Advice for Beginners on Midge Technique?

[mikesl]

starting a new thread to keep stream report topic on topic.


I was out fishing Valley Creek Monday - What a- Beautiful Day (t-shirt)!

Water was 50ish, fish were rising all over the place, presumably to midges.

Still learning how to do the tiny invisible midge thing... after adding a caddis "indicator" fly I could see I was getting a comical amount of drag - loops of slack leader getting pulled every which way

Anyway, improved my drift, and certainly wasn't spooking fish because they rose right and left of my fly - but still something I am missing with tiny dries.

I suspect the tippet (7x) was visible because it was visibly distorting the surface film - perhaps sloppy floatant use? Is it common to clean tippet to make it sink so it disappears?

 

[The_Sasquatch]

If I batched up my tippet w/ floatant, I'd just cut it and retie the 7x.

 

[Chaz]

Try a griffiths gnat with an Al's Rat dropper.

 

[dc410]

+1 on the above suggestion. A truly deadly combination.

 

[Paulson]

Chaz wrote:
Try a griffiths gnat with an Al's Rat dropper.

Could you sub that for a Zebra Midge?

 

[dc410]

Paulson,

Oh yeah!!!! Dropping a Zebra Midge can be just as productive. Good luck but be careful - that midge fishing can become addictive.

 

[Paulson]

Im still learning how to get the midge down to the bottom, I feel that could be my problem, especially in the slow deep water. I'm not worried, its too late to stop the addiction now!

 

[geebee]

or try a downstream cast, with a reach or pile cast to give you a drag free drift.

you can also use something like snake river mud to sink the tippet.

if they won't take dries, try an emerger.

i also like a red serendipty tyed with snowshoe hare rather than deer hair in a 20 or 22 fished in the film.

you can also try the induced take method with a zebra midge - similar to the leisenring lift, you high stick at the point where you think the fish are and lift the rod tip higher which lifts the nymph up off the bottom like the natural.

sometimes they are not actually taking the midge but the nymph just under the surface.

the induced take can be deadly on tailwaters with large fish - i had a 23" stocked bow two winters ago.

 

[Paulson]

Great help, thanks!

What kind of emerger patterns mimic midges? I might have a few...

Ya know, I was doing some research and got redirected to a thread on here about fishing a midge on top, looks like an interesting technique I want to try (didn't think of it today, and they were rising...but got some response on a CDC, but I was too late setting the hook).

Would it be effective to fish a dropper rig and say 5 ft of tippet for those deep pools? could I use a split shot in between to get it down there?

And the induced take method, can you raise and lower the rod tip through the whole pool?

 

[Dale49]

For good and pertinent information on fishing and tying midge patterns, it is my humble opinion that one sould read the book Midge Magic by Don Holbrook and Ed Koch.

Dale

 

[Foxgap239]

A size 24 or 26 BH Zebra Midge dropped off a larger dry fly has gotten me some nice fish in some tough pools on streams like Valley. Definitely a combination worth working. Try cream colored as well as black. I never had any luck with red but I know others who have. Just remember that when the dry goes under, tighten up don't yank it. Oh yeah, I only use about 8" of dropper in these situations. If there just under the surface or in the film, too much dropper doesn't work well.

 

[Stagger_Lee]

I have only tried a zebra midge but let me get this straight .. I should get some griffith gnats in my ‘arsenal’?

Also .. I always thought midges were submerged but from what I am reading Ggnats are dry?

Per zebra .. I have read on line that you don’t want them all the way on the bottom but in the middle .. is that correct?

What other midges are worth investing in?

 

[Chaz]

They are both.

 

[Fishidiot]

Stagger_Lee wrote:
Also .. I always thought midges were submerged but from what I am reading Ggnats are dry?

Per zebra .. I have read on line that you don’t want them all the way on the bottom but in the middle .. is that correct?

What other midges are worth investing in?

Stagger
"Griffith Gnat" is the name of a specific pattern that imitates an adult midge. As such, it's usually fished as a dry fly - ie. it floats high on the surface tension, just as adult midges do. "Zebra Midge" is also a name of a pattern as well, although in this case it imitates the life stage of the nymph that is subsurface. Midges, like caddisflies, have a three stage life: that is to say, they have the first stage as larvae; then they have a pupae phase; and finally, the winged adult phase where they're on the surface or flying around in the air (check the hood of your car on a winter day when you're near a stream - if you see what resembles mosquitoes, these are adult midges).
The larvae stage will be right on the bottom. "Zebras" usually imitate larvae so are usually fished on the bottom. The pupae phase is when the midge nymph is swimming to the surface so you would imitate this phase with a fly that is mid water column or just under the surface film (you can use a Zebra for this phase too). If you have some Griffith's Gnats in a couple sizes (I'd recommend #22 and 24) in cream and black and some Zebras in the same sizes and colors, maybe add red too.....you should have most midging bases covered.

 

[jimboy]

Can a midge activity happen during the cold winter months?

 

[Stagger_Lee]

jimboy wrote:

Can a midge activity happen during the cold winter months?

seems so .. cool short vid






FI .. good info thanks

 

[mikesl]

Thanks for all the good advice!

I am thinking I may have been floating my griffiths gnat too high.... never did SEE an actual midge on top of the surface...

Here is what I was trying:
size 24-26 griffiths gnat in black/brown ON top of the surface film (grease floatant and dry powder floatant applied occasionally)

That didn't work, even when I got a few good drag-free drifts right over rising fish.

Based on advice here, things to try next time are:

Griffiths gnat IN the film rather than on it
size 24-26 black midge dry fly IN the film
Al's rat, black serendipity, or black zebra midge nymph as a shallow (8") dropper off of griffiths gnat.
Deeper midge nymph dropper (off of a bigger dry?) fished with a bit of a rise at the end of the drift.

can't wait to try again.

 

[Fishidiot]

jimboy wrote:
Can a midge activity happen during the cold winter months?

Yes.
This is esp common on sunny days. In fact, if I see trout rising in winter I usually assume they're on midges.

 

[Fishidiot]

mikesl wrote:
Based on advice here, things to try next time are:

Griffiths gnat IN the film rather than on it
size 24-26 black midge dry fly IN the film
Al's rat, black serendipity, or black zebra midge nymph as a shallow (8") dropper off of griffiths gnat.
Deeper midge nymph dropper (off of a bigger dry?) fished with a bit of a rise at the end of the drift.

I'd say you're on track.
In my experience, when one sees trout sipping midges.....most of the time they're taking the pupae just under the surface. If they want adults, you'll usually hook up fast on the dries. When they refuse a surface presentation, the next step (almost always) is to switch to a nymph/emerger presentation.

 

[jay348]

mikesl wrote:

Al's rat, black serendipity, or black zebra midge nymph as a shallow (8") dropper off of griffiths gnat.

Get a good drift w/ this setup and you can't go wrong.

(but my vote goes to the rat)