# Chironomid Fly Pattern



## Grandpa D

I'm hearing a lot of talk about chionomid flies.
What are they?
Does anyone have a pattern for them?
Where and how do you fish with them?
Are they worth tying and using?
Thanks,
Grandpa D.


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## threshershark

Hi GrandpaD,

Here are a few in the forum fly tying archive:

download/file.php?id=1989&mode=view

download/file.php?id=1990&mode=view

download/file.php?id=1991&mode=view

download/file.php?id=1992&mode=view

download/file.php?id=1795&mode=view

download/file.php?id=1786&mode=view

Chironomids are an insect that is very common in Northamerican stillwaters. Depending on the time of year and geography, trout diets in lakes can be comprised of over 40% chironomids. Larval, pupal, and adult stages are distinct. The larva, often called a blood worm, is present almost all the time in most lakes around here. Pupa move to the surface and emerge in the surface film. Adult chironomids are similar in appearance to adult mosquitoes except they have recognizeable feathery antennae (and don't bite). They are one of the season's first hatches.

Fish them all season in stillwater. The blood worm style are great as a dropper or on long leaders ("deep nymphed") from a floating line. The most common style is floating line & strike indicator either drifted or using a very slow retrieve. Try them when you can see fish feeding, especially in the shallows, but aren't getting results on streamers, scuds, or other patterns. When there is an obvious hatch, I prefer the pupa to the adult fished near the surface.


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## RnF

They are midges, just a fancy name for them. The one thing that is primarily different however, is that the chironomids in lakes tend to be much larger than their river counter parts. Most midges in rivers are around size 32 to 22, while most in lakes are around size 10-16. Their sizes and colors will vary greatly from water to water. If you use the right color and size to match a hatch, you will slay fish. Fish love those things, mainly because there are droves of them and they are easy pickins. I find fish to be less picky with midges than with mayflies as long as you have the colors right.

I really am surprised there isn't more emphasis on midges when it comes to fly fishing. Midges consist of around 70% (or so I have read) of a fishes diet. Edit: probably more so in rivers than lakes.

Midges hatch all year long and come in many colors and sizes, but no one has attached generic names to the different colored midges like mayflies. Midges are not just one color or size. I have seen bright yellow ones, red and black, green, brown, gold etc. I would bet there is more of a variety in colors in midges than mayflies.

Here is an informative article on chironmids and fishing tactics if you want to take time to read it.
http://www.flyfishersrepublic.com/tacti ... d-tactics/


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## HighNDry

They are very common in moving water too. I heard that craneflies, which can be somewhat large, especially in the nymphal and pupae stages are diptera which is the same group you find midges. Is this true?

There used to be some big ones on the Green but you don't hear much about them anymore.


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## cacherinthewry

Yes, craneflies are in the diptera (latin for two winged) family, along with midges and mosquitoes. Diptera are considered "true flies" because of their single pair of wings. 

Craneflies are not common in the Green anymore because the controlled flows have dried up the muddy banks that the larvae need.


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## Packfish

http://www.bcadventure.com/adventure/an ... sion.phtml


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## Flyfishn247

Great articles RnF/Packfish. Both are very similar in context. I have always been intimidated using chrinomids because I was unsure how to fish them on stillwater. I seldom have floating line out with me. I will have to give it a try this year when the ice comes off Scofield. Last year, my worst day on Scofield was after a huge midge hatch. There were midge skin covering the water and I only landed 3 fish in 4 hours. It would have been nice to try a chrinomidge, I had some in my box, I was just unsure on how to fish them.


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## Jeremy28

how do you know what color to use. Also, where do you get the larger size say #10? If you can't see any anywhere how do you narrow it down to what color?


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## caddis8

Chironomids aren't that difficult. Here's a quick pattern that works farily well to immitate a lot of different bugs. 

Hook: Size #10-16 standard nymph or dry fly hook. 
I like to use a light blonde or kelly green marabou.
Tie in marabou tail about 3/4 the length of the shank of the hook. 
Use 3-4 fibers of same colored marabou and tie at the tail. 
Wrap marabou forward and tie off. 

This is a simple fly but works very well. It can immitate any range of bugs from damselflies to chironomids if you tie the right color and size. I use about a size 12-14 at a couple stillwaters and fish them just like leeches.


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## duckaddict

I like to follow Denny Rickards advice on the chronomids, when I fish them. I will use either his 7' intermediate tip line to keep them up high or his 5' type 2 sink tip to fish them ascending up the water column. The BC article is right on the money about waiting, you have to have patience on these bad boys. It seems like it takes forever to get down and forever to retrieve these flys. Sometimes it's the only thing I can get fish to take when nothing else seems to be going on.


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## Frito

I have a soft spot for Chironomids. They're fun to tie, fun to fish and you can get some awesome action on them if you play your cards right. Not only do trout gorge them down a lot, you can also catch bass and panfish on them.

I usually fish them with a bobber (er, I mean a strike indicator) we affectionately call the "bongo" method. You just fish a longer leader with floating line and vary the position of the indicator according to where the fishees are hangin' out. You can strip it slowly, let it hang or whatever. Purdy nice combo.

I tie the bugs in a bunch of different colors, sizes and styles, but these are some of my latest creations. I call them Bungie Buzzers: http://picasaweb.google.com/frito1/Chironomids

I also like Chromies. A quick google search can turn up other patterns too.


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## madonafly

duckaddict said:


> I like to follow Denny Rickards advice on the chronomids, when I fish them. I will use either his 7' intermediate tip line to keep them up high or his 5' type 2 sink tip to fish them ascending up the water column. The BC article is right on the money about waiting, you have to have patience on these bad boys. It seems like it takes forever to get down and forever to retrieve these flys. Sometimes it's the only thing I can get fish to take when nothing else seems to be going on.


No offense, but you do realize Rickards only recently started using Chironomids. He use to say he wouldn't use them and didn't need them.
Rowley and Chan are the Chironomid boys. They us a full sink line, drop it down and retrieve slowly.
I have done very well with chironomids. I choose to use a floating line with an indicator and let the indicator bounce the fly OFF the bottom. If the bottom is 30' deep, then I use a 30' leader with the bottom fly at 29'. I also have another on 2' to 3' up and I have had doubles.
To get it down fast past the dinks I put a split shot 6" to 8" up from the bottom one. Works killer.
My favorite is Black Tungsten bead, Black floss, White wire rib, with pea**** thorax and antron gills, on a straight hook.


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## duckaddict

Yeah I know Denny wasn't always a fan, guess when your regular stuff doesn't produce fish and another guys' method does you learn to adjust. I was trying to imply that I like the slow retrieve with a full sink or sinking tip line because even though the retrieve is as slow as tar, I find that keeps me more busy than watching an indicator. But you do what you have to sometimes to get a bite so I'm not opposed to the indicator method. To be completely honest I haven't heard much about Rowley and Chan's technique, maybe I'll watch their DVD. I'm not opposed to learning someone else's style, I think it just puts "one more tool in my belt".


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## madonafly

duckaddict said:


> Yeah I know Denny wasn't always a fan, guess when your regular stuff doesn't produce fish and another guys' method does you learn to adjust. I was trying to imply that I like the slow retrieve with a full sink or sinking tip line because even though the retrieve is as slow as tar, I find that keeps me more busy than watching an indicator. But you do what you have to sometimes to get a bite so I'm not opposed to the indicator method. To be completely honest I haven't heard much about Rowley and Chan's technique, maybe I'll watch their DVD. I'm not opposed to learning someone else's style, I think it just puts "one more tool in my belt".


You got that right on the learning curve. Can NEVER learn to much about fly fishing and it is an on going education. Oh, I agree totally on Denny's little figure eight retrieve. AWESOME in inactive fish. Keep on doing what your doing and right on. Maybe we will stand side by side. Then we can really critique each other    
Like the old joke about how many guitarist it takes to screw in a light bulb.......20! One to screw it in and 19 to stand back and say "Not bad but I bet I could have done better".


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## madonafly

duckaddict said:


> Yeah I know Denny wasn't always a fan, guess when your regular stuff doesn't produce fish and another guys' method does you learn to adjust. I was trying to imply that I like the slow retrieve with a full sink or sinking tip line because even though the retrieve is as slow as tar, I find that keeps me more busy than watching an indicator. But you do what you have to sometimes to get a bite so I'm not opposed to the indicator method. To be completely honest I haven't heard much about Rowley and Chan's technique, maybe I'll watch their DVD. I'm not opposed to learning someone else's style, I think it just puts "one more tool in my belt".


You got that right on the learning curve. Can NEVER learn to much about fly fishing and it is an on going education. Oh, I agree totally on Denny's little figure eight retrieve. AWESOME in inactive fish. Keep on doing what your doing and right on. Maybe we will stand side by side. Then we can really critique each other    
Like the old joke about how many guitarist it takes to screw in a light bulb.......20! One to screw it in and 19 to stand back and say "Not bad but I bet I could have done better".


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