edit: JP at Roughfisher.com made me realize that the proper picture for this day belongs with the White Sucker that snagged my Marabou Leech, thanks JP.

Slide Show

To start the week of fishing I decided to return to Possum Creek which, up until this point skunked me and provided challenging fishing conditions. Gin clear water combined with close approaches made catching trout here tougher than some of the other streams I fish but all the more reason to go. I started before 11am and pulled out at around 3:30pm under sunny skies. I spent most the day casting dry midge flies to feeding trout but with no success. I think two reasons were undermining my ability to catch a trout with the Jujubee Midge fly. 1st, I believe that although the body size was spot on I had too much CDC forming the wing, and second that my casts into wind alerted the trout to my presence almost immediately even though I made the effort to sneak and crawl to my casting spots.

I spent over an hour sitting in the same spot not moving just watching trout take midge both surface and sub-surface flies. I eventually switched to a PT with a size 20 Zebra midge trailer and this produced many more strikes but I never landed a fish this way, they either bit too light and I couldn’t set the hook or they got off during the struggle. I made it a point to spend just as much time looking at insects and watching trout as I did fishing, this being my first spring I wanted to see all the changes first hand and record them for reference, there are many pictures of the naturals from this week that I will be posting.

After spending most the day fishing with midge imitations I switched to the Marabou Leech I have become very fond of and it produced several strikes of which I was able to land one smaller trout, and honestly, it wasn’t much of a fight.  The fish struck, in anticipation I set the hook and between the hook set and the leap out of the water the fish ended up almost in my lap. I had to laugh, flying trout beware! I explored further reaches of the stream and found a few spots I want to return to.

Time is of the essence and I must make this brief but I shall re-write this and re-post with images and details. Here is just the raw intel…

• Fished from 10:15am to 3:40pm
• Caught One Brown Trout, Had an Awesome Day.
• Air Temp: 26 Degrees at Arrival, 39 at Departure.
• Water Temp: 43 Degrees on Arrival, 45 at Departure.
• Flows are clean and clear.
• Prepare for the Baetis, they are coming.
• Mucho Midge Activity, started as early as 11am. 

This image was taken streamside and is slightly elongated due to the curve in the glass jar it is in. I collected this sample this morning, I know the image is small and blurry but trust me on this one, those are developed wingpads. I was really excited when I saw this proof they should be hatching soon. Liz is travelling to New Zeland and has taken the camera I usually use, thanks to Sershen for the loaner. I still have the live sample, I will try to get a better image.

Such a nice day outside I decided I needed to eat my lunch by a trout stream. Saw no fish rising, the water was cloudy due to snow melt. I did however find these: Midge arn’t the only thing twitching around the streams. 

Interesting that I found the Dobson Fly larva crawling in the snow, several of them infact, bigger worm looking things. Also, I collected between 6 and 10 Black Stone Flies and only 2 had fully developed wings, I’m wondering if they sit in the snow and develop them over time after they crawl from the water? I didn’t have my thermometer with me but I won’t make that mistake again.

This was my day. Peace.

It seems that for the time being I have lost my Caddisfly book by Gary LaFontaine and will have to suspend my Entomology research with regards to the Caddisflies in my area until I can either find it or find a replacement. With that in mind I felt it important to still continue to learn more about that which I am ignorant and the world of Midge’s as I found is a large one indeed. After doing a bit of searching I found a good general Midge resource at Westfly.com

The Westfly page has information on all varieties of Midges and how to best represent them and present them to trout. One thing I found interesting is that Midge larva hang suspended in the water and that your fly should try to mimic that behavior so perhaps a very lightly weighted fly on just the head might help. The Westfly page also has several articles on how to tie various midge patterns and how to best present those patterns under different conditions. This should be used only as a general resource though, I know I will be going to find out what my water holds first hand, hopefully soon.

If the general resource doesn’t cut it for you, it didn’t for me I went further and happened to find a gem which happens to have been researched and produced in Minnesota. It turns out there is a Chironomidae Research Group associated with the University of Minnesota. Clicking a few links I found myself looking at A Guide to Aquatic Invertebrates of the Upper Midwest! I’m going to have to get my hands on a copy of this baby. For now though they have conveniently put sections of it on the web in PDF format. The Chapter on Midges is only 24 pages long and provides a guide to specific identification and information for several varieties of Diptera. 

Guide to Aquatic Invertebrates of the Upper Midwest

Click on the individual chapter you wish to look at and in a short moment a large amount of great information is at your fingertips.  Chapter 13 deals with Diptera the two winged general genre that Midges fall into.

The last week has been a rather busy one. Designing and running a musical means long hours for almost two full weeks prepping, running rehearsals and then the shows. Anyways, during one of the long days while thinking about water I ran an errand and stopped by some water that is basically in town but gave me a glimpse at the water I have been thinking about. I saw small midge flies in decent numbers while shaking plants on the bank. Size 22-24 in grey and black.

Any advice or suggestions on size and color of midge patterns that work in the Minnesota/Wisconsin/Iowa area would be appreciated. I am going to spend sometime tying my winter season flies soon and would like to be one step ahead of the game before I hit the water. I read this article and found it to be informative and helpful.

http://www.worldangler.com/Fly%20Tying/midge.htm