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. This is a very simple fly to tie, so it's easy
to fill your box with a midge larva pattern that will produce for you! Have fun.
Tip: when you tie small flies on curved hooks, such as a TMC 2487 or 2488 light wire scud hook, be careful to mount the hook in the vise so the eye of the
hook is vertical to the tying desk. Then, when you finish the fly and prepare to
whip finish, rotate the vise to the point of the hook it up and whip finish
behind the eye. Since the eye is also facing up now, the thread will not slip
down off of the eye as it is wont to do when the eye is facing down.
Dale's Midge Larva
Hook:
Dai-Riki 125; TMC 2488, 2457; sizes 18-26
Thread: Black Danville 6/0;
UTC 70; Gudebrod 8/0; olive or red are also useful for the underbody color
Abdomen: a few mallard flank fibers tied in by the
tip, ribbed with fine copper or silver wire.
One of the reasons we like this fly is that it is a three
material fly: thread, mallard flank and wire. You can probably tie close to a
dozen flies from one mallard flank feather.
Order of application: remove the barb and put the
hook in the vise. Start the thread and cover the hook shank with thread, ending
at the back of the fly. Select mallard
flank fibers, tie in by the tips, then
tie in copper wire. Wrap mallard forward with even wraps - the fibers will
actually lay down next to each other wrap adjacently; tie off at the back of the
head - always leave an eye length behind the eye of the hook to create the head
of the fly. Reverse rib the mallard with copper wire; tie off at head; trim
excess material, create head with thread, whip finish and go fishing.
Options: Try using a small brass or glass bead;
gunmetal, silver, red or black will work well. Also, try adding a small soft
hackle to the front of the
fly to imitate the pupal stage of midges. We like
using black, but grizzly, brown, dun or some other color will also probably work
just fine!
The magic of this pattern is that the mallard becomes
translucent and the dark thread color bleeds through the mallard. Next time your
on the water, find a few midge larvae and take a look at them. You'll notice a
dark line through the middle of the body, which appears to be like a
light-colored halo around a dark center. This pattern imitates that effect very
well.
Fishing Tip: you can use Dale's midge larva as a
dropper under a dry
fly or, by weighting your leader, use is to fish the bottom
of a stream. Mark Rayman, who manages the Longmont location and is one of the
finest nymph anglers around, uses a bright scud with the larva as a dropper. He
watches the scud as it drifts along the bottom, using it as the strike detector.
Give it a try!
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