Fid17
When to fish midges. Fish them when you see small rings of fish rising with no visible hatch. This usually occurs in slower water or back eddies. Midges are not prospecting flies.
Use a small fine mesh net to capture a few and match the size and color as best you can. Exact color is not essential (usually). Midges range from size #18 –32 size flies and common colors are black, olive, cream, and brown. Most are from size #20-26, and most midge flies are not more than tying thread wrapped on a hook. I catch many of my fish with a pupa imitation floating in the film.
To fish, if the water is flat, and the light is right, you can grease your leader up to a foot from the fly and use that as a strike indicator. You can also tie the midge as a dropper on a more visible dry fly. My favorite method is to put a small pinch of strike putty on the tippet knot and visually follow the tippet right to the fly.
Use 6 or 7x tippet. During the sip (not strike), just tighten up your line and your in business! Midge fishing can be frustrating, but when it’s working it can be fun! Good luck.