Most productive chironomid?

[Bambooflyguy]

The orange is wing buds.....gills are white in the front and sometimes rear too.

 

[troutpocket]

@O clarkii lewisi the answer is…it depends. On something like the zucchini I like to use orange thread to make a contrasting color spot at base of the bead, like this (not my ties, just an example I found):


Are they gills? Eh, who knows, but I like ‘em that way. When I tie these I do use orange thread and cover it up with black holo tinsel and a red wire rib, then coat the whole bug with UV resin.

 

[Stonedfish]

Another one that has worked well is an olive or brown thread body with a red butt.
A really nice older Canadian fellow gave us some of those years ago when we fished Tunkwa. He was killing on them and took pity on us Americans.
SF

 

[Wanative]

 

[troutpocket]

Another way to make wing buds is to pull orange holo tinsel up around the bead.

 

[Zak]

Another way to make wing buds is to pull orange holo tinsel up around the bead.
View attachment 50931

Yet another way:

 

[ABITNF]

Not unusual to see a bit of orange in the butt too especially on brown chironomids. The orange side of Uni-Mylar Peacock/Orange tinsel does that well.

All this is part of the fun of fishing chironomids. Basically all you need in spring is a good leech pattern, a good scud pattern and about 1400 chironomids.

 

[Scottcat]

What Buzzy said

Aaah yes! It looked so transparent I didn't think of that.
Thanks

 

[Bambooflyguy]

As Phil Rowley said, “there are over 2,500 species of chironomids in North America“

 

[Irafly]

Not unusual to see a bit of orange in the butt too especially on brown chironomids. The orange side of Uni-Mylar Peacock/Orange tinsel does that well.

All this is part of the fun of fishing chironomids. Basically all you need in spring is a good leech pattern, a good scud pattern and about 10,000 chironomids.

Fixed it for ya!

 

[Scudley Do Right]

Tied a few of the ones mention. Just got a delivery. Time to get busy.

 

[Scudley Do Right]

Another one that has worked well is an olive or brown thread body with a red butt.
A really nice older Canadian fellow gave us some of those years ago when we fished Tunkwa. He was killing on them and took pity on us Americans.
SF

Something like this?

 

[troutpocket]

Something like this?View attachment 51744

Nice! Looks similar to the Jim Beam pattern.

 

[Scudley Do Right]

Nice! Looks similar to the Jim Beam pattern.

The red kind of bled through the brown. Might try one with out wrapping red thread where the brown will be.

 

[Stonedfish]

Something like this?View attachment 51744

That will work.
Here are some of my less than stellar attempts to imitate the patterns he gave us.
They just had a red thread butt with either a green or brown body. A black body works as well.
SF

 

[NCL]

I would say either a chromie but there have been days when that trout only wanted a certain pattern. My biggest brown came on a size 16 chromie.

 

[Scudley Do Right]

Tied these up for fun. Anybody ever catch anything on glass worms?

 

[Buzzy]

View attachment 53136
Tied these up for fun. Anybody ever catch anything on glass worms?

Herb, Keith and I were up to Mile High Resort several years ago. We decided to head to Wyse. The front road in wasn't passable so we drove to an alternate access that requires a portage if you're fishing from a pontoon or pram. We finally got to the lake and fished and fished and fished with very few strikes and fish. A local we knew from years before showed up and finally caught one fish which he pumped; Bruce says "oh, he's on glass, when they're on glass, go home". ;-)

I have quite a variety of glass worm patterns (a row in one box) that I don't think have ever accounted for a hookup. There's a seep lake I've hiked into several times. There's this interesting dense cloud that shows up on my sonar - it is suspended from perhaps 10'-15' down from the surface but not all the way to bottom. Over the past few years my friend and I have come to the conclusion the "cloud" is a massive concentration of your glass worms. Trout in this lake can be huge, they're tough to come by (for me). One theory is the trout swim around in this cloud with their mouths open sucking in glass worms and aren't really keyed into a single offering........

At any rate, fish the glass!

 

[Scudley Do Right]

Herb, Keith and I were up to Mile High Resort several years ago. We decided to head to Wyse. The front road in wasn't passable so we drove to an alternate access that requires a portage if you're fishing from a pontoon or pram. We finally got to the lake and fished and fished and fished with very few strikes and fish. A local we knew from years before showed up and finally caught one fish which he pumped; Bruce says "oh, he's on glass, when they're on glass, go home". ;-)

I have quite a variety of glass worm patterns (a row in one box) that I don't think have ever accounted for a hookup. There's a seep lake I've hiked into several times. There's this interesting dense cloud that shows up on my sonar - it is suspended from perhaps 10'-15' down from the surface but not all the way to bottom. Over the past few years my friend and I have come to the conclusion the "cloud" is a massive concentration of your glass worms. Trout in this lake can be huge, they're tough to come by (for me). One theory is the trout swim around in this cloud with their mouths open sucking in glass worms and aren't really keyed into a single offering........

At any rate, fish the glass!

I read similar things. I'm wondering if it's because the fly might look like a glass worm but doesn't move like one. They really tweek out.

 

[Wade Rivers]

Copper Tiger for me. Easy tie that I tinker with a little (of course).



16/14 in lakes. Size 18 for winter fishing on the Metolius, and I add a small collar of UV Purple Ice Dub.

This extended variation looks kinda cool, but I haven't really fished it yet...



PS. Great thread. Thanks for sharing everyone!