Fly Tying an AP Emerger - Modern American Soft Hackle

Created by Denny Rickards in the early 1990s, the AP (All Purpose) Emerger is an effective stillwater fly for big trout, but can also be fished in smaller, faster trout water anywhere.
Hook: #12-16 wet fly
Thread: Brown
Tail: Flank feather fibers
Rib: Wire rib, small
Body: Brown synthetic dubbing
Thorax: Peacock herl
Hackle: Partridge, gray or natural
This fly can be found in The Federation of Fly Fishers,
Fly Pattern Encyclopedia: amzn.to/34U0rUe
Savage Flies is a project with the mission of encouraging and teaching fly tying to as many people as possible. The channel is named after one of my western Maryland homewaters, the Savage River. I've been uploading at least three new videos a week (usually Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday).
Thanks for stopping by. Please let me know in the comments if you have any tying tips you would like to share or if you have any patterns you would like to see tied here.

[@davidhughes2622]

Hi from Rolla Missouri 🎣🤠 Dave Hughes I really like this fly!! I'll put in a dubbing just before the partridge of pink or orange dubbing. This'll catch most anything that swim's and a few trees. Thanks for your time and thoughts,. It's been a pleasure to spend morning coffee with you. 🎣🤠 Dave Hughes

[@OttoJulian_]

Apparently I missed this one? watching this now! :)

[@johnshand6176]

Like the nice mottled natural look of this one so will make a few up tomorrow. Fished yesterday with some of your soft hackle designs and had many hookups but only landed a few. Must be a bit out of touch but enjoyed the day in the wilderness. My fishing buddy got swept away in the rapids and he dropped his new Orvis rod and reel on its first outing. I managed to retrieve the dismembered set up by casting a weighted nymph across likey lies so all in all a successful day. Regards from down-under.

[@SavageFlies]

John- that's awesome to hear! I'm glad some of these worked for you. I've got a lot of work to do on my wet fly fishing, that's for sure. But I am looking forward to really diving into the Dave Hughes book. There is a ton of info in there on how to get smarter with the wet flies. I'm glad you got your buddy's rod back. That would have really been a bummer. Take care my friend. Cheers. -Matt

[@mikeney5113]

Nice tie Matt I love fishing them.and they catch fish Thanks for sharing

[@SavageFlies]

You bet Mike! I think all soft hackles are good fish catchers if fished right. Thanks for watching my friend!

[@pablogarza4793]

Needed this today, I just want to stop the news so I'm glad I get time to try to make this. Thanks keep tying it.

[@SavageFlies]

Yep, the news is just depressing right now. I need to get out on a river for a while. :-)

[@davehall2160]

Now that looks like a fish catcher Thanks Matt

[@SavageFlies]

I hope so! I'm going to swing it through some riffles in a couple of weeks. Thanks for watching Dave. :-)

[@easttnflyfreak2870]

another fun tye .. Thanks again Matt

[@SavageFlies]

You bet James; appreciate you watching!

[@TheAlex0026]

Very tight tie 👔🔥

[@jeffreystone7327]

Very cool fly my friend. Great job. I love the looks of this one. That long tail is beautiful. Reminds me of a Pheasant just taking flight. Great video. Thank you Matt.

[@mavrickjohn1]

Denny Richards may have adapted the AP nymph to an emerger pattern but it was Andy Puion who originated it. Andy was my teacher of flytying and he submitted the 6 patterns of the AP nymph to a hunting and fishing magazine for publication. The editor of the magazine changed the name of the pattern from the Andy Puion nymph to the all purpose nymph and it has remained so ever since. Andy was of course ticked at this and never wrote another article for that magazine again.

[@huntingmissouri5420]

I will be tying some of the fot my fly box!! Nice looking bug!! Thanks for sharing Matt. I really enjoy watching you tying videos!! I hope you never stop making them.

[@SavageFlies]

Thank you! That's certainly a positive comment to hear, and very much appreciated. :-) And I appreciate all of you who watch and encourage me to keep going! And yes, this does look like it might be an effective fly. I can't wait to try it out here in Maryland!

[@bigdaddy99929]

Wonderful demo. I know we all mess up as going but as you say, just back up and redo... thx again Matt. True life.

[@SavageFlies]

Thanks Clyde! If I only made videos where I never messed up, I wouldn't be making ANY videos. :-)

[@edwardchavez5627]

I like this fly Sir Matt, it is so cool looking. I'm fascinated with the way wet flies look emerger flies also. Thanks again for an awesome video.

[@SavageFlies]

You got it Edward, and yes, this is a pretty easy one to tie too!

[@comesahorseman]

👍👍

[@allenaviation5746]

Nice looking fly there Matt. Fish catcher for sure. I'm going to tie some. If I referred to myself as a "Fly Dresser", would that sound too snooty? Would some people get the wrong idea about what a fly dresser actually does?

[@SavageFlies]

Ha! That's pretty funny. All the old literature calls us fly dressers. And sometimes the old recipes call the materials dressing. So I think we could get away with it if we were in 19th century England. (Or even the northeast here.) But nowadays? People might think we're even crazier than we are. :-) But on the other hand, maybe we should try to revive the term! Yes, it's a bit snooty, but fly fishing in general can be pretty snooty. Except maybe the old legendary Smoky Mountain anglers. I can't see those guys fishing in their Liberty bibbs being too snooty. :-)