Little Dell 04-15-18

[Joe_Dizzy]

T-DOG & fishalot,

Hopefully you guys are fly TYERS as well (it's really the only way to build a well rounded selection of chironomids). A few points of interest regarding chironomids; They hatch every day, ice out to ice up... trout munch on them constantly... and while in the midge family, they are much larger than their stream cousins (hook sizes 8-18 in most cases... 12-16 the majority of the time).

Here are some "rules of thumb" regarding chironomid pupa patterns that I dug up on line somewhere:

Proportion - the hook size is right for the pattern. The fly should be tied onto the bend of the hook but not around the bend. The bead size should be about 3X the diameter of the butt end


Taper - all pupa are tapered, the body should taper evenly, or slightly more taper on the head end. The tail end should be skinny.


Rib - all chironomids have 6 or seven segments between the tail and thorax. Not that fish count the segments, but the proportion of the segments will be right with 6 and the correct tapered body.


Collar - the collar should be smaller than the exposed part of the bead, it should taper evenly onto the curve of the bead.


Gills – Bright, white, and prominent… the gill diameter and length is about the same as the head.

I would add to this that because of the oxygen deprived environment they live in, many ascending chironomid pupae still have trace hemoglobin trapped in their body and it tends to collect near the rear which is why many patterns are tied with red wire or a red butt section.

Also, as they near emergence the gases beneath their skin start to produce a metallic sheen which is why some patterns are tie with silver tinsel or over-wrapped with anti-static bags to try and imitate this.

Here are some examples of what the naturals look like as they wiggle to the surface:





And I've attached a few pattern examples that I tie/fish.


Tight lines! []
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