March 2022 - 31
Zebra midges
(Photo by Jack Ballard)
Black parachute midge (Photo by Patrick Owen)
Tying a zebra midge
The zebra midge is a fly that's
easy to make and catches fish. It imitates
midge pupae or emergers and
likely got its start imitating mosquito
larvae. It's especially effective on
tailwater fisheries in the spring and
early summer.
Brassie (Photo by Patrick Owen)
As with many midge flies, this fly has
a basic thread body. The zebra midge is
most commonly tied with black thread,
but red and olive also are popular. This
fly is fished in a dead drift method of
casting upstream and drifting through
the runs. If you need to get the fly down
fast, you can use the fly in a larger size
like 14 or 16 as the primary fly, then tie
on an 18 or 20 as the dropper.
When these flies are tied with a tungGriffith's
gnat (Photo by Patrick Owen)
sten bead an addition of a split shot
is usually not needed to get the fly to
where the fish are feeding. With this
fly you can vary the depth you want
to fish by the type of bead used. If the
fish are feeding on emergers or close
to the surface, you may want to have
a few flies made with a brass or glass
bead to keep it in the surface film.
MATERIALS
Hook: Any scud hook between the
sizes of 16 and 20.
Head: 1.5 mm - 3/32 nickel or brass-colored
bead in tungsten or brass. Glass
beads also work and offer a range of
choices. Clear glass is a good place
to start.
Parachute Adams (Photo by Patrick Owen)
Wyoming Wildlife | 31
Thread: 8/0 black or other color.
Tail: None, a piece of pearl crystal flash
can be put in as a trailing shuck.
Body: Black, olive or red thread. Use
floss of larger tying thread on size 16
and larger hooks.
Rib: Silver ultra wire (small).
Although this fly is relatively easy to
make, it can be a challenge to thread
a 1.5 mm bead on a size 20 hook. For
this task, you can use a magnifying
glass to see and use forceps or hackle
pliers to hold the bead. Mashing down
the barb will make it easier to get the
bead on the hook.
Fly tying beads have a larger cavity
on one side. Place the small side over
the point of the hook and move the
bead up to the eye. Next, attach tying
thread and if you are making it with a
trailing shuck attach the crystal flash
as a tail. Tie on the wire and build up
the body with tying thread. Advance
the thread to just behind the bead.
Wind on the wire rig counter-clockwise
four to six wraps to give the fly a
zebra or segmented appearance and
tie off. If you want a bit of a collar use a
few strands of superfine black dubbing
behind the bead.
- Information from Al Langston's " Fly
tying vice, " in May-June 2010 edition
of Wyoming Wildlife News
March 2022
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