Trout Diet

The Midge Pupa

In the Pupal stage of a Chironomid's life cycle, their head becomes more pronounced and the thorax increases in size as wing pads and gills develop.  The midge pupa is probably the most commonly fished midge pattern.  Midge Pupae can be quite active.  When the weather is milder they will often head to the surface in still waters and hang vertically below the surface film at dusk and then head back to deeper water in the morning as temperatures rise.  They can be quite active.  On Lakes and ponds angers will commonly alternate dead drifts with different retrieve styles of fishing.  

The most common chironomid pupa imitation is probably the zebra midge.  Generally, they, like most midge pupal patterns, are tied on curved shank hooks with the bead head adding size and light reflection to suggest wing pads and gills and the curve of the hook adding a sense of movement.  The tiger midge is a common variation on Eastern Sierra waters and is made by swapping out the silver wire ribbing for copper.  This version in black I find quite productive.  There are many variations that add herl to the thorax as well as pearl mylar for a shuck and/or gills.  The gills and shucks become more important to the pattern (and the trout) as you fish the pupa as an emerging midge.  At this stage of the chironomid's life cycle, the pupal casing fills with gas as the midge makes its way to the surface for its final transformation to an adult.  This is arguably the most important phase of the midge's life to the fly angler.  This seems to be when trout key on midges the most.  Often, dropping one of these flies underneath a larger dry fly is just the ticket.  Fishing these patterns near the bottom is still effective as well.

The Midge Adult

Because the adult is so small, it seems that most trout pass them by for the subsurface emergers.  That doesn't mean one should discount midge adult patterns altogether.  Many a day has been saved by casting a size 20 Griffith's Gnat into a back eddy.  The Griffith's gnat, in fact, is one of my go to dry flies.  When they are size 20 and smaller I can only see them if their profile is in contrast to the glare off the water early or late in the day, otherwise, I set the hook on any rise I see.  I have some tied in size 16 and 18 that effectively imitate clusters of adults.    Often times several male midges will swarm a single female on the water's surface creating an irresistable snack for trout.  The Griffth's gnat with it's palmered hackle design keeps it high on the water and does a bang up job of immitating this midge cluster.

Once you take the time to learn to work with smaller flies you will be rewarded year round with excellent trout fishing.  Fishing midge patterns has many challenges, but the rewards are worth it.

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