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Shawnny3 has attached these 6 pictures to aid in identification. The message is below.
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These were quite numerous in and on the film when I was looking for tricos - they are about the same size. Are these the little black flies that bite you?
These were quite numerous in and on the film when I was looking for tricos - they are about the same size. Are these the little black flies that bite you?
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Sorry about how messed up this guy is - he was that way when I found him, honest! Size 14.
Sorry about how messed up this guy is - he was that way when I found him, honest! Size 14.
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This beauty was what the trout were really after tonight - took me a lot longer to figure that out than it will the next time. Size 22. I made what I think is a nice little tie for the next time, as well - I will not be made the fool again! (or, will I...)
This beauty was what the trout were really after tonight - took me a lot longer to figure that out than it will the next time. Size 22. I made what I think is a nice little tie for the next time, as well - I will not be made the fool again! (or, will I...)
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A different midge, the only one I collected that was this color. There were a variety I saw, but the vast majority were the multicolored version in the third pic. Size 22.
A different midge, the only one I collected that was this color. There were a variety I saw, but the vast majority were the multicolored version in the third pic. Size 22.
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A few of these were captured seining, and they puzzled me. Size 24-26. Could these be the Centroptilum or Procloeon spinners we were discussing before? The others I saw were much lighter than those I found tonight, but they're about the same size and with a similarly stubby body. Sorry for the crappy specimen - this was the better of the two I collected.
A few of these were captured seining, and they puzzled me. Size 24-26. Could these be the Centroptilum or Procloeon spinners we were discussing before? The others I saw were much lighter than those I found tonight, but they're about the same size and with a similarly stubby body. Sorry for the crappy specimen - this was the better of the two I collected.
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Shawnny3July 9th, 2012, 1:26 am
Moderator
Pleasant Gap, PA

Posts: 1197		Here are a bunch of bugs I've collected lately.

I also saw a small cloud of small mayflies flying up and down in the style I've seen described for Paraleps. I tried for 20 minutes to catch one of these little buggers and failed. They were moving too fast and generally stayed too far for me to reach them. Time to invest in a butterfly net. Do paraleps tend to hatch around this time of year?

-Shawn
Jewelry-Quality Artistic Salmon Flies, by Shawn Davis
www.davisflydesigns.com
CrepuscularJuly 9th, 2012, 9:11 am
Boiling Springs, PA

Posts: 923		Well Shawnny, the dipterans in the first photo are blackflies and yes they bite. Probably Simulium sp., the second photo looks like a Heptageniid, summertime cahill, Stenacron or Mccafertium sp. I would suppose. But we can wait to hear from the experts.The bottiom mayfly does not look like Centroptilum to me, wrong color in my experience they are a much paler tannish cream color. Oh and the Paraleptophlebida are around now, probably P. mollis if you saw large clouds of them. Did they kinda look like a big female trico?
Shawnny3July 9th, 2012, 11:11 am
Moderator
Pleasant Gap, PA

Posts: 1197		I've now attached my multicolored midge pattern for the fly in the third pic. The abdomen is pale olive thread and white thread. The wing is CDC, with the butts extending past the eye of the hook as antennae. The dubbing is, well, dubbing. I left the wing long and picked out the dubbing to give it better flotation. I also tried to make it look really disheveled. In spite of posting a pic of a beautifully preserved natural, the vast majority of the naturals were lying mangled in the film. This is a theme I've been noticing with a lot of naturals. I guess they could be called cripples, but I think that term is usually applied to partially emerged flies that never escape their shucks. Maybe I'll just call them "ugly dries". I'm beginning to think that our pretty, picturesque patterns look too good to look natural. I'm thinking I'm going to start making my dries uglier.

-Shawn
Jewelry-Quality Artistic Salmon Flies, by Shawn Davis
www.davisflydesigns.com
Flatstick96July 9th, 2012, 1:00 pm
Posts: 127		It seems from the photo like the wing on yours is really long. I see that you've explained why you tied it that way; my question (as a guy who never fishes midges, or any other really small dries for that matter) is this: wouldn't the extra long wing make it look less "natural" to the fish?

On the natural that you photographed, the wing looks considerably shorter than the body, but on your tie the wing looks considerably longer than the body...
EntomanJuly 9th, 2012, 1:39 pm
Northern CA & ID

Posts: 2604		That is definitely a species of Stenacron (Summer Cahill) in the second photo and the midges are in the Chironomidae family. That's a cool looking dry Shawn, but the fish were most likely taking pupa so tie a few flies to simulate them as well.

As for the last specimen,

Could these be the Centroptilum or Procloeon spinners we were discussing before?

Looks too stocky to me. It could possibly be a species of the baetid genus Acentrella. One of your dun photos looks like it could be as well for that matter so perhaps... None of the nymphs in your first photo on the other thread are of this genus, though.

BTW - Great photos. Get some shots of those baetid wings this sharp and we may be in business!
"It's not that I find fishing so important, it's just that I find all other endeavors of Man equally unimportant... And not nearly as much fun!" Robert Traver, Anatomy of a Fisherman
Shawnny3July 9th, 2012, 4:05 pm
Moderator
Pleasant Gap, PA

Posts: 1197
I see that you've explained why you tied it that way; my question (as a guy who never fishes midges, or any other really small dries for that matter) is this: wouldn't the extra long wing make it look less "natural" to the fish?


Perhaps. The hope is that the wing won't be the main thing the fish sees, since the rest of the fly will be right in the film and the wing should stay on top. That's at least the theory. I could always clip the wing shorter if it doesn't fish well, but I can't make it longer without retying the fly. And it has to float (at least somewhat).

Speaking of the pupae (and also the idea of floating the fly in or just under the film), I saw online the other day the most creative tying technique I've seen in a long time. I'm not sure who came up with this "parasol" wing, but I love the idea: http://www.riverbum.com/Parasol-Midge-Emerger-Black/

-Shawn
Jewelry-Quality Artistic Salmon Flies, by Shawn Davis
www.davisflydesigns.com
FalsiflyJuly 9th, 2012, 6:49 pm
Hayward, WI.

Posts: 661
Any midge fisherman that’s been to battle with midging trout in that critical zone knows just how frustrating it can be to have your dry imitations refused and not be able to suspend your Midge pupae where you need to in order to be successful.

Say what?
I say: Any midge fisherman that is unable to suspend the midge pupae where it needs to be to be successful is not a midge fisherman.

I try to refrain from using midge pupae that are tied to drift at any specific depth in the water column, preferring to use technique as a means to cover top to bottom instead of changing flies.
Falsifly
When asked what I just caught that monster on I showed him. He put on his magnifiers and said, "I can't believe they can see that."
MartinlfJuly 9th, 2012, 7:55 pm
Moderator
Palmyra PA

Posts: 3233		I think the wing is fine, Shawn. The main thing will be drift. Drag free, and the fish will probably eat.
"He spread them a yard and a half. 'And every one that got away is this big.'"

--Fred Chappell
EntomanJuly 9th, 2012, 8:13 pm
Northern CA & ID

Posts: 2604		Louis & Shawn

I think the wing is fine, Shawn. The main thing will be drift. Drag free, and the fish will probably eat.

I agree, assuming the fish are on the adults.

Al -

I largely agree with your assessment, though I do dress some patterns on heavy hooks (sometimes w/ beads) for fishing deep. These come in handy for use on lakes when the fish work the pupa at various depths prior to any surface activity. BTW - who are you quoting?
"It's not that I find fishing so important, it's just that I find all other endeavors of Man equally unimportant... And not nearly as much fun!" Robert Traver, Anatomy of a Fisherman
GONZOJuly 9th, 2012, 8:43 pm
Site Editor
"Bear Swamp," PA

Posts: 1681
BTW - who are you quoting?

http://www.riverbum.com/Parasol-Midge-Emerger-Black/
EntomanJuly 9th, 2012, 9:39 pm
Northern CA & ID

Posts: 2604		Ah.. Thanks. I couldn't find it here and assumed it was from another thread.
"It's not that I find fishing so important, it's just that I find all other endeavors of Man equally unimportant... And not nearly as much fun!" Robert Traver, Anatomy of a Fisherman
GutcutterJuly 10th, 2012, 8:57 am
Pennsylvania

Posts: 470
Here are a bunch of bugs I've collected lately.
Time to invest in a butterfly net.
-Shawn

A paint strainer slipped over your fishing net works really well, to not only sein the surface, but also to swat the little bastards out of the air.
Bruce gave me one, and now I don't leave home without it.

Do paraleps tend to hatch around this time of year?

Yes. Especially where you live.
All men who fish may in turn be divided into two parts: those who fish for trout and those who don't. Trout fishermen are a race apart: they are a dedicated crew- indolent, improvident, and quietly mad.

-Robert Traver, Trout Madness

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