Fall Midge Emerger
As we progress in this series I will assume you have mastered the steps in the previous lesson. For instance, I won’t show you how to start the thread, whip finish the fly, the loose wraps needed to begin tying down a material to the hook, or how to tie that material down. If it’s been covered, we won’t waste the time to cover it again. This will allow us the time and space to progress at a faster pace, and allow you to learn more from this series. This week we’ll learn how to dub a body and attach a down-style wing. Most beginners use too much dubbing, don’t wrap the dubbing tight enough or use way too much hair in a wing. The key to successful dubbing is to keep it thin and tight around the thread. Practice makes for a perfect fly, so practice these steps until you have them mastered. If you need to, use a razor blade to strip the hook and start over. This is a building block to the rest of the series and you must master these steps before you can progress to the rest of the flies. On with the series. Midges are a significant part of the diet of fish (especially trout) in lakes and streams. This tiny insect hatches all year, often hatching in the warm micro-layer of air just above the water’s surface even in sub-freezing temperatures. Even in the summer when many hatches occur on a daily basis, trout and panfish will zero in on the midge as the main source of their daily protein. For this reason it’s a good idea to have a few midge patterns in your fly box. Midges are usually very small, but some hatches, especially in lakes, the midges can be as big as a size 12, although most will be size 16 or smaller. Start tying this pattern in a size 16 and work to smaller hooks as your abilities grow. It’s a good idea to have this pattern in sizes 16 to 22 if you want to be able to match the hatch in most of the circumstances. I tie it in colors that range from brown and tan to cream and light yellow. It’s not a bad micro-caddis pattern either.
List of materials:
Hook: Eagle Claw L061B, Tiemco 100, Mustad 94840 or equivalent. Dubbing: Anglers Choice pure silk, tan mink, or any extra fine dubbing.
Rib: Anglers Choice Super Floss, black horse hair, small black nylon. Wing: Small cluster of pine squirrel tail hairs or similar hair,antron. Thread: Tan, brown, cream or black. I prefer Gudebrod 8/0 or 10/0.
Thanks to Al Campbell for this series.
Happy Fly Tying
Ron
