Posted by Jim E (24.116.99.140) on January 15, 2004 at 19:09:45:
In Reply to: Weekly Trout Fishing Report ... Lower Mountain Fork River posted by Beavers Bend Fly Shop on January 14, 2004 at 11:09:34:
Oh the midge !!
Midges are from the order of Diptera. Which simply means “two wings”. The more popular species of this order to the fly fisherman are midges, mosquitoes and crane flies. But we’ll focus on midges for now, because just about anywhere trout are found, there will be midges there also. Not to mention that midges are also known for being quite prolific in tail water fisheries.
In the LMF, my experience has been that the midges found there are almost always on the smaller side than the normal #18 sizes talked about from other rivers through out the nation. Many have been the times that I have tied on a #30 midge, the smallest I tie, and the naturals were still half that size, with the fish going bonkers over them.
Midges go through a full four-stage life cycle: egg, larva, pupa and adult. The egg stage is of no importance to the trout, so it’s when it hatches into a larva that the fish begin to take notice.
Below is a midge larva collected from the LMF.
They are hard to imitate as they move and swim with a vigorous whip lashing motion. Many are fairly brightly colored being red, purple or lime green and others are tan, olive or black. Common flies to match this life stage would be, brassies, blood midge, thread midge and other very small, worm like patterns. Fish them deep, in slower water with vegetation.
Next is the pupa stage. This specimen is from the LMF.
This stage is the shortest stage of the midges life cycle AND the most vulnerable. I would guess that 70-80% of all midges eaten by trout would be during this stage. Watch closely to rising fish, if you only see the fish’s dorsal fin and tail break the surface, they are probably taking pupas. Also, just a dimple on the surface without any part of the fish being exposed would indicate a pupa feeding fish. Colors are numerous, with many having different colored heads and abdomen. Popular patterns: WD-40, RS-2, miracle midge, disco midge, etc. Fish them un-weighted in the surface film or slightly below
Finally, the adult stage. Again, taken from the LMF.
Midges, like mayflies, take awhile to dry their wings after emerging. They float along on the waters surface until they can take to flight. Fish will be seen with their noses barely breaking the surface during the rise and often seem to be just lazily taking them. The most common colors would be: cream, gray, olive and black. Most have the same color body and wings, but not always. Popular patterns: Griffith’s Gnat (which actually imitates a cluster of adult midges), any other #20 and smaller dry that has the same color body and hackle.
This specimen I was proud to find.
It is a crippled emerging pupa. At times, the fish can get very selective and will only focus their feeding on bugs like this. It is situations like these, the fact that often there can be several different varieties hatching at the same time and most hatches are pretty heavy are what make fishing the midge so well known for “difficult” fishing. Throw in the super small fly sizes and ultra small tippets and then you have the recipe for possibly some very frustrating angling. But when (or if, in my case, by a shear chance of luck) all things come together, it can be extremely rewarding.
Jim Enns <*;)))))))))><
P.S.- If you see a fly fisherman sitting on the bank with his face in his hands shaking his head, you will know that I have once again, been humbled by the midging trout. Sympathy cards are always accepted.