Peter Leuver ties Laurie Matcham’s successful emerger
pattern developed for the Nelson ‘One Fly’ event.
If you’re a one legged hockey player you’re in luck! It doesn’t matter which leg is missing, the right or left. If life has been good to you and you still have both legs you will find playing hockey easier but you will, in other ways, be severely handicapped. You could advertise in the personal columns of the newspapers for a one legged hockey player because even knowing one could put you on a better footing, so to speak.
What I’m getting at is this: the thorax of the Nelson Green Emerger is made from a piece of closed cell foam about 20 mm long x 3 mm wide, so you won’t need much. This is the same material that is used in hockey shin pads. So, in obtaining sufficient material you may have trouble convincing the shop assistant that, with both your feet firmly planted on his carpet squares, you only need one shin pad.
I tried this myself and the shop-keeper’s eyes narrowed as he sized me up before saying that he might have one upstairs in a box. I said it didn’t matter if it was the right or left leg. He had no sense of humour and charged me $5.
Now if I had told him I was buying it for a one legged hockey playing friend he surely would have been more sympathetic and given me a good discount. Then again, if I had been balancing on my one and only leg he would have given it to me with a smile. So you see, I don’t only try to teach you how to tie flies, but I try to save you money as well.
There are popular fly fishing competitions overseas called ‘One Fly’ events. These also try to save you money. Instead of bravely wading up an unknown river with 3 kilos of expensive flies in your vest they only allow you to use one fly for the day. The tackle dealers hate it. The first such event was held in Scotland during the Great Depression and only one bloke turned up—he won.
Master fly-tier Laurie Matcham has attended several One Fly events at Nelson in the north of the South Island of New Zealand, and he has done particularly well with his Nelson Green Emerger.
When his career in the Ambulance Service was ended by a road accident, Laurie decided to do what he loved best—fly fishing, fly tying and guiding at London Lakes. During the 1988 World Championships in Tasmania, he assisted the Norwegian team and became known to Mustad, the giant Norwegian hook making firm. They were impressed with Laurie’s fly tying skills and made him part of an elite team which promotes the Mustad range of fly hooks and fly patterns. Laurie has since travelled the world on their behalf.
Hook: Partridge K12-ST Tail: 4-5 furnace fibres Body: light green Lazer Lights or mix a similar colour in Antron Thorax: soft dark grey natural fur Thorax Cover: strip of shin pad foam (3-4 mm wide), coloured tan or green with a waterproof pen Hackle: furnace, tied parachute fashion around base of foam |
When not overseas, during the season you’ll find him guiding clients at London Lakes. It is an education to have Laurie guide you through the minefield of tailing trout along the margins of the lakes. He loves guiding people as much as he loves fishing. He is patient, and his pleasure is obvious when a client sights a fish, casts to it, and finally lands it.
With this background, you can understand why his fly designs work. They’re tried and proven, not just show pieces. Tasmanian fly fishers are like that. They are the keenest, most knowledgeable fly fishers in Australia. With access to the best lake fishing they can put in the hours to test their fishing skills and patterns.
Laurie’s Nelson Green Emerger is very versatile. It works like a charm because it floats with the body hanging down perfectly below the surface, making it nice and visible to the fish. The way the hackle is stroked back before tying down the thorax cover gives half a parachute hackle and this will keep it afloat. But it is just as deadly fished wet, just under the surface. You can also pinch some lead on the leader to take it right down to the bottom—this has worked well for me.
Early this season I had a ball with the little ‘Nelson’; as a challenge, I used nothing else. Twelve trout up to 2.5 lb were caught in two days fishing the rivers at Oberon, and during subsequent trips more were caught and released in the already low rivers. The only drawback is that the low floating, sombre thorax can be hard to spot amongst the rough and tumble surface of fast water. It’s a great little fly and here’s the recipe.
