Stillwater Tactics
Trout root on the bottom for midge larvae, and they also eat adult midges on the surface, but the most important and dependable phase for fly fishers is when midge pupae leave their burrows on the bottom and travel to the surface to hatch. Trout cruise near the bottom looking for these midge pupae and in some cases they chase chironomid pupae as they ascend toward the surface.
Since pupae travel upward from bottom to top, it’s important that your imitation does the same. To mimic this behavior, use a strike indicator and a monofilament leader up to 20 feet long, depending on the depth of the lake.
Your leader length—the distance between your fly and the indicator—should be only slightly shorter than the depth of the water so you can suspend your fly just above the bottom. Attach one or two split-shot 12 to 18 inches above the fly and allow the fly and weight to sink and then hang vertically below the indicator.
The indicator acts as a float that suspends your fly just above the bottom, or at varying depth levels depending on where you find feeding fish. Test the bottom with midge larva imitations, and work your way up through the water column with various ascending pupa imitations until you find what works. With a little patience, you will find the best combination of depth and pattern, and the trout will reward your efforts.
If your fly snags the bottom, shorten the leader. Lengthen the leader if you suspect the fly is not close enough to the bottom.
When you slowly retrieve the fly and indicator rig, the fly moves horizontally near the bottom, imitating a highly vulnerable life stage and keeping the fly in the most likely strike zone.
Midges begin hatching just days after ice-out and continue hatching on many lakes—depending on elevation—until late July. The most intense hatches occur in the spring when water temperatures near the bottom reach between 50 and 55 degrees F. This occurs early in the season in shallow water warmed by the sun, and in late spring or early summer in water 20 feet deep or more. Knowing the bottom contours and depth of your favorite lake helps you predict where and when the most concentrated midge hatches might occur.
Midges are most often black, olive, maroon, red, dark brown, or even pure chrome, and their bodies are heavily segmented. Midge pupae also have cheeks and gills, both easily imitated with a white or colored beadhead and tuft of white Antron or CDC near the hook eye.
At certain times and locations, most midges will be predominantly one color. Sometimes trout key on more than just size and shape and show a preference for a specific color.
Use an aquarium net to take midge samples from just under the surface, and match your imitation to the most prevalent size and color. You don’t need many different types of patterns—the Rojo Midge or the Frostbite Chironomid cover most situations—but you’ll need your favorite pattern in sizes 10 through 16 and in several different colors.
Copyright © 2012 Intermedia Outdoors
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