Basic Thread Chironomids that Need a Spot in Your Fly Box

Simple thread body chironomids work fantastic. The six thread chironomids below are definitely trout catchers during chironomid season. A basic curved nymph hook or a 2xl nymph hook works great. Tie them from size 10-16, sometimes even size 18. The key with chironomids is figure out the depth the trout are feeding at! That takes some experimentation. Throat samples certainly help decide on the colour of the chironomids that the trout are keying in on!

Blue Dun Chironomid

Dragon Lake Special-John Kent originator

Albino

Black Sally

Copper and Olive

Hook: your favourite curved nymph hook sizes 12-18

Thread: Olive UTC 8/0

Bead: Copper-3/32nd

Body: Olive UTC 8/0

Rib: Copper, small

Gills: Unistretch

Black and Red Ice Cream Cone

Hook: Curved nymph hook or Daiichi 1760 (or equivalent)

Thread: Black UTC 8/0

Bead: White- 3/32nd

Rib: Holographic tinsel, red, small

 

Take a Look at this Chironomid-Rick will Tell you Why

...from Rick

 My introduction to the original pattern occurred one day at a local Stillwater where friends Eugene and Jacinda had invited me onto their boat for what turned out to be a great day of chironomid fishing. Although the colour didn’t match the hatch it definitely caught the attention of the fish. Approximately a month later during another hatch it perfectly duplicated the colour and sheen of the emerging pupae. I don’t recall the exact materials they used to create their pattern this is my variant. 

Jacinda's Orange Pupa (aka West Lake Pupa)  (A Variant from Rick Miyauchi)

Hook: Daiichi 1760 size #12-16 or your favourite scud hook 

Thread: Black or Brown

Bead: Orange metallic, Black Nickel or Chironomid Brown

Rib: UTC Hot Orange wire

Body: Copper Flashabou 

Thorax: UV Ice Dub, Callibaetis

Tying the "Rusty Nail" Chironomid-John Kent Originator

 

I absolutely love this chironomid. It is definitely a winner here in Central Alberta. I have posted this chironomid several times and it definitely needs a place in your chironomid box! Karen and I use size 14 and size 12 (daiichi 1760) a lot. It will not be very long until chironomids start happening!

Last night while watching/listening to the Oilers great come back win over LA in the Stanley Cup Play-Offs, I tied up several. 

Take a look right here for how I tie them. This is a previous blog post from January!

Bob Edens has the micro tubing and mirage opal tinsel (medium) in his shop. Just give him a call. It saves driving or ordering.

Switching Resins Has Been a Success

I have used Solarez thin formulation for years, but as of late, I have been getting a rash on my face when I use it! This has happened to others as well (not everybody). I talked to Kent Govett at Canadian Llama and several of his contract fly tyers have switched to an Italian resin. It is a clear "flow" resin that is great for chironomids. I really like the applicator brush as well. It does not cure tacky at all. Take a look at this resin at Canadian Llama Company (no I do not work for them) if you are having a similar experience.

 

The Window Tint Pupa-Excellent Chironomid Pattern

Window Tint Pupa

Hook: Daiichi 1760 size 12-16

Thread: Colour to match desired body colour (black, red, wine0 and burnt orange/rusty brown collar

Gills: Uni  Floss or Uni Stretch

Bead: 3/32nd for size 14, 7/64ths for size 12

Rib: Window Tint 0.75 mm

The Window Tint Pupa is an excellent chironomid pattern. I like to tie them from size 12-16. When the chironomids are quite "gas" like as they emerge, this pattern is so effective. Better yet, it is an easy tie.

If you love blended thread chironomids, head right here to have a reminder about how to tie them!

 

A Beautiful Saturday at West Lake-Throat Samples Helped a Lot!

What a contrast from yesterday! Big wind and a daphnia "amoeba" made yesterday quite interesting.

...and today, big blue sky with little or no wind! Hmmm what to do? Well Karen and I set up an indicator rod with micro leeches, a second indicator rod with Tokaryks and a cast and retrieve rod that had backswimmers. All three set ups caught fish at some point during the 5 hours we were out on the water!

We had most of our success when we located larger concentrations of daphnia! The fish we caught were in the top 6 feet of the water column!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Backswimmer and lots of immature shrimp

Daphnia, water mite and boatmen (tiny ones too)

Bloodworm, water mites and daphnia

Daphnia

One big leech

Daphnia and a backswimmer

Raymond from our tying group was using that patterns below at West Lake with decent success!

 

Well that was Cool to See!

That was a windy day and the trout were definitely hungry. They were feeding on daphnia today. Raymond was out at the Habitat land enjoying fly fishing on his birthday. Karen and I wanted to get out for the afternoon. The wind definitely made our options with the pram limited and luckily,  we found fish that wanted to play! After a while we parked the boat and fly fished off of the dock!

What was working? Tokaryk Specials were definitely getting the attention of the trout as were blobs and small leeches.

I hope you have a chance to wet a line. Enjoy the weekend everyone!

 

Busy Two Days of Filming with Phil Rowley

We finally found an open two days in our calendars to film. Phil Rowley and I got down to work. Phil wanted to get 20 fly tying videos in the can. Well we got to work and we got all of the tying videos ready to be edited. We celebrated with hockey, visiting friends and scotch! Stay tuned,  the videos will be released over the next year! I'm going to be busy!

 

Mini Vampire Leeches

Todd Oishi's Vampire Leech is a winner in most stillwaters. I do like larger balanced Vampire Leeches but I have added Mini Vampire Leeches to my array of micro leeches. If I am fishing with two flies. I will often add a mini vampire leech as a dropper. I have been pleasantly surprised to their effectiveness. Of course you can tie them with head turner beads  (you can get them at Canadian Llama) or balanced. Try size 12 jig hooks with a chartreuse head turner or tungsten bead (use a sequin pin). The short video below shows how to tie them!

 

Badly Needed Moisture in Central Alberta

What a blessing! A spring snow storm to help replenish badly needed moisture! Yahoo!

 

Blobs, ...Trout Love'em!

Blobs! Whether you love them or hate them, they just plain work! I always have a large selection of blobs along on all stillwater fly fishing trips. In the past year, I have added these 4 colours. I am surprised at how trout respond to blobs. They could represent a lot of food items although daphnia is the main item. I was quite surprised to find out that lake trout love them like being at a candy store. I have no idea why! Ha!