This is a pattern that Dale developed in the early 1980's. It is a favorite fly of both our staff and guides and also many of our customers because it always seems to work. That's not such a bad thing, is it? The fly is not hard to tie.

Tip: when you tie small flies, use small amounts of thin thread to avoid building bulk. Be sure each wrap of thread you make is doing something, rather than just wasting thread. Try using 14/0 thread for small flies; this material is strong and it lays flat, which is another important attribute of the thread you should choose.

    Dale's Midge Adult

Hook: TMC 101, 100, 5210 or midge hook; sizes 18-26

Thread: 8/0 Gudebrod, UTC 70 or 6/0 Danville; black, gray or olive

Body: thread, stripped peacock quill, or dubbing material

Wing: White or Gray CDC, Antron, Z-Lon or other synthetic; a combination of CDC and the synthetic is not a bad idea, either

Thorax: peacock herl or dark dubbing palmered with grizzly, dun, black or hackle of choice

Tying: remove barb and mount hook in vise; start thread at 3/4 point of hook shank and cover the back 3/4 of the hook with thread (if you are going to use a stripped quill, tie it in and wrap it to the 3/4 point of the shank; trim excess). Move thread to back of eye of hook. Select wing material, tie in so tips extend over the eye of the hook one full shank length. Move thread back to 3/4 point. Trim butts of wing material even with the back of the body. Tie in hackle and peacock; move thread to back of

eye. Wrap peacock to back of eye, tie off and trim excess; move thread to 3/4 point, through peacock; palmer hackle forward and back through peacock and tie off at 3/4 point; trim excess. Pull wing tips back over peacock and hackle (you may want to trim a bit of hackle off the top of the fly before pulling wing over) and tie down at 3/4 point. Whip finish at 3/4 point. The whip, then, is behind the thorax of the fly. Trim the bottom of the fly so hackle sticks out on both sides of the thorax. 

Options: Tie Dale's Midge Adult in both dark and light colors. For the lighter patterns, use ginger thread, dubbing and hackle. The dark pattern described above is the most common, but there are times when a lighter midge adult is necessary.