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Disco Midge – a flash attraction to gain results
Disco Midge
Tying Instructions
1. Attach the thread behind the eye.
2. Attach a wire ribbing and lay a thread base securing the wire over the top of the shank. Wrap to the mid point of the bend.
3. Attach the Mylar Tinsel at the mid point of the bend and wrap the thread to build up the midge body with a slightly tapered profile.
4. Continue to wrap the thread for a slight tapered profile. Try to keep the thread wraps smooth and even. Finish just behind the eye.
5. Wrap the Mylar Tinsel with even wraps to just behind the eye. Tie off.
6. Wrap the wire ribbing forward with 6-7 evenly-spaced wraps and secure with some thread wraps. Attach a piece if Peacock Herl by the butt just behind the eye.
7. Give three wraps of the herl, taking care to keep each wrap just in front of the other. Tie off and Whip finish.
| Materials
to Order Material, click the link |
|
|---|---|
| Hook | TMC 2487, Size 18-24 |
| Thread | Uni-thread Olive 8/0 |
| Head | Gold Tungsten Bead |
| Underbody | Uni-thread Olive 8/0 |
| Body | Pearl Flashabou |
| Thorax | Peacock Herl |
| Ribbing | Small Silver Wire |
Disco Midge
Not sure who came up with this pattern but on the San Juan River in New Mexico, this pattern is known as the Disco Midge. The fly takes it’s name from the “Disco Era” of the 1970’s with the flashy body of Flashabou or Krystal Flash. On the San Juan, it is tied in sizes 18-24. The use of Flashabou or Krystal Flash for the body is it’s trademark. Colors used are Olive, Pearl, Pink, Red, and Green. The Thorax is generally Peacock Herl, although some patterns will use a dubbing or just thread for the smaller sizes (20-26). A fine ribbing wire is also optional and is used to highlight segmentation as well as some additional weight. A coating of SuperGlue over the body will extend the life of the Flashabou and will also enhance the translucent appearance.
Many Variations
Phil Rowley
A number of variations have been derived from this pattern. If you add a couple of CDC feathers behind the eye, before applying the Peacock Thorax, you get a CDC Midge Emerger. These can be quite effective in color patterns of Pink/Copper, Lime Green/Gold, Pale Olive/Gold, Black/Gold, Red/Gold and Pearl/Copper. Philip Rowley of British Columbia, Canada came up with a very similar pattern variation that he calls “Pearl Pupa“. His pattern utilizes the same body materials as the Disco Midge but he adds a Pearlescent Glass Bead for the head. Chironomids are much larger in the Canadian stillwaters than a New Mexico tailwater river, so his patterns are tied in sizes 12-14 (large enough for a Glass Bead). The glass bead suggest trapped air as well as the white gills on emerging pupae.
Brian Chan also provided another variation to the Disco Midge by adding a tuft of Antron extending beyond a beadhead. This gives the appearance of gills that are often associated with Chironomids.
Mylar Bodies
Brian Chan
Chan’s Red and Black BH Chironomid Pupautilizes Frostbite, Krystal Flash, Flashabou, or Super Floss for the body with a bright Red Wire ribbing. HisFrostbite Chironomid Pupa uses a Silver Wire ribbing with Copper bead. Frostbite is very similar to Krystal Flash. It comes in spools with two strands woven together. Brian separates the strands and uses it to provide a thin translucent body which can be over a thread or dubbed underbody. You’ll find two patterns to his Frostbite Chironomid Pupa. The one shown on this page is his version from his book, “Morris and Chan on Fly Fishing Trout Lakes”. Another version, trademarked by Umpqua Flies, has a more complicated thorax with a Pheasant Tail wingcase and White Antron placed perpendicular to the hook shank so that the gills protrude from the side.
Within the Sierra, we tend to use sizes #16-20 and this size also allows us to use beads. Small glass beads are available as well as micro metallic beads in Gold, Silver, Black, and Tungsten. The metal beads give the pattern a jigging effect upon a slow retrieve. It is considered a chironomid emerger pattern similar to the WD40 and RS2.
Variations
Red/Black Disco
| Hook | Daiichi 1120, Size 16-20 |
| Thread | Uni-thread Black 8/0 |
| Underbody | Uni-thread Black 8/0 |
| Body | Red & Black Krystal Flash |
| Thorax | Peacock Ice Dubbing |
Green Disco
| Hook | Daiichi 1120, Size 16-20 |
| Thread | Uni-thread Olive 8/0 |
| Underbody | Uni-thread Olive 8/0 |
| Body | Olive Krystal Flash |
| Thorax | Peacock Herl |
CDC Midge Emerger, Wine/Copper
| Hook | Daiichi 1120, #16-20 |
| Thread | Uni-thread Olive Dun 8/0 |
| Underbody | Uni-thread Olive Dun 8/0 |
| Body | Wine Krystal Flash |
| Thorax | Peacock Herl |
| Wing | Med. Dun CDC |
| Ribbing | Small Copper Wire |
Pearl Pupa
| Hook | Daiichi 1120, #12-16 |
| Thread | Uni-thread Olive 8/0 |
| Head | Crystal glass bead |
| Underbody | Uni-thread Olive 8/0 |
| Body | Pearl Flashabou |
| Thorax | Peacock Herl |
| Ribbing | Small Silver Wire |
Chan’s Black and Red BH Chironomid Pupa
| Hook | Daiichi 1120, #12-16 |
| Thread | Danville Black 6/0 |
| Head | Black Glass Bead |
| Underbody | Uni-thread Black 8/0 |
| Body | Black Krystal Flash |
| Thorax | Peacock Herl |
| Gills | White Antron |
| Ribbing | Small Red Wire |
Chan’s Frostbite Chironomid Pupa
| Hook | Daiichi 1120, #12-16 |
| Thread | Danville Black 6/0 |
| Head | Copper Bead |
| Underbody | Danville Black 6/0 |
| Body | Black Flashabou |
| Thorax | Peacock Herl |
| Gills | White Antron |
| Ribbing | Small Silver Wire |