Klinkhammer
Also called Klinkhamer, Klinkhåmer, Klink
A Klinkhammer is a parachute-style emerger that rides with the post and hackle on the surface while the abdomen hangs below in the film.
- Group
- Dry fly patterns
- Category
- Flies & fly types
- Level
- Intermediate
- Water
- Freshwater
Last updated
What Klinkhammer means
Built on a curved “Klinkhamer” hook, this pattern is meant to sit half-in and half-out of the water. The parachute post and hackle keep it floating, and the trailing body drops under the surface like an insect that is still emerging.
Most versions are tied to suggest mayflies, but the silhouette reads “emerger” more than any single species. It can be fished on its own, or as the point fly in a dry-dropper where the Klinkhammer is the surface indicator and a small nymph rides below.
Why it matters on the water
The way it rides changes what the fish sees. On picky trout that refuse high-floating patterns, a Klinkhammer can look more natural because it sits in the film instead of on top of it.
It is also a practical tool for rougher water and mixed currents. The parachute hackle and post are easy to track, and the hanging body keeps the hook in the zone where emergers get eaten.
Read next
- Blue-winged olive“Blue-winged olive” (BWO) is the common fly-fishing name for several small mayflies in the Baetis group. Anglers use it to describe the hatch and the flies used to match it.
- ComparadunA Comparadun is a mayfly imitation tied without hackle, using a flared deer-hair wing and a tapered body to sit low and look like a dun.
- CrippleA cripple is an adult insect imitation tied to look stuck mid-hatch, with a shuck, splayed wing, or a low-riding body that can’t fully take off.
- ParachuteA parachute is a dry-fly style with the hackle wrapped horizontally around a post, so the fly rides low and stays visible.