Winter Midges

The Midge: a Fly for When the Snow Flies


Does no hatch mean no fishing? Certainly not. From streamers to egg patterns, from attractors to terrestrials, there are ways to find and catch trout in the absence of hatching mayflies or caddis. Still, we are fly-fishers, and one of the things we miss most during the winter is flies. So thank goodness for midges.

These little bugs - some of which aren't all that little, actually - are active in all but the coldest weather, and serve as major a source of food for trout. Most of the action is sub-surface, as you may expect, but if you're in the right place at the right time, you may even find trout rising to hatching midges in December, January or February.

The right place is almost always flat, slow-moving pools. The right time is a windless day when both air and water temperatures climb up into the balmy 30s or 40s. It doesn't happen every week. If you're there when it does, say a prayer of thanks to the fishing gods, add some 6X tippet to your leader, tie on your favorite floating midge pattern and savor the experience.

Midges spend most of their lives (up to seven years in polar regions) as slender, segmented larvae. They go through a brief pupal phase, hatch at or near the surface and fly off to live brief lives as winged insects, just like mayflies and caddis. There are many species and they are widely distributed. In many waters, including many trout streams, they are by far the most numerous insect, not just in the winter but all year 'round.

On the chance that you might luck into hatching midges and rising trout, it pays to have a basic assortment of dry flies among your winter tackle. Simple flies will usually do. Patterns such as the Midge Dry, with a tail, body and hackle, will imitate midges effectively; you can probably get away with two colors, gray and cream, and two or three sizes, starting at 18 and going as small as you dare. Small versions of the same Adamses and Elk-Hair Caddis you use the rest of the year can work too, but they should be light and sparse. While riding along the surface, midges keep their two long wings flat along their backs, but as they hatch or struggle to get airborne, there is much fluttering and the wings spend considerable time upright. So you can use either down-wing or up-wing flies. Most midge anglers don't worry about wings on their flies; a collar of hackle will simulate legs and wings well enough.

Of course, the king of the midge dry-fly patterns is the Griffith's Gnat, and for good reason: it's a super effective fly. It may not look exactly like the midge on the water, but it must look like a good bug to eat. Various body colors are available and all are effective at one time or another, but there seems to be a special mojo about the original peacock herl and grizzly hackle formula.

As during the rest of the year, rises during a wintertime hatch may actually indicate that fish are feeding just below the surface, not on it. That is, they're taking emergers, not dries. This calls for small soft-hackle wet flies. A Soft-Hackle Hare's Ear, Partridge and Green or Partridge and Yellow may connect you with trout.

As noted, rising trout are the exception, not the rule, in winter. Most of the time, you will arrive at your river to find the flat pools smooth and undisturbed. That's OK - we winter anglers know we're probably going to end up nymphing. But knowing that midges live in your river - and even if there's not a full-blown hatch, you'll usually see at least a few flying around - will empower you to nymph with confidence, knowing your fly looks much like the food trout have been eating every day for weeks.

If the Griffith's Gnat is the classic midge dry, the classic nymph is the Brassie. But many more great patterns have been developed over the years: consider having the Serendipity, the WD40 or the Zebra Midge at your disposal. Even a small, skinny Hare's Ear or Copper John may do the trick. Fish them patiently, near the bottom, under a strike indicator, and be alert for subtle takes. Since trout aren't moving much in the winter, you have to. Cover as much water as you can.

Truth be told, we would probably all catch more trout if we fished midges more often in the spring, summer and fall. Fat chance - most of us are addicted to mayflies and forget about every other bug in the world at the first dun sighting.

In the winter, however, it's midges that are hatching and putting the fish on the feed. So it's midges we will fish.

So check out The Fly Shack for your favorite Midge