This Midge Pattern is tied sparse and lively. One turn of hackle, an extended dubbed body and a few strands of trailing shuck. It would ride low and have considerable movement. Size 20
This Midge pattern has the same trailing shuck material, a dyed peacock herl abdomen, a touch of dubbing for the thorax, and a CDC wing faced with one turn of Starling. It is tied medium bodied. Size 18
This pattern is fully, maybe even over, dressed and better suited for the edges of riffles and seams. Midges prefer the slower glides of tailouts and silty bottoms. The same trailing shuck material is perhaps over done. The abdomen of herl is obscured by the dubbed collar of Snow Shoe Rabbit fur. I would still fish it with confidence. To the eye, on a size 20 hook, it looks tiny and white.
I am not going to write any thing too profound here. Conditions (type of insects, location of feeding, how the fish are feeding) often dictate the pattern selection. I offer up these patterns as experiments in the early tying season. I was experimenting, and as I often do, just having fun with the materials.
I love finding a plastic bag, opening it to find materials I purchased and forgot about…”Yeehaw! I forgot about that stuff”. I loaded up on some cool stuff last year. The task now is to stay on task and tie more than a couple of each pattern before jumping to the next pattern…like a fart in a windstorm.
I still have to tie several dozen unweighted, earth tone Woolly Buggers to compliment the weighted ones. How boring a prospect is that…of course, until this Spring when I am fishing the shoals with those slower sinking morsels.
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