Midge Flies
Order: Diptera
The chironomidae family are commonly known as Midges, buzzers
or gnats and their abundance in trout waters make them a very
important insect to imitate. North America alone has approximately
2000 species of chironomids. Chironomid larvae have long, worm-like,
bodies of less than 10mm, often a redish hue ('bloodworm'), thrashing
about in open water and crawling over objects like an inchworm.
The pupae stage is easily identified by a thick thorax with white
hair-like gill filaments protruding form the tip of the head and
a general shape like a comma. When the pupae ascend to the waters
surface to hatch it becomes vulnerable and this is the stage when
trout will feed on these emergers. When the water is calm in the
evening or early morning, female adults will land on the surface
film to lay eggs. Fly fishing focuses mainly on imitating the
pupae, emerging adult, and adult. Try an identify the colour and
size of the pupae that are emerging and match them as close as
you can with your imitation and experiment with fishing at different
depths.
As part of our range of fly fishing flies we are committed to bring
you a wide selection of
midge flies. Help us build our stock
of
midges by requesting your favorite patterns.
