What type of fly is a zebra midge?

The Story. The TH Zebra Midge is a great stillwater fly pattern where chironomids are present. Chironomids can represent a significant portion of the trout’s diet in stillwater. Sizes: 16, 18, 20, 22.

How big is a midge zebra?

Zebra midges are most commonly tied on hooks size 16 and smaller. Here I’m going to use a Dai-Riki #125 emerger hook in size 20. I’m using a 1/16th inch silver cyclops bead because it complements this hook well. It can be a microscopic wrestling match to get the bead on the hook, small hole first, but do your best.

What does a zebra midge imitate?

In short, a Zebra Midge is a fly pattern used to imitate both the pupal and nymphal stages of a wide variety of aquatic-born insects. The Zebra Midge features a tapered body, ribbed abdomen, and a beadhead, making it a versatile and effective fly pattern for all sizes and species of trout.

What does a zebra midge look like?

They look like tiny worms and come in a variety of colors like black, olive, and red. Midge larva flies are very bare-bones, often not much more than a few wraps of thread on a hook. These flies should be fished deep, since midges often live toward the bottom, in and around the silt and substrate.

Are zebra midges good?

The Zebra Midge is an extremely simple, but highly effective fly. I mean it REALLY catches fish. Fishing it as a dropper off almost any nymph can often produce trout that are constantly feeding off tiny insects in the bottom part of the water column, often referred to as “the strike zone”.

What colors are zebra midges?

The Zebra Midge is usually a thread body of Black, Red, Olive, Brown, and Gray color with a fine silver wire ribbing. It can have a beadhead of Nickel, Copper, Gold, Black, or a Glass Bead.

What color are zebra midges?

What time of day do midges hatch?

Midges can emerge anytime of the day and any day of the season. In the summer, when there are other insects hatching, midges are at the bottom of the list of likely trout foods. This does not mean that fish aren’t feeding on them—it just means you should rule out other insects before tying on a midge pattern.

What does a midge fly look like?

Adult midges look a lot like mosquitoes: small and dainty, rather soft-bodied, with long, narrow wings and long, skinny legs; males often have feathery antennae, used for sensing the high-pitched sounds of female wings.

Is a zebra midge a nymph?

The Zebra Midge is a nymph that mimics midge pupae and/or emerging midges. Here’s where you can start looking for them. There’s just one trick to catching them: Use a size 16-24 shrimp/scud hook wrapped in colored thread and a copper or silver fine wire with a 2 or 3mm tungsten bead head of matching metallic finish.

What does a midge turn into?

When midge larvae reach maturity, they develop into pupae. Pupae are shorter and stockier than the slender larvae.