Troutnut Forum > Fly Hatch Talk > Clusters of midges and the Griffith's Gnat
This topic is about the True Fly Family Chironomidae
Midges are the most important aquatic insects in some places, especially fertile spring creeks where they are extremely abundant and the current is so slow that it's efficient for trout to surface feed on very tiny insects.
Some midges are large, up to hook size 14, but the majority are size 22 or smaller. The number of genera and species is hopelessly huge for angler entomologists to ever learn, and the identifing characteristics often require slide-mounting tiny parts under high-powered microscopes. Even the most Latin-minded fisherman must slip back to the basics--size and color--to describe his local midge hatches. Read more...
There are 13 more specimens...
The Discussion
| Troutnut | April 11th, 2007, 1:20 am | |
| Fairbanks, AK Posts: 1115 | This is a spin-off from a tangent in another topic which seems worthy of its own thread. I wrote about the midge I photographed: I'm not sure how a griffith's gnat is supposed to imitate such a thing Gonzo replied: Schwiebert's theory was that when it was awash in the film, the herl and halo of hackle suggested the loosening pupal shuck around the dark body of the emerging midge. Others have speculated that it imitates a cluster of midges. Both theories are reasonable, I suppose, depending on the size of the Griffith's Gnat that is effective relative to the size of the actual midge. Like many anglers, I just know that it does work. :) Those are the explanations I've heard, too, but I'm skeptical of both. I'm not doubting the effectiveness of the Griffith's Gnat; I just think people have traditionally stretched the bounds of credibility when trying to explain a fly's success in imitative terms, and this is one of the more prominent examples. Has anybody here seen a cluster of midges on the water? I haven't. I have seen midges thickly grouped on rocks next to the water, and I don't doubt that they occasionally fall off of there, and probably sometimes two are three are clinging to each other. I've also seen early-season stoneflies balled up with each other in an opaque little (presumably mating-related) clump on a midstream boulder, and I wouldn't be surprised if some midge species do something like that too. But trout don't see balls of midges floating around very often on any stream I've ever observed. Has anyone experienced that? In either case, I can't see something so opaque as a Griffith's Gnat effectively imitating what would surely be a loose ball of gangly entangled midges. You would have to roll them around in your fingers for a while to goo them together so solidly. I just can't see the herl and hackle imitating, or even suggesting, a loosening pupal shuck. Shucks don't get that loose. They trail behind length-wise; they don't balloon to the sides. And they aren't pointy. Of course I'm sure Schwiebert knows all that and was just trying to add an idea to the mix of explanations, but I do find that one as far-fetched as the others. Here's another far-fetched guess: maybe the hackle and refractive trickery in the surface film reduce the perceived thickness of the fly and it passes for a single midge pretty well. This could be tested in an aquarium but it's late and I'm feeling lazy. I think it's more likely that when trout take a Griffith's Gnat they're only looking for (at most) the right general size and color. It's not as fun, but sometimes things are really that simple. | |
| Jason Neuswanger The Troutnut | ||
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| DMM | April 11th, 2007, 1:28 am | |
| Posts: 141 | I have seen a cluster of midges in the water. It tends to be in lakes, close to vegetation. I think, often people get carried away with their explanations. A trout doesn't sit there and say " Gee, this Oreogeton has two extra spiracles." If something looks like food, it will probably try it. Even if it doesn't look like food, it may try it. Trout get no parental guidance and have to learn to forage for themselves. If they weren't willing to try new things, they'd starve. | |
| David | ||
| GONZO | April 11th, 2007, 1:03 pm | |
| "Bear Swamp," PA Posts: 876 | The only time I can clearly recall seeing clusters of midges on the water was on the Provo River, UT in late winter. All of the hatching/feeding activity was in slow side channels and backwaters, but we did have a "ball" fishing Griffith's Gnats over some BIG browns and rainbows. Personally, I think that a heavy accumulation of emerging midges presents a fairly confusing picture to the trout. So much so that no focus on a single clean or consistent image is warranted (or perhaps even possible). Likewise, no easy explanation of a successful imitation is discernable. Heck, sometimes the fish just open their mouths and engulf midges en masse. I have also always believed that the smaller the prey (and the smaller the imitation), the less the details matter--to the fish or the fly-tier. | |
| Fishsage | April 11th, 2007, 10:40 pm | |
| Posts: 1 | Hey Troutnut, first just wanted to say what a great site you have. Awesome pictures. I just found it yesterday. I just got back from fishing a great midge hatch in Montana for 4 days and the water was covered with them. On the cloudy and snowy days the fish were up on them. Midges do ball up into clusters on open water and the Griffith's Gnat has been my pattern of choice for many years. In calm water close to shore the natuarals do clump and don't move much. I think the fly does represent a cluster well and if you watch the single adults on open water they are not static. They "hover" and dart around on the surface and their wings beat very rapidly. I think it is this motion that may give the naturals a more robust apperance than they actually have and may be why the G.G., with its peacock body and hackle works so well. So in the right size and with decent presentation it usually gets em. | |
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