Current River Midges

[wackaloo13]

What are your favorite midge nypmh patterns/sizes/colors?

[fishinwrench]

If you are going "full tilt midge fishing" I'd suggest buying a 2-3wt and Rick Takahashi's book.

But if you're just gearing up to cover the occasional midge-only bite between "real fishing oppurtunitys", some thread midges from 22-18 (lt. olive, brown, cream) and a dozen #20 griffiths gnats will get you through.

[wackaloo13]

I normally fish a 6.5' 2wt for small stuff. I was looking more for nymphs not the tiny dries. I am way to blind for fishing dries. I have a stash of zebra midges 18-22, primrose & pearl zebra midge 18-22, $3 dip - red 18-22, $3 dip 18-22 - brown, #3 dip 18-22 copper. btw a $3 dip is a serendipity variant. Should i tie up anything else?

[Gavin]

That should do the trick....There are plenty of little bwo's & trico's mayflies flying around mid morning this time of year...most in size 22-28 or smaller if you like the microfly game.

[Buzz]

That should do the trick....There are plenty of little bwo's & trico's mayflies flying around mid morning this time of year...most in size 22-28 or smaller if you like the microfly game.

Just curious.... How do you guys setup your leader and tippets for those really small flies? Since I use a 5 wt. I am interested in a possible conversion from a 2-3 wt. to the bigger rod.

[Nortrad]

9 ft. 4X mono leader, 5X fluorocarbon tippet to first fly, depending on it's size, 5X or 6X to the dropper, flouro also. Vary your dropper length depending on how deep you are fishing, all under a Thingamabobber, that size varies also. It's super low water now, unless the rains bring it up a little, if any. I use flouro in re-building the leader also, so some are 3-4' flouro.

[Buzz]

Thanks. That's a big help.

[Al Agnew]

The way to fish the tiny dry flies if you can't see them (and not many people can) is to tie them on a "dropper" off a big dry fly you CAN see. Watch the area around the big fly and if you see a rise near it, set the hook. Of course, sometimes you get as many rises to the big fly as the tiny one, which is okay, too.

I agree the fluoro is best for tippet for just about any type of nymph fishing, and you can easily get by with 6X fluoro for your dropper line, and 5X unless the fly is really tiny.

[wackaloo13]

When i am midge nypmhing on my 9' 5wt: 7.5' leader tapered to 5x <-> 5 or 6x tippet <-> fly 1 <-> 6x <-> fly 2.

When fishing a tiny dry (my definition of tiny is anything 18+ because i cant see worth a hoot) i tie on a #14 para adams and tie the small fly off the hook bend with 5x or 6x (about 18" between the 2 flies). I am not a fan of using foam flies (hoppers/chernobyls etc) for the indicator fly because they make to big of a splash when they crash down. An elk hair caddis might be a reasonable choice for the "indicator fly".

On a semi unrelated note, anyone try fishing october caddis (big orange bodied caddis) and big stonefly nymphs lately? I had the guy at my local fly shop recommend i try those at some point during the day.

[Gavin]

Rose a few on my October X last weekend...but I didnt notice any on my lantern, so they might have taken it for a hopper. Big bushy dries certainly do work down there. The water is really low and clear....Usually go with a 16' leader tapered to 5x on my 9' 5wt when its this clear...But I go with 12' leader tapered to 6-7x on my short light line rods that I use for micro fly fishing. Half a pinch on indi or a small piece of double sided foam tape works pretty well if you dont want to rig up with an indicator fly. Cheers.