Above photo: A loop-wing midge emerger tied on a Hanak 360 BL
There is an inordinate amount of time that I spend tinkering with both adult and emergent midges. Since midges are on the trout's menu through all four seasons, it stands to reason why fly fishers become so obsessed with these tiny water-born insects. Midges take up about half of the fly boxes I carry on any given fly-fishing session. I carry pupa, adults, and emergers, but the majority of trout are caught on the emerger patterns that I tie. I chalk this up to having more “fish-catching confidence” during the emergent phase and prefer the emerger hooks more in general.The emerger is more susceptible to predators due to its lack of mobility, making it preferred by trout based on the insects susceptibility and sheer numbers. This assumption supports the “pounds per meat law” phenomenon. This phrase was coined by the late Carl Richards and Doug Swisher to describe trout selectively feeding on the insect most readily available in large numbers, without expending excessive amounts of energy to consume it. Hence, the midge emerger is the quintessential floating duck being shot in a barrel.
In this entry, I will discuss the midge emerger in the loop-wing configuration sizes #18-#24. I have decided to zero in on this pattern primarily because, for me, it outperforms most other midges in my repertoire, be it adult or pupa. I will also reference two specific hooks I use for this pattern: the Hanak 390 BL, which will be shown in all the following photographs, and the Tiemco 212Y, another favorite hook of mine for this pattern. These are both frames that are very similar to a traditional Klinkhammer-style hook. Although the label of the “Klinkhammer” hook has now become a bit gratuitous and totally pedantic. I decided a few years back to simply call these style frames "emerger hooks" to streamline the process during workshops or vlog entries. People get hung up on names, and it gets misleading in time.
The loop wing midge on your favorite emerger style hook- this is a meat-and-potatoes pattern for me, but the devil is in the details!
Fig. 1
Hook: The Hanak 390 #18
The abdomen is simply a natural peacock quill with a clear mylar wrap wound on top. I put on a trailing shuck on because I can either clip it off or clip the legs off on the water. Either way I'm covered! A pair of knotted pheasant tail legs on each side of the hook provides the hook with wonderful stability and keels quite well.
Fig 2.
Legs: Knotted pheasant tail fibers
These are not pre-knotted pheasant tail fibers for legs; I knot these specifically for midges, and the knots are spaced around .125" apart.
Fig 3.
Loop Wing: One or two CDC feathers are all that is needed
Make sure you tie in the feathers at the tips, and both feathers should curve upwards. You DO NOT need to pull the feather to the very tips; if you do this, you miss out on the longer trailing fibers as they pop out. Pull it backward until you are about .25" of exposed tips.
Fig 4.
The Kapok thorax: “The under-dubbed lifejacket”
Your first layer is Kapok! It will keep your fly floating twice as long.
Fig 5.
Second layer of thorax dubbing: The not-so-secret sauce.
A mixture of SLF Spikey Squirrel, Beaver Belly, and a pinch of UV
Fig 6.
The finished midge can now be hit with a couple of hits of a dubbing brush. The double-layer thorax with the Kapok is a very effective buoyancy vest for this fly and helps keep the loop wing afloat.
In just the last two decades, the nature of fly-tying materials has advanced by leaps and bounds. Hooks have become more technically specific, and synthetic fibers have blossomed, reaching into facets of fly tying we could not have imagined during the 80s and 90s. That said, tying up a very effective midge pattern is not a daunting task today with such a selection of top-shelf materials, both natural and synthetic, on the market. Unfortunately, today, with social media, i.e., YouTube and Instagram, large fly-tying manufacturers are promoting a lot of synthetics via “ambassadors” who are creating ridiculous amounts of absolute crap on the internet. Flys that would antagonize the intelligence of Hello Kitty or Pikachu, sending them screaming into the night. The shit that flies on social media is mind-boggling. Keep it simple and discreet; these insects are extremely small and gossamer. Your hook size is too big if it's a #16 in most cases for a midge. Especially if you live in the eastern half of the United States. These bugs are not Jurassic mammoths; they are gossamer and extremely delicate.
Above photo: The Hanak 390 BL #20 is a wonderful canvas for so many different style midges. Experiment using #20 hooks and smaller; get comfortable fishing them. You will gain confidence quickly, I promise.
Micropatterns work best with very accurate presentations. They are not prospecting flies; they are “dope the scope target patterns” for picking off risers, typically in sight fishing situations. Typically, when I have a rod order, I have the customer fill out a paper form that tells me how and where they typically fish. It helps me better visualize the kind of rod that will be most appropriate for their application, especially since my rods are an investment in both time and money, and I want the rod to pair well with the customer. I build a better midge the same way by creating linear criteria in the same order, kind of like a purpose and objective. This is similar to a customer narrative in many ways, but the end user is a trout; the build is not a rod but a fly that can fool the most weary trout. It's safe to say that this pattern needs a delivery system manicured to the fly's needs, not the user's. For example, I would never sight-fish this-sized pattern on 5x tippet or heavier; I typically don't fish micropatterns with a 5wt. line, nor would I ever prospect with this fly, or cast this fly with a mono leader system. I'm not saying you can't do it successfully; I personally wouldn't do it for consistency's sake and, most importantly, stealth. My midge rods are typically shorter than 8 feet. Between 1-3 weight rods and lines. Typically, I use 6x, 7x, or 8x tippets on furled leaders, either UNI or braided silk. The leaders are very, very important because they allow the fly to land soft and quiet with little or no disturbance on the surface. All my connection points are nail knots, no tippet rings, no shorb loops.
Midge fishing is such an important facet of fly fishing, and the fish are feeding on midges year-round, so it stands to reason that refining your midge fishing skills is a very important undertaking. Entire books have been written on the midge. One of my favorite books on the subject is called Micropatterns by Darrel Martin, Copyright 1994 by Swan Hill Press. I would strongly encourage this book to everyone who wishes to delve into tying and fishing midges.
Thanks for letting me share!
Clint Bova
