Teach me to Fish Chironomids?

J Watrous

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I feel completely ignorant about fishing chironomids in still water and this year’s resolution is to learn and fish new-to-me methods. Leeches, minnows, stripped patterns for bass and trouts, sure. Chironomids and all that? I know the concepts but am scoreless and clueless.

I have pretty severe ADHD and learn quickly by seeing and doing in person, but and no amount of books or YouTube or podcasts over the past several years has made a dent in my ignorance.

Is anyone willing to teach me on the water this year? I’m happy to pay gas, supply beverages, supply/buy breakfast/lunch/dinner.

I’m just north of Seattle, but willing to travel.
 
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Watch the BCFlyguys' YouTube Channel. There's a ton of really good, solid, no-BS stuff there. These guys have perfected fishing chironomids (& whatever else a stomach pump reveals). Guaranteed!!
Thanks for the suggestion. I have watched a few of theirs, and tried many more, but me watching YouTube goes like this:

1. Start YouTube video.
2. Start watching
3. Realize I’ve spaced out, go back to 1.
Or
3. Realize I was watching a YouTube video about _______. Notice I am in a completely different room doing something else. Go back to 1.

Repeat 1-3 until either I give up or I have in aggregate watched the total video.

Put a rod/bobbin/tool in my hand, though, or put me in front of a crowd, or an in-person-hands-on class and I’ll be locked-in for hours. I’ve fished from dark to dark in Alaska in summer with no breaks every time I’ve gone there, spent 10 hours with guides who surprise me when time’s up, and recently spent 20 hours nonstop on a woodworking project—didn’t even notice the time passing.
 
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Thanks for the suggestion. I have watched a few of theirs, and tried many more, but me watching YouTube goes like this:

1. Start YouTube video.
2. Start watching
3. Realize I’ve spaced out, go back to 1.
Or
3. Realize I was watching a YouTube video about _______. Notice I am in a completely different room doing something else. Go back to 1.
That's a pretty good description of chironomid fishing for me.

1. Measure depth.
2. Crap cast but get the bobber kind of where I wanted it.
3. Start watching.
4. Start spacing out, looking all around.
5. See bobber go down out of the corner of my eye.
6. Frantic set, bobber hits me in the forehead, line is a tangle every where.

So now if I want to fish chironomids, I fish them naked on a floating lime or a slime line. It works fine, and fits my short attention span.
 
See,
That's a pretty good description of chironomid fishing for me.

1. Measure depth.
2. Crap cast but get the bobber kind of where I wanted it.
3. Start watching.
4. Start spacing out, looking all around.
5. See bobber go down out of the corner of my eye.
6. Frantic set, bobber hits me in the forehead, line is a tangle every where.

So now if I want to fish chironomids, I fish them naked on a floating lime or a slime line. It works fine, and fits my short attention span.
I’ve got steps 1-4 down. It’s 5+ where I’m lost.

Watching folks like Ira, though, I can see that if I can get it dialed like they do it’ll be a lot less waiting and a lot more fun.
 
See,

I’ve got steps 1-4 down. It’s 5+ where I’m lost.

Watching folks like Ira, though, I can see that if I can get it dialed like they do it’ll be a lot less waiting and a lot more fun.
Well, it doesn’t always work. It’s just one technique among many.
 
I've only fished chironomids one time, it was at Lone Lake about 8 years ago. It was really easy to learn and I landed at least 20 rainbows that day. Trouble was I found it to be supremely boring. I took off the bobber and used a slow retrieve to make it more challenging. My friend had beer in the boat and when offered I said "I never drink while fishing". By the end of the day I drank 6 beers 🍻. It was great fishing with my friend, but I retired from chironomid fishing after that day. :ROFLMAO:

Anyway, one suggestion is to pay attention to the structure of weed beds and anchor near a hotspot of chironomid activity. The trout will cruise back and forth at such locations sucking up chironomids. Bobber down!
 
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It is eminently possible to fish for Chronies without using a bobber. Try "high stick" techniques where you just keep the fly off the bottom as you slowly retrieve. It is more difficult to fish this way, but way better than sitting on your butt watching for a bobber to go down.
Fishing with a bobber is fishing with flies, but it is not fly fishing.
 
Lots of better chironomid fishers than I here, but read on if you dare...

You have to be in the right mood (ready to sit and watch a bobber). I usually get there after about an hour or so of fruitless trolling and casting/stripping (and it usually only takes me a half hour of slow bobdicating to give up on that, too). Sure, sometimes, it's fast and furious, but most of the time, you're going to spend a lot more time watching and waiting than catching. Patience is key.

Folks who fish a lot of chironomids have lots of tricks for figuring out what they want, but I have found a black fly, size 16-18, with a red rib and the traditional "puff" at the bead (plus a bit of patience) is a solid offering when you don't know any better. A #12 or #14 blood worm or a mini-leech in a 2-fly system is often a good plan. If the fish don't eat the big bite, they might decide your toned-down dropper fly looks "about right."

Whatever you do, I think a 2-fly setup improves your odds when watching a bobber in stillwater. If you find they are all over one of your flies but ignoring the other, go down to the one that's working and catch lots of fish without the additional tangles, etc. When things are slow, change one fly at a time...
 
I know my post above about bells was facious at best but demonstrates my disdain for chronomid fishing. It is boring. I may not catch as many fish using that methodology, but slow retrieve works just fine. I like the feel of the tug or Runaway freight train.

I fish damsel nymphs a lot. A few feet off the bottom works just fine.

I can relate to ADHD better than many. My daughter is ADD. Her partner is ADHD. Quite the combination, for sure.

Fish the methodology that keeps your attention and that you enjoy.
 
I fish with indicators quite a bit….and sometimes even use chironomids! The way I approach it, indicators are an efficient way to catch fish that are gathered in a specific area and feeding at a certain depth. Another scenario where they are useful is around structure that creates a cruising lane. Learning to identify when and where an indicator is most likely to be helpful goes a long way to making the experience more engaging. Tools in the toolbox.
 
Everyone is wanting to tell you how, not show you how. I'm not the greatest and have my limitations but if you want to come out to the east side some time this spring I'd be happy to show you what I do. I even have a 2 man boat that makes it a bit easier and I'm retired so as long as I'm not visiting grandchildren or going to the doctor, I'm pretty much open.
 
Chironomids are particularly effective at lunchtime. After spending the morning kicking, rowing, casting and stripping, stopping to eat a sandwich and have a drink is the best possible time to fish cronies. As soon as you anchor up and start to enjoy your lunch it will be bobber down and a need for at least 3 hands. Watching one of my fishing buddies do this with TWO rods out and have both bobbers go down almost at once makes for some fine entertainment!
 
very helpful to watch YouTube vid's of Phil Rowley, master stillwater flyfisher. Phil not a 'cast it and park it', preferring to engage in constant mending and retrieving techniques. Doing the same has enhanced my own catch rate while eliminating the boredom of static bobber watching, which I just don't do. And if bank fishing shallower water, a nymph tip floater is an ideal chironomid set-up.
Praised by Jeff Perrin, this winter I have been reading Stillwater Fly Fishing by Devin Olson, a highly successful European stillwater lake competition flyfisher, and it is an eye opener on techniques.
Surrounded by trophy lakes within 30 to 40 mins for the past five years, I have developed a real fondness for stillwater, always able to find my own piece of water in my skiff, running across a new seam or contour, in the space of a couple of hours I can find success using several different techniques, and frequently put fish into the net that would be considered trophies in the surrounding rivers.
Father Time will always remain undefeated, and as the days of long hikes and deep wading becomes increasingly challenging and downright difficult, stillwater will always there to offer bent rod grins.
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