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Finished original-style RS2 emerger in a vise with split tails, slim gray-tan dubbed body, dark thorax, and short clipped wingReal photo · Rim Chung original-style RS2

Emerger · guide 06

RS2

Rim Chung's sparse beadless emerger or floating nymph, built with two split tails, a tightly dubbed tapered body, a compact thorax, and a clipped saddle-hackle-web wing.

Common size
Match the natural; Orvis demonstrates #20, Originator instructions use 6/0 thread for #14 or larger and 8/0 for smaller hooks
Common colors
light, medium, or dark gray, black, tan, brown, cream, green or olive, documented bicolor bodies and thoraxes
Imitates
small mayfly emerger or floating nymph, midge emerger when size and color fit
How to recognize it

Start with the beadless architecture: two dark-dun Microfibett tails separated behind a slim, tightly twisted and visibly segmented dubbed abdomen; a fuller thorax; and saddle-hackle web clipped into a short angled wing bud. Rim Chung's original-style form uses natural beaver dubbing and hackle web. CDC- or Antron-wing ties, beads, curved hooks, flash, and tailless Avatar-style flies must remain labeled variations.

Colorado tier Rim Chung developed the RS2—Rim's Semblance 2. The reviewed tying form follows the originator's own documented saddle-hackle-web construction; later CDC and synthetic-wing versions are useful but separately labeled.
Finished original-style RS2 emerger in a vise with split tails, slim gray-tan dubbed body, dark thorax, and short clipped wing
Real photo · exact pattern

Rim Chung original-style RS2

Finished exact RS2 from the originator's tying sequence. Rim Chung's reviewed form is beadless and uses split Microfibett tails, tightly twisted natural-beaver dubbing, a fuller thorax, and dark-dun saddle-hackle web clipped into a compact wing bud.

View
exact pattern — finished original-style RS2 in vise
Color shown
natural gray-tan abdomen, dark gray thorax, and dark-dun wing
Look for
The finished beadless fly shows two long separated tails, a tightly dubbed segmented taper, fuller dark thorax, and short saddle-hackle-web wing clipped upward at an angle.
Open full-size photo ↗

On the water

Know when and how to fish it.

Use these tips as a starting point. The river, depth, insects, and fish behavior still decide the final presentation.

01

Why it works

  • Its sparse taper and split tails suggest the vulnerable transition from nymph to emerging mayfly without over-defining one species.
  • The compact clipped wing reads as an emerging wing bud while the unweighted body can be presented on, in, or below the film.
  • Changing only verified size and color lets the same architecture cover small mayfly and midge emergence situations.
02

When to use it

  • When trout are taking small mayfly emergers or floating nymphs in or immediately below the surface film.
  • During midge activity only when the natural's size, color, and water position support the match.
  • As an unweighted dropper when a more visible upper fly or leader setup controls presentation depth.
03

How to fish it

  • First match the fish's feeding depth: present the beadless RS2 on the surface, in the film, or on a shallow dead drift.
  • Use leader treatment, an upper fly, indicator, or leader weight to control depth without silently turning the photographed original into a bead-head variant.
  • Keep drag low and change size, color, or depth from observed insects and rise form rather than assuming every small gray hatch is an RS2 situation.
04

Mistakes to avoid

  • Calling every tiny gray emerger an RS2.
  • Adding a bead, flash wing, curved hook, CDC, or Antron without labeling the variation.
  • Leaving the wing tall like the penultimate tying photo instead of trimming the finished wing compactly.
  • Overbuilding the abdomen or failing to separate the two tails.

At the vise

Tie this version.

Rim Chung original-style RS2 · intermediate

This guide follows Rim Chung's documented natural-beaver and saddle-hackle-web form. The Orvis and Tim Flagler CDC-wing version is a later variation, not the photographed original.

Materials

Hook
Tiemco 101 straight-eye hook in the size selected to match the natural
Thread
Matching Uni-Thread 6/0 for #14 or larger; 8/0 for smaller hooks; use a second thorax color only for a labeled bicolor form
Tails
Two dark-dun Microfibetts
Abdomen
Natural beaver fur with longer fibers preferred, twisted tightly into a sparse taper
Thorax
Natural beaver fur in the documented matching or contrasting color
Wing
Dark-dun web from the base of a saddle-hackle feather
Finish
A trace of head cement at the tail tie-in if desired; whip finish at the eye

Steps

  1. Start the thread with room at the eye. Secure one tail on the near side and the second on the far side, each about one hook-shank long.
  2. Wrap both tails to the bend, pass one wrap under them and two forward wraps, then separate them roughly 60 to 70 degrees and add a trace of cement at the tie-in if desired.
  3. Align longer beaver fibers with the thread, twist tightly, make one securing turn beneath the tails, then wrap forward without overlap into a slim taper that becomes slightly fuller near the thorax.
  4. Secure dark-dun saddle-hackle web at the wing position and trim the forward waste near the eye.
  5. If tying a labeled bicolor version, change thread now. Dub a pronounced thorax behind and in front of the wing, keep the eye clear, and whip finish.
  6. Pinch the wing upright and approach from the tail side with scissors; clip at an angle to leave the compact emerging wing bud shown in the finished photograph.

Tying sources: RS2 Tying Steps in Pictures ↗, Tying the RS2 — materials, steps, and color chart ↗

Common variations

Small changes can make a different fly.

Three verified, non-AI real photographs from the originator's tying sequence show one exact RS2 at the finished clipped-wing, wing-secured, and thorax-complete stages. They are process views of the same reviewed construction—not three color variants—and are reused under the RS2 Home Page's explicit source-attribution permission.

Rim Chung original-style gray RS2

The photographed beadless form with split dark-dun tails, natural-beaver body, dark thorax, and clipped saddle-hackle-web wing.
Colors shown
natural gray-tan, dark gray, dark dun
Weighting
Unweighted photographed form; presentation depth comes from the leader or rig.

Documented solid-color RS2s

The originator's chart records black; light, medium, and dark gray; tan; brown; cream; and green forms while retaining the same sparse architecture.
Colors shown
black, light to dark gray, tan, brown, cream, green
Weighting
Weight is not part of the reviewed original construction.

Documented bicolor RS2s

The originator's chart includes green-or-olive bodies with near-black thoraxes and tan bodies with camel-or-brown thoraxes.
Colors shown
green or olive with near-black, tan with camel or brown
Weighting
Unweighted reviewed construction.

Related patterns

Blue-Winged Olive Patterns ↗Midge Patterns by Stage ↗Sparkle Dun ↗PMD Comparadun ↗

How this guide was checked

Fly information and photo sources.

Guide checked on 2026-07-13. Every image has its own source and usage record. Natural insects and hand-tied flies can vary in shape and proportion.

Pattern sources

Orvis NewsHow to Tie the RS2↗Ferenc Horvath / RS2 Home PageRS2 Home Page↗Ferenc Horvath / RS2 Home PageRS2 Tying Steps in Pictures↗Ferenc Horvath / RS2 Home PageTying the RS2 — materials, steps, and color chart↗Trout UnlimitedThe RS2↗

Image credits