Viking Lars | Saturday, 12 February 2022
As spring slowly approaches, the first hatches that will bring fish to the surface are the midge hatches. Although small in size, they hatch in numbers that attract the fish, not least because they are very easy prey, both the ascending pupae, the hatching insect and even the winged insect before it takes flight.
There are hundreds and hundreds of midge imitations, imitating all stages of the insects life cycles - and for good reasons. They are a staple diet for trout, grayling and many other fish year round. Some of them are even quite large, typically those found on still waters. In the late spring, early summer, summer and autumn, midges found on rivers are often very smal.
As the insects are very small, a specific imitation is not necessary and I tend to fish just a few patterns. One is a small, black parachute with a short, yellow wing post to make it easier to see. The other is a classic - the Jassid, originated by dry fly guru, Vincent Marinaro.
Just as simple, really. Originally a body of black thread, a black palmer hackle, clipped underneath and a jungle cock wing. Jungle cock are hard to come by these days, at least if you want to be certain it’s legal, so this is one of the flies where’s it relevant to look for a substitute.
How about substituting it for nothing? Will it make a difference? Probably not. A minute, black palmer will pick off the same fish. But I do like the look of the jungle cock nail over the body.
Thankfully, Danish brand Pro Sportfisher, makes a beautiful substitute, which even has the benefit of being printed on materials that has negative buoyancy. And since they’re not particularly expensive, I even double them up, glueing two together, so both I can the fish can see the nail.
The fly in the PoD is a size 20 (that’s why it looks like it’s tied with rope, in fact just UNI 8/0). An added benefit to using the Pro Sportfisher synthetic jungle cock is durability. They are very hard to break.
As I head into the trout- and grayling season I’ll make sure the box has a handful og Jassids, which I typically only use in size 18-22.
Pattern:
Thread: Black UNI 8/0.
Hook: Ahrex FW 517, #20.
Body: Originally just thread, I use a thin layer of back Fly Rite.
Hackle: Black cock hackle, clipped underneath.
Wing: Pro Sportfisher Gen3 Jungle Cock.
The fly is well worth having and also does wellin bigger sizes. Maybe I should try some in sizes that would imitate terrestrials? I think I will.
Have a great weekend!
Lars