Stillwater fly fishing...midges

[NulodPBall]

This article is about what's commonly called "midge" fishing, although this is incorrect because this implies surface fishing, but we're catching the trout on the larval stage of the midge, underwater, near the bottom, after the larvae leave the mud and head for the surface. Some people use the "emerger" version of fly which have white fluff around the head, and they're fished just below the surface, but we won't talk about that here. When I say "midge" in this article, I mean "Chironomid Larvae."

Now that, that dry description has bored you, midge fishing can be alot of fun, and I've caught more trout on midges (and nymphs that I fish the same way, but in moving water) than I have any other way. If you're not very good at it, it can seem boring. And one big hint I have is to not throw your indicator out too far. If you throw it out too far, you'll strain your eyes trying to watch it...and you need to be able to set your hook if your indicator even twitches.

What is an indicator? Well, and indicator is basically a bobber, but one that you can use when throwing a fly. I prefer the "corky" kind...basically they're brightly colored foam, but you can use yarn, or even a high floating, brightly colored dry fly. I like the kind that stand up when the fly is at the bottom of it's drop because you can tell if there are any problems (if it stands up too soon, or if it doesn't stand up at all). If you fly hits the bottom, then the corky doesn't stand up. If your line is tangled, sometimes it doesn't stand up. If it stands up too soon, then either your corky slid down while you were picking up your line, or your line is tangled, or you just got hit by a fish, on the drop (set the hook!). With most of the other kind of indicators, you can only tell that a fish has pulled your indicator under water. Alot of people catch fish on the other indicators...I just prefer to use the corky...because one of the keys to this kind of fishing, is consistency. You need to know what your fly is doing so that you can adjust properly.

There are three very important variables that you can control when Midge Fishing:

1. Depth.

2. Color.

3. Size.

Number 2, and number 3 everyone is aware of. Number 1, depth, everyone tends to ignore except in a general way.

Depth: In stream fishing, you generally set your leader length to 1 1/2 times the water depth and just fish like that the whole time. You don't really adjust the leader very much once it's set. If you drift fish in a lake, you can get away with something very similar. You just adjust your fly's height off the bottom by adjusting your drift speed...but you never really know for sure where your fly is in the water column. In the way that I prefer to fish (as taught to me by Frank Murata...don't worry Frank, I won't reveal your secret to consistency, but I will hint at it), I use a light anchor (3# rock cod weight) so that I don't drift, so that I'm always in the same depth of water, so I always know how far off the bottom my fly is (assuming where I toss my fly is at the same depth as where I'm anchored...that's not always the case, but that's why I use a tip-up corky). Why do I need to know how far off the bottom my fly is? (notice, I didn't say "how deep", I said "how far off the bottom"). Because when fish are eating midge larvae, they cruise along the bottom and just suck them up as they come out of the mud. The trout tend to cruise at a very specific depth when eating midges, and if you're two inches off, the trout tend to ignore you. Did you ever wonder why you fished your mini-jig or power worm close to the bottom in a lake? Their feeding zone tends to be between about 3 inches to about a foot off the bottom. If it's muky, they tend to hold tighter to the bottom. So if they're cruising at 3 inches, and you're at 14 inches, you may get an occasionally fish, but you'll miss most of the fish, and you'll wonder why your neighbor that's fishing at 3 inches, is on his 20th fish. Most of the time, I'll fish with two midges, about a foot apart, but if you're just starting out, fish only with one (and flatten your barbs...that's for your sake, not the fish's sake); but honestly, most of the time I'll only get bit on the bottom fly. If I start getting bit more on the top fly, I cut off the bottom one and fish the formerly top fly, lower.

How do I know what depth to set my fly? I take my leader material, clip my forceps onto the fly that's already tied onto it, drop it into the water (this supposes you're fishing from a float tube, or a boat...if you fish from shore, the tip-up indicator and trial and error are the only way), trim your line or slide your indicator so that your fly will be at the right depth. Then remove your forceps and fish. If you're tying on a second fly, make sure it's on the line when you clip on your forceps. If your indicator can slide, make sure you check that it didn't slide down on it's own, constantly. If you're indicator tips up too early, that's a sign that your indicator slid. If you can rig your setup so it doesn't slide, then you never have to worry until you move locations.

Why do you set the hook?
Well, you set the hook because a midge is very soft, and the trout can feel the hardness of your fly right away (it usually has a bead on it) and will spit it out...right away, so you need to set the hook immediately, if not sooner. This is where your concentration needs to be strong. You can never look away from your indicator if you want to catch fish. If you're talking to someone, stare at your indicator. If you look away, you may never even know that you missed a fish. I can't count the number of times I've looked away, or even blinked, then wondered where my indicator was, realized I needed to set the hook, and actually caught a fish. Most of the time though, you blink, you loose. If the indicator even twitches, you set the hook. I commonly kick myself for missing the "One Ringers", meaning that my corky dipped just enough to create a single ring...it never went under water. Just to let you know how sensitive my corkys are: I put the smallest BB I have on, to get my fly down quicker sometimes, and my corky will sit just barely under water. I prefer to use the small ones so that the trout will not feel the resistance of the indicator as much. Sometimes, the tip of my indicator will just drift to one side...that is a hit...sometimes. I tend to get more bites when there's a slight ripple on the water from the wind...guess what that does to my ability to sense a strike. Sometimes the indicator disappears in the ripples and it's hard not to set the hook...sometimes I should've set the hook.

I was taking a friend midge fishing/fly fishing for his very first time...he really hadn't done any fishing at all. I started a litany with him on the way to the lake: His response to whatever I said was to be "Set the hook". So my phrases were generally: "If it vibrates to the left?", "If it dips once?", "If it stops drifting?", "If it starts drifting?", "If it leans the opposite way?", "If it pops up too early?", "If it pops up too late?", "If it looks at you funny?", "If it does the Hokey Pokey?" but I never once told him that if it goes underwater, to set the hook Well, we get to the lake and he can't even paddle his float tube in a straight line, so I take pity on him and tie him to my tube. He tosses his line in the water and after a few seconds, his indicator goes under water...all the way. Then it pops back up, and I start to tell him that he just missed a hit (his shoulders were hunched over in concentration and he was staring at where his indicator was) when his indicator goes under water again and he finally sets the hook and lands the fish. Later, he admitted to me that he was so surprised that the indicator disappeared, that he was wondering what happened to it when it went under the first time...LOL

Fish have sight about five times better than humans. If a fish hasn't hit your fly in about 4 minutes, then it's ignoring it and you have a low probability of getting bit if you leave your fly alone. If you haven't been bit after about 4 minutes, recast your fly, or check it to see if anything is wrong. If you get bored, recast the fly. If your fly twitches, set the hook, and recast your fly if you missed the fish.

You may have noticed, I spent most of my time talking about the indicator, and telling you to set the hook. As far as the color and size of your fly, that's pretty easy and basic: Start out with an olive or black body, with silver or gold wire, and a silver or gold bead. If you're fishing at Lagunal Niguel, start with a size 16 hook. Your next choice is a size 18. If you're in the Sierras, try an 18 or smaller. I've seen midges as small as 22, and I believe there are smaller sizes. Trout like cold water, midges like warm, and lots of sunlight. The sunlight activates the midges and causes them to leave the mud and eventually head for the surface, the ideal condition for midge fishing is several days of bright sunlight, very clear water, and a slight wind, with a lake with a mud bottom. You don't have to get up really early for midge fishing, as the sun usually doesn't get bright enough to penetrate to the bottom until about 8 or 9 am. Most of the time there will be a morning bite/hatch (you will almost never see the adult midges unless there are millions of them...I have seen hundreds of swallows chasing midges over a lake, but not been able to see the flying midges), but quite often there is a smaller, afternoon hatch/bite.

The keys to being really successful at midge fishing are:

1. Set the hook. Don't worry about setting it when there's no fish there...you needed to reposition your fly anyway
2. Don't be afraid to move around. Sometimes moving 20 ft is enough to put you back onto fish.
3. If you haven't caught a fish in half an hour, try another fly. If you're really bored, change your fly every 15 minutes. I get lazy and violate this rule far too often. I'll pump a fishes stomach, see that they're all olive in size 16, and then fish with a size 16, olive midge...even when the guys around me are catching on black.
4. Don't be afraid to fish shallow, especially when the water is muddy. I have caught plenty of fish in less than 4 ft of water. Don't fish deeper than 10 ft of water.

Equipment:

Fly rod: about 9ft long (easier to set the hook and cast...plus, I'm a fan of long, willowy rods, even for conventional fishing). You can use any weight rod, but 5 wt is perfect for most people. I switched to a 3 wt because I have a tendency to set the hook too hard and bend hooks with my 5 wt...yes, I also cause a tsunami when I cast. If my 5 wt was more soft/slow I probably wouldn't need to use a 3 wt. They looked at me funny when I told them at Bob Marriott's that I wanted a 9 ft 3 wt. Most people use a 3 wt for fishing small creeks and want shorter lengths.

Floating line: Any good floating line. You won't need much backing. You won't be casting far, and I've landed some decent sized fish on my 3 wt without getting to my backing.

Leader: You can tie a straight leader, but having a thicker butt section for your indicator will prevent it from sliding. Use a 4x flurocarbon if you can afford the flurocarbon. You won't need lighter leader. I use a surgeon's knot with three twists (the fluro is very slippery sometimes, and will slide out of a regular surgeon's knot). If I tie on a bottom fly, I tie it directly to the bend of the top hook, and use about a foot of leader.

Reel: Any kind of reel will do. It's pretty much just a holder of line most of the time.

Flys: Olive, black, grey with sliver or gold wire and bead in size 16 or 18. If you have a choice, use a heavier gauge wire.

Indicator: I prefer the pop up, foam kind. You can use a large dry fly, yarn, or the foam kind with a toothpick. I prefer small, the smallest you can get away with and still be able to see it.

Net: A long handled net with a lanyard. Get the catch and release type basket if you can afford it. If you can't afford a soft cotton or rubber basket on your net, get a net from Walmart for $6.00 and just get a new one every year (the basket material disintigrates after one year in the sun).

Float Tube: Any kind will do. You will need a small anchor. Fishcat makes an excellent float tube, with a shelf behind the seat that you can put stuff, like your net, or a wet cooler, or a dry bag but they can be pricey. You can get a cheap U-tube on sale from Big 5, or Sportmart for about $60.00. The fishcat lets you sit very high out of the water so you stay warmer, and can paddle easier. When I use my U-Tube (it's lighter to pack) I bungee a piece of foam that I cut from an old body board, to my seat. It keeps me warmer.

You can use a boat instead of a float tube.

If you use a float tube, you'll need waders, boots, and fins. When tubing, I only lace my bootstrings up to the bottom of the ankle and then tuck the loose ends behind the tongue flap. That way you don't get blisters in your Achillies heel. The neoprene waders are warmer. Get them a tiny bit loose, for when you gain weight. The breathable kind are way more comfortable, but in cold, or even cool water, you have to wear fleece, with foot stirrups, underneath the waders. For either kind, I'd also wear wicking type tights...running tights do okay. Don't wear cotton if you can avoid it. Cotton just soaks up your sweat and holds onto it, making you colder.

Depth Finder: Not a necessity, but nice to have. You can get the wireless kind from Walmart online.

Forceps and line nippers: A fly fishing essential.


Good luck fishing, and What do you do if your indicator quivers just once?

Tight lines,
Ray

[Eric]

RAy thanks thanks thanks. a very nice job on the article. I've never tried still water midge fishing. Your article is a great help. A group of us need to hit up lnl to give it a try some time this season.. again thanks.
Eric

[PlatinumHooks]

Very nicely written Ray. Good info. I'll probably read it at least a couple more times

[NulodPBall]

Oh, nymph fishing in moving waters is pretty similar, but you make your leader about one and a half times as long as the water is deep, where your indicator will be floating...and stay out of the fast, deep water, the fish will be holding in the slower water, probably behind you if you're fising the deeper water. If there is a little arm coming off the main river with about a foot of water in it, then you make your leader 18" long and outfish the guys in the main stream...start downstream where the arm meets the main stream and work your way up, just as you would if working a pool. I still like the pop-up/tip-up style indicators for this kind of fishing but the other kinds work just fine, you pretty much know that you'll get bit in the 4 O'Clock position if you cast to the 2 O'Clock position, and don't be afraid to roll cast back upstream. The two main colors to try are brown and black...as long as they look suitably "buggy" or hairy they're good to go If you have more than one size, try the smallest one that you have.

[Beresford13861]

awsome report ray:P im realy looking forward to fly fishing this trout season!

[Beresford13861]

wonderful refresher for Crowley!!! im hapy now.

[BelmontBoy79]

Great article, "bumping" is seriously great fishing. If you are ever up in Montana in the spring try this in Lolo/Blackfoot NF area (Just outside Missoula, MT). You get 3 and 4lb cutthroats, bull trout, cuttbows, and browns. And your right "Chronos" work the best. Just make sure to use a single rig as multi rigs are illegal in that area. Great article!