Midge magic floss midges

[ian_brown]

I've been looking through Midge Magic, and tying a few of the floss patterns. i love how easy and inexpensive they are to tie (3 colors for a buck).

For those who tie and/or fish these flies, which are your favorite colors and tying styles from the book?

Also, the author ties his patterns on straight shanked hooks. Many chiromonid patterns call for curved shanked hooks. Have you noticed a difference?

 

[mute]

so what are they, midges tied with just thread and dubbing?

 

[mute]

Im a new tier, and am just tying my first midges, thread, dubbing, larva lace, stretch floss

 

[jayL]

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c283/KevinDC/midgemagic2.jpg

Those?

I've never tied them, but I'd imagine black with white ribbing, tan, red, and white would be good colors to start with.

Perhaps, also tie one in al's rat style coloring and see if that will do the job.

 

[dryflyguy]

I tie midges in black, gray, and cream, on regular dry fly hooks - mostly tiemco #518. The Orvis bigeye hooks are good also, but they only go down to #26 i believe.
As for patterns, I used to tie them just like a small mayfly, with divided wing and tail, and a tiny little hackle.
Lately, I've been tying them simpler - just 2 little hackle tip wings, and thread body. Sometimes I'm even wind a tiny hackle in If I'm in the mood to play around a little, but I'm not sure that it's really needed.
I've also posted elsewhere about a midge pattern called the sewer fly that's very easy to tie - just a black thread body and a tiny little tuft post for the wing

 

[Philly]

I tie my midges either black, red, gray, tan or white. The black has a CDC body and wing. On the others I use a craft store material called rat tail for the body. The white is translucent when wet, and takes on the color of the thread used. I wrap either a silver or red wire rib and the wing is CDC barbules tied in elk hair caddis style. These are all tied on TMC 2488's 20-32. I do one on the TMC 101, size 14 to 28. Tied spent wing, body's is black thread, wings are white rat tail, and the thorax is black CDC. I also tie in a bit of grey CDC behind the hook eye for antennae.

 

[bigjohn58]

I also have the book Midge Magic...I got some ideas from the book but honestly I like to just tie my midge nymphs with a thread body and dubbing for the head. I tie most of mine all on caddis curve hooks #18-24. I like red with a grey head, black silver rib, cream with brown head, tan, light olive with dark olive head, and grey. I'd like to experiment with ribs on the others but I can only carry so many of those little guys. I love fishing them as a 3rd nymph dragged behind my main 2 because its so small and rarely gets hung up.

 

[tabasco_joe]

I've tied up a few as Don Holbrook (author of Midge Magic) describes. Caught a few at the Little Lehigh using a medium olive body with dark olive head in size 20. On many streams I fish you can turn over a rock and find a number of very small olive larva.

Mute's post with a picture of the red pattern promted me to start tying a few popular patterns up to try on the LL this winter.

 

[ian_brown]

That's them Jay.

Mute - They're really easy to tie. DMC is a six strand embroidery floss. Separate one or two strands of floss, depending on whether you're tying a one or two color fly. Tie on with regular thread, then wrap to the back of the shank. Tie in the floss and leave it hanging over the bend. Wrap the tying thread back and tie off just short of the eye. then wrap the floss to the front. Build a thread head and whip finish, although the author recommends half hitches.

 

[beadhead2]

I have met and talked to Don Holbrook several times at fly shows ,he is a great guy
I have caught fish on a brown colored midge pattern of his,very similar to an Al's Rat