Winter midges are pretty tiny. The fact that trout can even see them and
then make the effort to feed on them is most amazing. I would venture to say that most winter
midges are less than a size 24. Their
huge abundance is the trigger for trout to turn to them as their major food
source in the winter months. It is much
easier to catch trout dangling a stonefly nymph, or a couple of small weighted
nymphs under a bobber during the winter.
However, if you want to hone your dry fly techniques, casting accuracy,
dead drift mending techniques, hooking up with tiny flies on long supple
leaders, and playing a nice sized fish to the net on a size tiny fly ,then some
dry fly winter midge fishing is made for you.
Some folks search out midge feeders this time of year. There
will be occasions when you happen on a blanket midge hatch, and nearly all the
trout are feeding near or on the surface, and you can’t buy a fish with your
usual nymphing techniques. It is time to
break out the micro stuff and the 6X when that happens.
Most steady, consistent feeding happens in soft current
lines and back eddy waters where the trout don’t have to fight current or move
much to feed on the tiny bug. Some days
the midge hatch will be fairly sporadic and you will see twenty different rises
in a pool, but not steady enough to locate perfectly or to tease into a grab. Those fish are difficult on a pure dry midge,
but are a great indicator that there are midges around and that this is the food
of preference. Those fish are generally
fairly easily taken with a dry fly indicator, a size 14 Wulff Adams or purple
haze on 5X tippet with a zebra midge dropper about 14-16 inches under the dry
on 5 ½ or 6x fluorocarbon tippet. The
small fluorocarbon tippet I have found to be invaluable in fishing midge
imitations, is the new Trouthunter tippet, which comes in .5 x.It makes a huge
difference in getting a trout to eat.
It generally takes more than one cast to a rise to get a grab as the
offering is quite small and it has to be in the trout’s window. Occasionally you will get a grab on the dry
fly which is a bonus.
Two zebra midges
under an indicator on 5 ½ or 6 fluorocarbon with a small indicator about five
feet from the first midge is also effective in this situation. I like to use two different colored zebras
when fishing two midges. Usually black
and olive, but red and tan or brown are also effective. Some days they seem to prefer the red midge,
others the olive. All colors should be
in your box. Also, the warmer the day
the more current they will feed in.
This is also a time when you should move slowly and take some time. It is not hopper fishing.
The other midge scenario that you are likely to encounter is
the blanket midge hatch and mating midge swarm with bulging trout feeding in
pods in the soft waters of a pool. The
tiny chironomids will be drifting down the current and the hatched bugs buzz
erratically above the surface. Most of
the rises will be bulging feeds with dorsal fins or tails showing, indicating
the feed is on the emerging insect.
Sometimes the entire face of the trout comes out in a true dry fly
eat. If your eyes are sharp and the
surface water sheen allows, a pure single dry midge is the greatest dry fly
challenge you can experience.
Fish the dry midge
with 6 or even 7X tippet for your best presentation. Griffiths gnats, or any other tiny look alike
is a good choice. The feeding pod will
get very selective so don’t be discouraged.
It may take a couple of fly changes to have success. If you have difficulty seeing the size 20-24
dry midge try putting an indicator fly on your 5X tippet, such as the adams ,and
tie the midge tippet on the bend of the hook about 2 feet from the indicator
dry. If the larger dry fly moves the
midge has been taken. When Clark
Shafer was my store manager we put our heads together and with Clark, being a
great tier, came up with the LRO midge emerger.
It is deadly in this situation.
It has a dark antron shuck trailing the black thread body, with a tuft
of white antron pulled over the top like a wing case emerging from the shuck, a
small black hackle helps float it and simulate midge legs. The LRO midge emerger can be greased and
fished dry or damp under the adams indicator fly. Stalcup’s white midge emerger with the micro bead
or naked is also effective. As you are
competing with many naturals on the water it is best if you can drift your
offering through a pod of fish increasing your chances for a grab. Most midge fishing can be done upstream which
is an advantage to the angler. Our
winter trout don’t get too leader shy and if spooked, they usually return to feeding fairly
quickly. If nothing else fishing the
winter midge hatch is good practice for your summer trico fishing.
Tight loops and lines,
Scott Schnebly/Lost River Outfitters
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