Midge Tips: Start with one of the larger hooks such as # 20 rather than jumping right in to something like an almost invisible #26. Begin with a simple pattern that is easy to tie. Be sure that you have a very good light and if possible a magnifier. There are a number of light/magnifier combinations specifically designed for fly tying available, but if you can't swing the price then drop by your local office supply store and check around. There are usually a couple of styles of light/magnifier combinations available at much more reasonable prices. A magnifier with a built in flourescent light will usually run you around $60-70 and with a little bit of searching you can usually find a magnifier with a built in incandescent light for somewhere in the $15-30 range. All of this will help if you haven't tackled one of those little bitty hooks before. Remember too that tying midges is much like tying larger flies. At first it seems difficult, but with practice it all gets easier.

So to help you along here is a midge pattern and a number of variations on it that are easy to tie and for those of you like myself whose vision isn't what it used to be easier to see on the water as well. It employs techniques with which many of you are already familiar on larger flies and even if the first few ties aren't as pretty as you might want, it will still catch fish. I call it The Poly Wing Midge.

PATTERN:

Hook: Dry fly hook #20-26 (for those of you who have trouble attaching these to your tippet you might want to try one of the "big-eye" hooks that are available in these sizes)
Thread: Black 8/0 to 12/0 (you need a good quality fine, but still strong thread for midges)
Body: Stripped herl from the eye of a peacock tail feather
Wing: Poly Yarn - available wound on cards at your local fly shop in a variety of colors - white, yellow, grey, black

TYING INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Start thread just behind the eye of the hook and wrap about 1/3 of the way towards the bend.
2. Take a herl from the eye of a peacock tail feather and using a pencil eraser carefully strip it almost to the quill. Leave just a little of the fibres on the quill. This is an easy technique that is quickly mastered and was first shown to me by Rick Murphree. Just "erase" the fibres off of the quill on a hard flat surface. You will end up with a quill that has no fibres on one edge and just a few on the other. The fibreless edge will be lighter in color and the edge with a few fibres will be darker in color. When wound around the hook as a body this will give you a nicely striped and "segmented" looking body.
3. Place the quill along side the hook shank with most of the quill sticking out behind the hook. Wind the thread the remainder of the way to the bend of the hook securing the quill to the side of the hook as you go. Note that the edge of the quill w/o fibres and lighter in color should be facing up. Also note that as you erase the fibres off of the quill there will be a portion of it that is very thin and weak and should be clipped off before you start securing the quill to the hook. It may take a try or two until you can determine the portion of the quill that is strong enough to use.
4. Wrap the thread back to just behind the eye of the hook and let it hang.
5. Wrap the quill in a tight spiral forward to the thread. It may help to grasp the end of the quill with a pair of hackle pliers as you wrap. Note that the side of the quill w/o the fibres and lighter in color should be facing forward as you wrap. This will create the striped "segmented" body with the few remaining fibres sticking out from the sides of the hook.
6. Take a couple of turns of thread to secure the quill in place just behind the eye of the hook and clip off the excess quill. Often there is enough left over to make a second body.
7. Wrap the thread slightly back from the eye of the hook - usually about 1/8 hook shank length.
8. Take an appropriate sized group of Poly Yarn fibres for the wing about 1/2" long. Depending upon the size of the hook this will be a group of fibres from 1/4 to 1/16 of the thickness of the Poly Yarn strand.
9. Lay this along the top of the hook with just a little bit sticking out over the eye of the hook and with most of the length running along the top of the hook and extending out the back. Secure it in place with a couple of wraps of thread. Note that the wing of the P.Y. Midge is applied in much the same manner as the wing of an EHC. Trim the front yarn close to the thread.
10. Whip finish and trim off the excess thread.
11. Trim the back of the P.Y. wing to desired length - usually about hook length.

BODY VARIATIONS:

1. Use colored thread for the body with clear Nylon Thread or mono wrapped in one layer over it.
A. Start thread just behind the eye of the hook.
B. Lay a piece of clear Nylon Thread or mono on top of the hook and wrap the colored thread over it and the hook all the way to the bend.
C. Trim Nylon Thread or mono sticking out the front of the hook.
D. Wrap colored thread back to just behind the eye of the hook.
E. Wrap Nylon Thread or mono forward to the colored thread.
F. Take a couple of turns of colored thread to secure the Nylon Thread or mono in place.
G. Trim off the excess Nylon Thread or mono.
H. Attach the wing and finish the fly.
I. Note that clear Nylon Thread is available prewound on spools and can be used with a bobbin just like regular thread making the whole process a little easier than working with just a piece of monofilament.

2. Use colored thread for body with a little bit of dubbing and clear Nylon Thread or mono spiraled forward as ribbing.
A. Start thread just behind the eye of the hook.
B. Lay a piece of clear Nylon Thread or mono on top of the hook and wrap the colored thread over it and the hook all the way to the bend.
C. Trim Nylon Thread or mono sticking out the front of the hook.
D. Apply a little bit of dubbing to the thread and wrap forward to just behind the eye of the hook.
E. Spiral the Nylon Thread or mono forward to just behind the eye of the hook as ribbing.
F. Take a couple of turns of colored thread over the Nylon Thread or mono to secure it in place.
G. Trim off the excess Nylon Thread or mono.
H. Attach wing and finish fly.
I. Note that it doesn't take much dubbing at all with this method. You do not want a fat caddis like body, but just a little bit of fuzz sticking out between the ribbing. An artificial dubbing such as Scintilla works great for this. The color of the thread and the dubbing can be used to imitate whatever color midge you desire: olive, grey, tan, black, etc.

This basic winging technique and the variations on the body technique will allow you to easily imitate many different types of midges. The wing is easy to tie and can be done using a variety of colors. White or yellow wings for those of us who have trouble seeing the fly and grey, brown or black wings for those who demand a more realistic look. The variations on the body technique can also provide different colors for different situations and flies that will ride higher or lower in the water. The Nylon Thread or mono wrapped over colored thread will give you a colored body that will ride lower in the film, while the dubbing technique will give you a body that will ride high on top. Applying your floatant judiciously will also help determine just how high the fly will sit. Floatant applied just to the wing will keep the body sitting lower in the water, while floatant applied to the body as well as the wing will make it ride higher. In general the Poly Wing Midge is an easy midge to tie that can be varied to suit a wide variety of different conditions.