Winter Larva

[DUBBN]

These in size 18 and 20 have been producing well the past week.

Nymph hook
Thread
Hareline Midge Stretch
Collar can be Krystalflash or Perdigon body material

[letumgo]

Very nice! You’ve got the body work fully dialed in.

Love the purple. It’s electric.

[DUBBN]

Thank you, Ray. They are fly tying 101, but I am always attracted to guide type flies. That and they work very well.

[ronr]

Wayne.. I'm interested to know whether you seine the river bottom to see the color of the nymphs. I've fished a couple times in different parts of Colorado, and that is the only place I've found blood midges. Here i've found cream and black of course, but not other colors.
I don't necessarily follow the exact match the hatch theory, but your colorful larva must be good attractors.

[DUBBN]

Wayne.. I'm interested to know whether you seine the river bottom to see the color of the nymphs. I've fished a couple times in different parts of Colorado, and that is the only place I've found blood midges. Here i've found cream and black of course, but not other colors.
I don't necessarily follow the exact match the hatch theory, but your colorful larva must be good attractors.

Hi Ron. Yes, the colorful larva are used mostly as attractors, although there are a few rivers that have a good population of "Blood Worms". The Blue River near Dillon Colorado being one of them.

I do not sein, I use a throat pump on 12 to 14 inch Brown trout when I happen to catch them. Which is most of the time as of late.

Some of the midge patterns I use are river specific. For example on the lower Gunnison and Colorado rivers this simple light Olive midge produces the most fish for me from November in to early March. I will fish other midge larva and emerger patterns with it, in different sizes and colors, but at the end of the season this midge produces over 75% of my trout on those rivers. I use this pattern in sizes 20 to 16.



I keep tabs on the San Juan River and what guides are tying there to imitate midge larva and pupa. Adding a little bling has become fashionable. Here is the popular Bling Midge. I took the idea and went a step farther. I have been experimenting with different colors. So far a light Blue Perdigon body is my favorite. Copper is a distant second. I have also been adding a light Blue wire as a rib to a few patterns, and adding Blue Krstalflash as a wing to some midge emergers.






Not a bling midge but a larva with a hot spot is one a buddy and I came up with called the Tequila Sunrise. Quite often when I sample the throat contents of fish on Roaring Fork River, olive or light brown midge larva have a spot of red somewhere on their body. It may be their tail, midsection, or head. This pattern was developed from that observation.

I use Semperfli Nano Silk, Red (30 denier). It is so thin it barely adds any bulk, and makes a nice red spot.



I rarely use UV resins anymore as I developed such a horrible reaction to it. I use it a few times a year now on a couple patterns that I have fallen in love with. Like the Tequila Sunrise. Someday I will post the photos of what it takes to set up to use it, and the protective gear I have to wear. Dumb I know, just like trying to add bling and hot spots to size 22 - 16 patterns. Dumb, but avenues I enjoy pursuing to catch trout, and tie flies.

Sorry about the ramble, Ron. I have a little insomnia going on.

[letumgo]

Fantastic post Wayne. I love seeing the other versions/tying options. Thank you for taking the time and sharing your experience.

[ronr]

Wayne.. thanks for the thorough explanation. Clearly the pump is superior to turning over rocks. I loved my fishing trip to the San Juan some years ago. I took my daughter along on that trip and we caught so many fish that for the first time she was able to land, release, and manage her own rig. I think that trip has had a lot to do with her love of fly fishing to this day. I fished a couple days that trip with a great guide.. Giant of a man, Bubba Smith.. he had the biggest hands of any human I've ever seen. Instead of fishing with the tiny fly that most use on that river... we fished large dries most of the time. After fishing with Bubba, my daughter and I fished from our kayaks and did our own thing. I would love to get back there some day.

[DUBBN]

Thanks folks!!! I did ramble a bit!

[Mike62]

In the words of Led Zeppelin, "Ramble on". Winter fly fishing up here is usually out of the question. I have a window that slams shut right about ...two days ago. It was -7 below this morning, and the river was nothing but slush ice from bank to bank. I have a really good relationship with a couple of the fisheries biologists down in Ashland, and they told me that the whole larvae thing on the Fish River is a wastes of time. There simply aren't any.

I hate dams with a passion that burns with the heat of a thousand suns, but... I'd like to be able to fish a tailwater just once in my life.

Great job, Wayne! Keep posting!

[Theroe]

Wayne.. I'm interested to know whether you seine the river bottom to see the color of the nymphs. I've fished a couple times in different parts of Colorado, and that is the only place I've found blood midges. Here i've found cream and black of course, but not other colors.
I don't necessarily follow the exact match the hatch theory, but your colorful larva must be good attractors.

Hi Ron. Yes, the colorful larva are used mostly as attractors, although there are a few rivers that have a good population of "Blood Worms". The Blue River near Dillon Colorado being one of them.

I do not sein, I use a throat pump on 12 to 14 inch Brown trout when I happen to catch them. Which is most of the time as of late.

Some of the midge patterns I use are river specific. For example on the lower Gunnison and Colorado rivers this simple light Olive midge produces the most fish for me from November in to early March. I will fish other midge larva and emerger patterns with it, in different sizes and colors, but at the end of the season this midge produces over 75% of my trout on those rivers. I use this pattern in sizes 20 to 16.



I keep tabs on the San Juan River and what guides are tying there to imitate midge larva and pupa. Adding a little bling has become fashionable. Here is the popular Bling Midge. I took the idea and went a step farther. I have been experimenting with different colors. So far a light Blue Perdigon body is my favorite. Copper is a distant second. I have also been adding a light Blue wire as a rib to a few patterns, and adding Blue Krstalflash as a wing to some midge emergers.






Not a bling midge but a larva with a hot spot is one a buddy and I came up with called the Tequila Sunrise. Quite often when I sample the throat contents of fish on Roaring Fork River, olive or light brown midge larva have a spot of red somewhere on their body. It may be their tail, midsection, or head. This pattern was developed from that observation.

I use Semperfli Nano Silk, Red (30 denier). It is so thin it barely adds any bulk, and makes a nice red spot.



I rarely use UV resins anymore as I developed such a horrible reaction to it. I use it a few times a year now on a couple patterns that I have fallen in love with. Like the Tequila Sunrise. Someday I will post the photos of what it takes to set up to use it, and the protective gear I have to wear. Dumb I know, just like trying to add bling and hot spots to size 22 - 16 patterns. Dumb, but avenues I enjoy pursuing to catch trout, and tie flies.

Sorry about the ramble, Ron. I have a little insomnia going on.

Great post - you had me at “throat pump”…… I still use one quite frequently. It has saved the day for me many many times. On countless occasions I’ve been fishing during multiple hatches, and thought the fish were feeding on one thing, but they were really feeding on something else!
Keep up the good work……

Dana