These are the flies I tie to match midges:
Hook: TMC 2488 (size #20-30)
The 2488 hook is actually a fine-wired, straight eyed, curved scud/pupa hook, with a 2x wide gap that seems to stick the fish better, and gives the fly a more realistic curved body shape.
Colors: Cream, Olive, Brown, Gray, Black, Red (Red I use thread or an ultra wire body - pupa only)
Body: Uni Thread (6/0 or 8/0) in above colors.
Ribbing: Fine Ultra Wire – black, copper, silver, gold, or a contrasting thread color.
I rib most of the bodies since midges usually have noticeable segmentation. Study the insects when you capture them.
With this same thread body I tie two pupa and two adult versions:
Pupa: w/ 1.5mm bead and darker dubbed thorax (zebra midge version), or no bead, just darker dubbing for the thorax (like Al’s rat). The bead head sinks deeper and rides hook point up, while the dubbed head hangs in/under the film.
Adult: CDC tied down-wing, or CDC tied spent spinner style (tied in figure 8 perpendicular to the body and lightly dubbed over).
Add in a Griffith’s Knat to your midge assortment and you will be able to cover most midge hatches. I also tie a stripped hackle stem body version that gives a segmented look (like a Quill Gordon) that works well for midges, but a thread body is usually all that needed.
When I see rises to midges, I try to scoop up a sample from the stream and match the size and color as closely as possible. Don’t forget about fishing the pupa in or under the film as well as or instead of the adult. Sometimes the pupa version works where the adult fails. You also can try a tandem of the two.
I use floatant on the leader and tippet up to a foot from the fly, and I sometimes put a pinch of strike putty on the tippet knot above these flies to help track the leader and tippet on the water. Also I use mono and not flouro tippet to float the adult version of these flies. I go down to 7x for only the smallest flies and under the toughest conditions.
When I become tired of fishing nymphs in the fall and winter, I actually look forward to the challenge of rising fish during a midge hatch. I would say if I have a reasonably similar fly to match the midge hatch, and am not catching fish, the main reason is usually poor presentation – drag on the fly, or spooking the fish with my cast. IMO, many times matching the hatch is far easier than fishing the hatch. Good luck.
