Crippled Mayflies

Were you offended by the title of this post?

A Challenged Emerger

Well, I wasn't; at first.

Don't tell Rosenbauer, but my favorite emerger pattern is the Quigley Cripple. It is an effective emerger pattern that mimics a Crippled Mayfly that trout seem to find appealing.

But they should find it more appalling.

Last evening I looked at the list of search terms that bring folks to my industry leading stumbled upon occasionally read blog and found the term "Challenged Emerger" as one that had led some poor fools readers my way.

What's a Challenged Emerger? Google it. You'll find that it's the name of a new fly; new to me at least.

A Quigley Cripple Challenged
Emerger that I tied

So I got to thinking that it sure looks similar to a Quigley Cripple style that I tie and then it struck me -- political correctness has struck the fly tying game!

Are all "Crippled" flies to be renamed "Challenged"? What rubbish!

But then I got to thinking.

I am a fly angler by choice. I catch and release (mostly). I have a great deal of respect for the fish and fisheries that support my habit.

But I think little of the foodstuffs that support the trout. I enjoy seeing a struggling mayfly get slammed by a hungry trout. Dead and dying mayfly spinners get me excited about the possibility of easy fishing. And don't get me started about the poor crippled challenged mayflies that will never have a chance to live a full life, swarm with the lasses and lads and find a mate; they're the finest of things to imitate mock. Am I this insensitive?

Worse yet, am I one to mock them by tying flies that imitate their twisted, deformed visages and use them as bait to lure trout to the surface?

I AM THE PROBLEM!

So from now on I will tie no more emergers.

I will not fish those I have but instead confer upon them the respect that is reserved for mayflies everywhere not just their full hackled brethren .

Cripples no more!

No longer the outcast.

Author's Note: For those of you with less finely tuned humor centers, this is sarcasm and satire with a hint of absurdity thrown in for good measure. It is not intended to be a reflection of my feelings on the human condition or anything else other than commentary on how idiotic it is to change the name of a fly pattern the mimics a maimed bug because the word cripple, the common term to refer to maimed mayflies, appears in its name.