while back for Flyfishing & Tying Journal titled “Spring Creek Solutions” (see Winter 2011, actually came out in November 2010) where I outlined the use of Schollmeyer’s Parasol Emerger as a slow-water indicator, rather than the fly used to attract fish. Although the parasol emergers I tie catch their share of fish, I rarely use them as my fly of choice. Instead I still advocate the use of the parasol emerger fly as an indicator in situations where fish are spooky, in clear water or shallow water, or spring creek-like situations and edgewater on larger rivers.
I choose a Parasol Emerger fly I use as the indicator in whatever pattern may be hatching at the surface. I then drop a bead-head nymph (also of whatever might be hatching at the time) off of the bend of the parasol fly and then drop another unweighted and smaller fly off of the bend of the bead-head fly. In a spring creek situation the bottom fly is most often a scud imitation.
Again, just another method to help figure out finicky trout. I don’t use this method everywhere I go, but it has it’s uses and has proved invaluable on many waters I visit.
Here are some samples of flies I tie as parasols. They are fun flies to tie and are a hit at tying demos and such.
Here is a photo of how I rig as I explained it above:
And, here is one of many I caught last weekend on the very same setup pictured:
Several years ago, the local rivers were blown out due to heavy runoff and my buddy Buzz and I found ourselves on our favorite spring creek. It too was high and off colored but we set about with the method I described and had a great day of it. On one cast Buzz had a beast of a brown come up from the murky depths and pounce on the PMD Parasol Emerger he was using as an indicator fly. It resulted in his best brown trout from that particular water at just a tad over 25-inches long.
Let’s go fishin…
Kelly.