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Midge (Chironomidae)
Midge, in the drift all year, active in water between 33 and 75°F, and imitated at #18–24. Recorded from the Wisconsin driftless and northern Wisconsin, where 1611 Wisconsin rivers on this site carry a page.
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The smallest thing worth imitating and the most constant one: midges are in the water all year, with every month from January through December counting as peak, and an active band from 33 to 75 degrees that spans cold, cold-transitional, cool and warm water. Hooks run 18 to 24. The larva is thread-thin and often bright red or olive, living in the sediment and taken all winter — a red or black Zebra Midge is a larva imitation and it fishes twelve months a year. The pupa hangs vertically just under the film, and that is where most midge feeding actually happens; a slow rise with no visible fly is almost always a pupa take. Adults are two-winged, no bigger than a comma on the page, and raft together in mating clusters, which is what a Griffith's Gnat imitates — a cluster, not one insect. When nothing else explains rising fish, it is midges.
- #18–24Hook size
- 33–75°FWater, active
- all yearAvailable
- 3Life stages fished
What it is
Midge · Chironomidae · larva → pupa → adult
Midges: the smallest thing worth imitating and the most constant. Larvae are thread-thin and often bright red or olive; pupae hang vertically in the film; adults are two-winged and no bigger than a comma on the page.
The only thing hatching in January and still hatching in July. When nothing else explains rising fish, it is midges.
When it hatches
In the water twelve months a year, which is why the panel in the app ranks it below anything with a season.
peak shoulder not recommended
Water conditions
The band is a water temperature, not an air temperature, and it is the range in which this insect is worth fishing — for a mayfly that is the emergence window; for a scud or a midge it is simply the range trout will still eat one in.
Active from 33°F to 75°F. On this map that is cold, cold-transitional, cool, warm water — the band crosses 3 of the three breaks the river colours use. Breaks at 58, 64 and 70°F.
Stages
What the insect is doing, and what that means for what you tie on.
| Stage | What it is |
|---|---|
| larva | A worm-like larva in the sediment, taken all winter. A red or black zebra midge is a larva imitation and it fishes twelve months a year. |
| pupa | The pupa hangs suspended just under the film, and this is where trout do most of their midge feeding. A slow rise with no visible fly is almost always a pupa take. |
| adult | Adults raft together on the surface in mating clusters — which is what a Griffith's Gnat imitates, a cluster rather than one insect. |
Matching flies
8 patterns in this book imitate the Midge, across its stages. Which one to tie on follows the stage the water temperature says it is in — the app makes that call on a live reading; this page lists the whole set.
- Black Beauty nymph · #18–24 — Midge pupa, fished under an indicator in slow winter water.
- Blackfly Larva nymph · #18–22 — A tiny black tapered body on a curved hook. Dropped off something bigger in a spring riffle.
- Brassie nymph · #16–22 — Copper wire and peacock. Sinks fast for its size, which is the point.
- Griffith's Gnat dry fly · #18–24 — A cluster of midges in one fly. The winter dry, and the answer to unexplained sippers.
- Higa's SOS nymph · #16–20 — Small, slim, and deadly in clear low water.
- Renegade dry fly · #12–18 — Two hackles, fore and aft. Fished damp in the film as often as dry.
- RS2 emerger · #16–24 — The emerger that saves a hatch you cannot otherwise crack. Fish it in the film.
- Zebra Midge nymph · #18–24 — Two materials and a bead. The winter fly, and the fly for the last two feet of a tailout.
Where to find it right now
The rivers with a page here that sit in this insect's regions, with a USGS gauge reporting water temperature. This list is re-ranked against the reading each gauge is sending now and today's date, so it is live — the fallback below it, if the readings do not arrive, is each river's measured July mean.
- Black Earth Creek the Wisconsin driftless · July mean 61.6°F
- Baraboo River the Wisconsin driftless · July mean 62.2°F
- Billings Creek the Wisconsin driftless · July mean 62.2°F
- Brandy Creek the Wisconsin driftless · July mean 62.2°F
- Brewer Creek the Wisconsin driftless · July mean 62.2°F
- Cazenovia Branch the Wisconsin driftless · July mean 62.2°F
- Council Creek the Wisconsin driftless · July mean 62.2°F
- Deer Creek the Wisconsin driftless · July mean 62.2°F
- Fountain Creek the Wisconsin driftless · July mean 62.2°F
- Grinsell Branch the Wisconsin driftless · July mean 62.2°F
Regional presence
Regions, not collection records. This insect is recorded from the coarse regions below; nobody has surveyed which named river it has been caught on, and this page will not pretend otherwise.
- northern lower Michigan MI
- southern lower Michigan MI
- the Upper Peninsula MI
- the Wisconsin driftless WI
- northern Wisconsin WI
- the Virginia mountains VA
- the North Carolina mountains NC
- southeast Minnesota MN
Rivers in these regions with a page here
- Saint Croix River
- Adams Creek
- Alder Creek
- Alder Creek
- Allen Creek
- Allen Creek
- Allen Creek
- Allen Creek
- Allenton Creek
- Allequash Creek
- Alvin Creek
- Amo Creek
- Anderson Creek
- Annis Creek
- Apple Branch
- Apple Creek
- Apple River
- Arkansaw Creek
- Armstrong Creek
- Armstrong Creek
- Arnold Creek
- Ash Creek
- Auburn Lake Creek
- Augustine Creek
- and 1587 more
Related hatches
Same family, or overlapping this one's calendar on the same water.
- Blackfly Simulium spp. · Midge · April–June
- Blue-Winged Olive Baetis spp. · Mayfly · March–May and September–November
- Cranefly Tipula spp. · Other · April–June and September–October
- Grasshopper Acrididae · Terrestrial · July–September
- Light Cahill Maccaffertium ithaca · Mayfly · May–July