Chuck's Midge

A pupa for all seasons

4 comments

I was introduced to this fly several years ago on a winter fishing excursion with Charlie Card on the Green River in Utah.  It was one of those days that were almost too cold to fish, but after an hour's drive I was determined to make the best out of it.  Charlie and I hit the water and kind of split up a bit to hit two different runs in the river, and my strategy was to start small and get smaller if I didn't get anything to eat.  I was about to tie on a #28 midge pupa when I decided to go upstream to see how Charlie was doing.  No surprise, but he was reeling in a nice fish that was just one of several that he had caught that morning.  When I asked about the special sauce, he said that he was fishing "green."  I made some adjustments later that day and ended up putting a few fish in the net on flies that I might have considered too big for January fishing.  One of the flies that Charlie showed me that day was a blinged out pupa with a double rib and tungsten bead.  I'm not even sure what he called it, but I have referred to it as "Chuck's Midge" since then, and I have fished it in many rivers and lakes with great success.  I typically fish it in a size 16, but a size 14 or 18 make fine bugs as well.

~Cheech

Recipe

Olive

Hook: Daiichi 1120 #16 (+)
Thread: Uni 8/0 olive (+)
Bead: 2mm tungsten black nickel (+) (we used silver, but black nickel is more common)
Body: Veevus pearl tinsel - medium (+)
Rib1: UTC wire - small chartreuse (+)
Rib2: Coats and Clark sewing thread - brown (readily available at Wal Mart)
Thorax: Ice dub - olive brown (+)