The Midge Parade

The older one wore himself out with tantrums. The younger one is in a bottle-induced coma. My wife is sleeping. As soon as the lights went out upstairs, the basement lights when on, the beer was cracked, and the Xbox started to hum. I got sick of dying 10 million times in Modern Warfare 3, so here's some midges I've been working on. Before you say "wow, those suck", keep in mind that you could fit a dozen of them on your finger nail. All size 22 and 24 (with a few 20s in the box just in case).First up is a variation of Al's Rat that I simply call "The Rubber Rat". This has been my most successful midge pattern so far this winter and it started from scrap material. I had some rubber leg scraps left over from hoppers this past fall. They were Orvis Sexy Legs which are a little thicker than regular rubber legs. They were a dark brown and orange mottled color and are pretty pricey, so I didnt want to waste them. The extra strength allows you to wrap tight and create a better taper. I kept the head just like the original rat with Muskrat dubbing.

Next, a basic thread midge with Flashabou ribbing. This stuff works great to rib, and definitely gives the midge a sparkle. I tie these with and without beads, depending on where I want to fish them in the water column. Jan Siman dubbing for the thorax. Feel free to try different types of flash.

Here's a variation of the Poison Tung. I tie these with a glass bead because I think it makes them pop a little more under the water, plus I don't like my midges to have tungsten. I kept the profile very slim, and I oversized the rib just a bit (Small vs. X-Small) just to have it sink every so slightly faster in the water column.



Finally, here's the midge that slayed them for me earlier this week. It's a cross between a Zebra and a Disco midge. Red thread, oversized UTC wire rib (same color as thread), and a peacock herl thorax. When tying flies this pattern, I like to whip finish behind the peacock so the red isn't sticking out like a sore thumb near the eye. It also helps keep your eye cleaner when trying to thread 8x tippet through it.

Also, here are a couple of newer blogs you might want to keep on your radar. Beertrout is anothing blog out of PA (Gotta represent the homeland!). I love the name so much that I won't make fun of him for having a can of PBR in a couple shots.

Another is Penn Sportsman. This one was just started by my neighbor and good buddy, Rick. This guy catches some huge fish from Stripers, to Steelhead, to lunker bass, so I'm sure this will be a good one to watch in 2012. He also has some nice patterns posted already. Tell him I sent ya!

Crazy blog love

I've been reading a ton of blogs from other people, and I thought I'd share some recent posts/blogs that pretty much rock.

1.There's a fly tying contest over on TreartonFly, the blog created by one of our readers, Gaeron. Go participate and show his blog some love. He ties some really nice flies.

2.Normand came up with a great link to make your own barred rubber legs over on Fly Tying New and Old. I swear, I learn something every time I read his site.

3.Fish On, Fish Off, a website by our newest google follower (welcome!), has some great fishing stories and even better seafood recipes. (I do love my shellfish)

4.Bigerrfish has a great day of fishing. (I just love this guy's posts about his fish. They are always a story)

5.Owl Jones has a podcast now. The first 30 seconds had me in tears. "This is a podcast, I'm supposed to cast some pods". This is the only site where you can get info on fly fishing, and pics of child beauty pageants and jarred pigs feet in one location.

In other news, I attended my first fly tying class tonight. It is being taught at an LL Bean in Center Valley PA by George Maciag. It's mostly geared towards people who never tied a fly before and the only pattern we tied tonight was a San Juan worm, but I still learned something. His explanation on aught vs. denier thread was great. The course is 29 weeks and the patterns will get more advanced each week. I had a great time and I look forward to next week. I'm also very curious to see how fast the people who never tied a fly before start to progress. Once the patterns get more advanced, I'll be sure to post some here.

Well, I'd love to maybe post some patterns, but a new Halo Reach map pack came out, and I have some 9% belgian beer, so the vise is getting ignored tonight. Peace out.