Midge Larvae Pure & Simple

     A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of fishing alongside the Maryland StreamWaders who were collecting aquatic insect samples from the Klees Mill Rd. stretch of Morgan Run here in Carroll County Maryland. The Maryland StreamWaders are a group of volunteers who travel around the state and assess the quality of area streams and watersheds through sampling the macroinvertebrates that inhabit them. For a fly fisherman, studying these samples is like being given the opposing teams playbook before the big game! Having taken my own less "scientific" samples in the same area I was anxious to see what they would find, and when I did I was surprised! 

     Unfortunately no new species of aquatic insects were discovered but all the old one's were and one group in particular made up anywhere from 30% of the samples to over 50%! Can you guess which group? If you guessed Midges you'd be right. After all we hear all the time that Midges make up the majority of the Trouts diet but it's another thing to actually see it in person. In a stream like Morgan Run, that doesn't have the biodiversity and wide selection of bugs available to Trout that other streams do, Midges become extremely important to fish and fisherman alike.

     Although some very interesting albeit sometimes frustrating Midge fishing can be had on the surface I've had the most success fishing subsurface with larvae imitations. The Midge larvae pattern I use the most is John Barr's Pure Midge Larvae. Barr's Pure Midge Larvae is a simple fly that is easy to tie and requires only two materials, one of which is your tying thread! The only other material needed is Clear Micro Stretch Tubing which does a fantastic job creating the subtle segmentation found on natural Midge larvae. By using Clear Tubing you need only change the thread color and hook size to match the Midges found in your own waters. They not only make for great Midge imitations but depending on the color can pass for smaller species of Caddis like the Chimarra Caddis or small Hydropsyche. If you don't have Clear Stretch Tubing on your bench you may also use a product called Stretch Magic that can be found in the craft isle of Wal-Mart or at Michaels and Hobby Lobby. Unlike Stretch Tubing, that is hollow and flattens when stretched, Stretch Magic is a solid round tubing that retains it's shape increasing the abdomens segmentation.

     Dead drifting a Pure Midge Larvae or suspending it under an indicator by itself will produce fish but it's best used as a dropper fly. I've had the most success hanging it off the back of a heavier nymph or dropped off the bend of a dry fly in shallow water. If you find yourself on a new stream or an old favorite and aren't sure what to fish you can't go wrong with the Pure Midge Larvae. Go ahead and tie on that gaudy attractor nymph but hang a Pure Midge off the bend and I think you'll be suprised which the fish prefer.

      When I started Fly Fishing and learning about what Trout eat I couldn't believe that the Trout would even see such tiny larvae drifting by let alone eat them by the hundreds, if not by the thousands,but they do. Tight lines and tighter loops!

Barr's Pure Midge Larvae

Hook: Daiichi 1140 or Tiemco 2488 sz. 20-26

Thread: Uni 8/0 Color of Choice

Abdomen: Clear Micro Stretch Tubing or .5mm Clear Stretch Magic

Head: Uni 8/0 Color of Choice

Stretch Magic Variation: