"JR" wrote
I've trimmed dries to sort of turn them into emergers, but never
so much the final product would be considered a "wet". If I'm
that frustrated by fishing dries, I always have soft hackles or
buggers in my box. 
IF you trim all the hackle off a #16/18 yellow humpy, and maybe thin the
tailing, you have a gangbusters PMD emerger ( look closely and that
'humping' wingcase is a key feature of the natural and the tailing ain't a
bad shuck imitation )
But, Tom, take up tying .... I've suggested it to you before G
IMExeperience, tying and the associated study of foodforms ( just tying
"patterns from a pattern book won't teach much ) improves actual fishing far
more than casting practice .... for anyone that can already reasonable
fishing distance casts