Is this a Midge?

[dcfoster]

I had these crawling all over me on the river I was on yesterday.

Could someone let me know if this is a midge? Sorry for the poor quality!

Thanks!

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[wthorpe]

looks good to me: Midges

But it looks pretty big. What size (in fly sizes) do you estimate? looks big enough possibly to be a "lake midge" which i think can be as big as 16 or 14?

 

[Rip Tide]

One of the rivers that I fish has a huge midge hatch right about this time of year and they are an easy 14.
Those are grey, not black, but that's it.

 

[rangerrich99]

Looking at my Tacoma key right now, that looks to be a sz 16-18 midge. I'm not a midge expert, so maybe it's not really a midge, but to me it looks like a midge.

 

[stenacron]

Definitely a midge (Diptera sp?)

Locally on the Provo River here in Utah we get a "Buffalo Midge" hatch around Valentine's Day... easily a size 18 hook... sometimes challenging a size 16.

In stillwaters, especially northern lakes (not necessarily reservoirs), midges (aka Buzzers, aka Chironomids) get much larger... size 8-10 hooks.

 

[dcfoster]

looks good to me: Midges

But it looks pretty big. What size (in fly sizes) do you estimate? looks big enough possibly to be a "lake midge" which i think can be as big as 16 or 14?

Funny you said that, it was right at the mouth of a tributary... I took a couple home and they are pretty close to the size 20 midge patterns I have.


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[dcfoster]

The flies I have at home that were sold as midges have two very fine “hairs” (sorry don’t know the proper name!) coming out of the tail (see picture attached)... but these midges don’t have anything sticking out of their tails?

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[brownbass]

The flies I have at home that were sold as midges have two very fine “hairs” (sorry don’t know the proper name!) coming out of the tail (see picture attached)... but these midges don’t have anything sticking out of their tails?

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This looks more like a Trico.

 

[dcfoster]

Just got home... here are the two flies I was using. The one on the left was the ‘midge’ I was sold... the one on the right is a gnat?

And here’s a pic of a midge that landed right next to my fly!

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[dcfoster]

Just to confirm, the fly above (light green body) isn't the fly I was talking about... I was just trying to draw attention to the two things sticking out of the tail (could someone tell me what they are called?!)... I'm posting the pics of my flies now...

 

[flytie09]

The first pic you show is a midge.

Tails on a mayfly are called caudal filaments. Could be two or three. Midges do not have these.

Now there are several "midge" fly patterns that have tails....these are not anatomically correct...but they work. Luckily trout have small brains and don't have degrees in Entomology.

 

[flav]

The bug itself is definitely a midge. The two flies with the split tails are mayfly imitations, not midge imitations, although you can use them as midges if you want to.

Personally my favorite midge dry is a size 20 parachute in black with no tail. Technically it's a mayfly pattern, but trout eat it with confidence during my local midge hatches and the white wing post is easy for me to see 50 feet away.

If you're worried about the tails on those flies just cut them off. The fish probably won't care either way, but for picky fish it might make a difference.

 

[planettrout]

Yes it is a Midge:

PT/TB

 

[stenacron]

Thread showing classic confusion of "flies" vs "insects"

 

[Bigfly]

Just got home... here are the two flies I was using. The one on the left was the ‘midge’ I was sold... the one on the right is a gnat?

And here’s a pic of a midge that landed right next to my fly!

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To those who are in a puzzle about midges....first they pop....some will be on the surface (fish the wing up stage of bug like the lower picture), some will also be stuck in the film. Fish love bugs that are crippled because they can't get away, and the fish don't expose themselves as much to those pesky dry fly guys.
There is a stage where they form copulatory clumps...3 males and one female.
This is usually later in the day after they have been flying for a while. When you see these...try the Griffiths gnat.
Fish would rather eat 4 midges for the price of one. I sometimes skitter them a little because they don't just sit there when copulating, they fly on the surface of the water....and that requires a different rise form from the fish...slightly splashier than a sip.
The fish will often select clumps instead of singles at this time. After that there is a down-wing stage. (Photo #1 on the left)
Drown a clump to go into overtime.....

Jim

 

[Bwoklink]

To those who are in a puzzle about midges....first they pop....some will be on the surface (fish the wing up stage of bug like the lower picture), some will also be stuck in the film. Fish love bugs that are crippled because they can't get away, and the fish don't expose themselves as much to those pesky dry fly guys.
There is a stage where they form copulatory clumps...3 males and one female.
This is usually later in the day after they have been flying for a while. When you see these...try the Griffiths gnat.
Fish would rather eat 4 midges for the price of one. I sometimes I skitter them a little because they don't just sit there when copulating, they fly on the surface of the water....and that requires a different rise form from the fish...slightly splashier than a sip.
The fish will often select clumps instead of singles at this time. After that there is a down-wing stage. (Photo #1 on the left)
Drown a clump to go into overtime.....

Jim

Jim,

Thanks for that great info. I’ve heard many people talk about using griffiths to imitate midges but it never really made sense to me until reading your post. Do the copulatory clumps you speak of replace what in Mayfly terms would be a mating swarm?


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[Bigfly]

Midges seem to copulate on the water, near shore in slower water.They are sometimes behind a boulder in the middle of the river as well. I have watched this behavior for a long time, and do not know the tripping point, but at a certain point there seems to be enough females that the dance begins. Usually near dusk, but cloudy conditions workout.
I focus on the rises.....if I see a nose in the bubble line I fish a single Midge, and if I see a rise with a little sideways splash, I switch to the Griffiths gnat. I fish them all winter. Those of you who enjoy fishing classic flies, the Griffiths is a solid bet. Easy tie too...
You can fish it on the surface, in the film, and way down there........
The Black gnat fly in the photo is for Gnats, not Midges....

Jim

 

[City Rat]

These look quite a bit like what I saw buzzing around the water yesterday, although I was too busy swatting them instead of having the presence of mind to sit still and catch one to get a good look. The color, the number of legs and the fact that they were sitting on the surface film of the water. Yet another fly to add to the collection as they are popular around here.

 

[redietz]

Jim,
Thanks for that great info. I’ve heard many people talk about using griffiths to imitate midges but it never really made sense to me until reading your post. Do the copulatory clumps you speak of replace what in Mayfly terms would be a mating swarm?

"Cluster F***" would be a good definition.

 

[corn fed fins]

Midge. Winter hatch here they can be so tiny that they don't make a small enough hook; #30 would be a starting point. In the spring the same river has what I refer to as the T-rex hatch. These midges get to be about a 1/2 inch in length. On the still waters they get even bigger. Just yesterday on a local still water I overheard a couple say how bad the mosquitoes were. They were confusing midge clusters with mosquitoes and left. Love it!

It's staple of a trout's diet and I fish it all year. Funny how many big fish have opted to take a #24 midge during any spring, summer, or fall prevailing hatch.