Midge Believer

[tracker12]

I went and fished a stocked pond today here in Maryland. Fishing ponds witht the fly rod is new to me and I have been struggling to catch fish. Picked up a few on most days but never killed them. Well today I started catching a fair amount of fish today on a green weenie and dcided to experiment a little and ties on a red zebra midge with a tuff of dubbubg on the throrax that I tied up. I fished it under small indicator and caught trout on my first three casts. I then proceded to catch fish pertty much every 5-6 casts for the next hour. The power bait guys just sat there and shook there heads. These were my first fish on a midge. Doubley nice that I tied them. I have read a lot about midge fishing but never could have imagened how effective they could be.

 

[dryflyguy]

If I had my druthers, I would rather be able to catch fish on larger flies.
But if they want tiny stuff, then hey, it's really not so bad - as you apparantly found out

 

[osprey]

Adding midges to your arsenal is not a bad move. Sometimes they save the day. I can't say how many times a Griffiths Gnat has saved the day. One day in particular comes to mind , on Bobs creek , there were trout rising steady for hours and although we caught a few it should have been better. I tried a Griffiths Gnat with not much luck and then it sunk..............if i let it sink and right before i drifted past a trout that was feeding i'd stop and lift and they would NAIL it on the rise. I caught a pile of fish and really felt like i learned something that day. Problem solved feels good. I used the same method on Clarks creek later and it worked there too.

 

[wgmiller]

I just started tying zebra midges in size 18, 20, 22 the other day. I never thought I'd have much luck tying these small sizes, but for some odd reason, actually enjoy tying them. They are simple for one, but I know how effective they are as well. I hooked into a real "hog" one day on Lititz Run in the Conservancy and from that point on, became a believer that small flies can catch big fish!

 

[Acristickid]

Yea, I have had similar episodes. You can hear stories or read of many things that go on, until you experience them it might just sound like noise in the system.

Hundreds of fly patterns- but dont bother to learn how to tie them or buy the materials till I experience their effectiveness.

Use to laugh at stripping baskets till I found out for myself how useful they were.

 

[mcwillja]

The brown in my avatar was on a sz 22 cream midge during a sulphur hatch. I couldn't figure out why this fish wouldn't take a perfectly dead drifted sulphur during a blizzard hatch up in stilesville, well it was because this brown was sipping on cream midges in the film. One of my most rewarding fish of the season.

 

[Heritage-Angler]

Hey tracker!

Great seeing you again yesterday. Looks to me like you're doing great with your tying.

Sounds like the days of buying flies are pretty much history for you. Can't beat the satisfaction gained from being able to tie everything you need, and then having the fish approve of your work. You're set for life.

Enjoy!

H.A.

 

[tracker12]

HA
Your right the circle is complete. Funny how much more satisfaction I got from catching a fish off of a self tied fly. Funny thing was when I got bck to the truck I cut off the fly and placed it on the bumper and the wind proceded to blow it off. Ispent 30 minutes finding it and would have hunted all afternoon to find it.

 

[osprey]

Akid.........I started using a stripping basket on the Susq for smallmouth , i've never fished much in the salt and when i did i didn't have a stripping basket but on the Susq especially in a boat you can't beat it for keeping the line out of the rest of the junk in the boat , i call it secondary line storage , primary storage being on the reel. You can set the rod in there on top too and perform a task (like steer the boat) or have a smoke or a sandwich and it keeps everything organized. That's a real nice brown in the pic. It's often i run into that scenario where there is a hatch that is obvious but not what is getting eaten. One of my go to's when that happens is a foam ant midge as small as i can stand it 22 , 24 , 26 ugh There is something about an ant that fish remember and the real small ones are everywhere , i believe even trout in hatcheries see and eat them regularly.

 

[tracker12]

What are you all using as a midge box?

 

[dryflyguy]

I have a 2" by 3" 6 compartment box that holds my #24 thru #28 midges.
However, I have lost some #32's that slipped out thru the cracks when I used to keep them in it.
I now have them in a small, empty hook box - which has worked OK

 

[Heritage-Angler]

tracker12 wrote:
What are you all using as a midge box?

This.

If you look on ebay, you can find knock offs that are identical, and often under $10. I got a few, and added the midge threaders.

I checked my source, but he doesn't have any listed right now. Easily the best midge box I've ever used.

Here's one like I bought, but mine was cheaper. :-D

The C&F threaders fit perfectly, too. I also peeled off the bottom two rows of foam on one side, and epoxied in a few small Mustad hook boxes. The box now is very similar to the C&F "Ultimate" threader box, but 50 bucks cheaper.

 

[tracker12]

I actually bought a knockoff like that a couple years ago that I am using for something else right now. I was thinking of changing it out for midges. How do you position the midges in the box?

 

[FlySwatter]

Anyone using magnetic boxes?

 

[gfen]

I glued magnets into the inside of my little box that I drop used flies into.

It works, because I'm lazy. I could do this all the time.

 

[wgmiller]

What if the fish has a steel plate in its head? Isn't that cheating?

 

[njk3395]

I spent countless hours trying to figure out why rising trout wouldn't take my fly, that's when i discovered the griffith's gnat.

 

[Heritage-Angler]

tracker12 wrote:
How do you position the midges in the box?

Very carefully. :-D With tweezers. I just line them up by pattern, largest to smallest. The really tiny stuff goes in the former hook boxes, which I glue a piece of refrigerator magnet to the bottom of. Helps when its windy out.

My most commonly used midges go on the threaders - the red dot C&F ones. It's technology for old farts.

 

[osprey]

I made a threader box using velcro and wire in an altoids box , it worked just like a charm but i gave it to a friend. I will make another one though ' cause they work. njk3395.......i hear that!!!!!