Photo povided by Erik Kraps
Of all the aquatic insects of interest to the fly fisher, the Midge is probably the most unsung insect of the aquatic world.
Unlike the Mayfly, there are no poems or songs about the midge. There are no famous Midge Mother’s Day or October hatches, and I’ve never overheard anyone bragging up the size of the bugs in a given swarm like I have in the stories about the Stonefly.
Maybe it’s due to the fact that there is a midge hatch more or less every single day. Or maybe it's that midge fly environments range from clear fast flowing streams to stagnate ditch water. Or maybe it’s the unflattering local names like Blind Mosquito or Fuzzy Bills. How can they possibly compete with the romance instilled by such names as Pale Morning Dun or Blue Wing Olive.
Regardless of the reasons that the midge is not regaled in poem and song, you would be hard pressed to find a fly fisher on the water without at least one midge pupae pattern and chances are even better, that he or she has a box full in all kinds of variations.