FISHING MIDGE FLIES
AKA CHIRONOMIDS
Midges (chironomids) are some of the most abundant food for trout particularly in still waters. What a midge fly lacks in size it more than make up for in numbers. After ice out in the spring, but before the mayflies and caddis become active, midges are the main food source for trout.
The most recognized chironomid is the mosquito. We are familiar with the rapid growth and quick gestation period of this pesky critter. A generation can be measured in days or weeks. This is typical of this entire family of bugs. Their small size and incredible numbers assure that the trout feed many times per day on these hor d'oeuvres rather than seeking one sitting of meat and potatoes.
Chironomids live on the bottom and migrate to the surface to hatch. A very common way to fish the imitation on still waters is to suspend a pupa beneath an indicator and let the wind chop provide the action. If you have the depth "dialed in" you can be quite successful.
Trout tend to be specific to the depth at which they feed, if your presentation is not in this zone you will not get bit. A better searching system is to fish the pupa "rising to the surface". This can be done with a floating line and long ( 10¹-16¹) leader. An intermediate sinking line is a better choice if available. Be sure fly floatant is off of the leader to ensure sinking. Wet clay rubbed on leader will help it break through the surface film. Fluorocarbon leaders and tippet material are heavier than water and sink rapidly. Bead heads are not needed to sink the fly to the length of the leader on still waters.
Once your system is totally wet lay out your leader and fly on the water close to you and count how long it takes for the fly to sink to the desired depth ( one thousand one...one thousand two...etc.). Place rod tip in the water and retrieve the fly to determine how many of what kind of pulls bring the fly to the surface.
Real pupa move from the bottom to the top and that is how you want to fish the imitation. I recommend that you look at mosquito larva in a bucket of water sometime to get an idea of what some of these bugs do under water. I have yet to see the fly that can mimic the wiggling action of the real thing but we can get closer by using a non tightening knot to attach the pupa pattern. Use a Duncan Loop or a Uni-knot.
When retrieving, your fly and leader will rise through the water at an angle --not straight up. When you pause the fly which has been following the track of the leader at an angle, will hinge down to a vertical position. This provides a life-like movement to your pupa. A standard (tight to the hook eye) knot will not allow this movement. This hinging from vertical to angled and back, combined with rising through the various potential feeding zones is a much more effective and fun way to fish than the standard indicator method.
In windy conditions a
floating line will be blown across the surface and prevent the pause
that is the key. That is why an intermediate sinking line is
so valuable. It is the slowest of the full sinking lines and
it remains near the surface but below the wind drift. This
combined with your rod tip at or below the
surface puts you in control of the movement of your fly.
One other point: this presumes you are standing in one spot or anchored in place. If you are in a wind driven float tube you will lose the "pause."
CHRONOMID COLORS REDUX:
The
red or Blood Midge lives in the oxygen poor zone at the bottom
of lakes. Generally they inhabit mud & muck bottoms rather
than sand & gravel. This zone is so deep that it receives
little or no sun light for photo synthesis and the decaying
vegetable matter absorbs oxygen. The red pigmentation of this
midge is the hemoglobin it uses to store the oxygen it needs.
Red is the first band of light that water filters out so your red
pupa does not appear red a few feet below the surface. It
becomes shades of gray like on a black and white TV. At the surface
the red/orange color becomes important, particularly for emergers.
The more translucent pupa ( ie. mosquitos) are best imitated by the
Pearl coloration. It is a white pattern with multi-colored
crystal flash wrapped over. Fish key in on positives and the
multi-color over white gives lots of options.
Pearl
is a good choice for clear water conditions.
Black
gives the most contrast in poor visibility conditions and thus is
sometimes the most noticeable color for midge pupa. A number
of black pupa naturally occur in both still and flowing waters.
Lee¹s Ferry on the Colorado River has incredible numbers of small
black midge pupa (size #18). Black is the most often fished
color of midge pupa.
The
Grey Boy is black with white banding on the body and a red &
black head. Again a multi colored offering hoping to appeal to
some color the fish are used to feeding on.