The Parachute Pink Albert
(Dry or Emerger)
If you’re going to be fly fishing the South Fork Boise River during late July and into August, you won’t be a very successful without having the Parachute Pink Albert mayfly artificial fly in your fly box. Yes, it’s that important. The Parachute Pink Albert represents the Epeorus Albertae mayfly in both its adult fly form and its emerger form. The characteristic of the parachute style fly that make it such a good artificial fly is the body of the fly lies flush on or in the meniscus (surface tension). The cross style or parachute style hackle gives it excellent floating qualities. Having the body in or on the meniscus and the hackle spread horizontally over the body makes this type of fly one of the most fished styles of artificial fly today.
Epeorus Albertae is one of only a couple of mayflies that leave their nymphal shuck on or near the bottom of river. This characteristic makes fly fishing the Pink Albert hatch fairly simple and using the Parachute Pink Albert artificial fly very simple. You don’t need to have large selections of Pink Albert emerger patterns that mimic what a mayfly may look like in or under the meniscus. The Epeorus Albertae has already preformed that job on the bottom of the river. Using the Parachute Pink Albert will allow you to best replicate this insect as it reaches the surface thus eliminating most emerger imitations. One of the best patterns to replicate an emerging Pink Albert is the Tan Soft Hackle.
