Eric's Midge

Hi-viz with a foam back to keep it floating, Eric Pettine's midge is a killer pattern and easy to see.

None of my personal flies have a name unless Umpqua picks them up and names them.  I do not like having my name on a fly.  Too many tiers and too many tying shows so one never knows where “your” idea came from.

I have always wondered about a better dry midge imitation.  I see midges hatching in January.  It was on the San Juan River in New Mexico that I got the idea for the “Eric’s Midge” in about 1976 and began working on my idea.  The abbreviated tail is to balance the fly on the water.  The closed cell foam makes the fly almost unsinkable.  The burnt orange indicator is to help an “old man’s eyes” see the fly on the water.  For the young folks I tell them you can skip the indicator.  I use a size 28 or 30 as a dropper tied exactly the same.  It is such a simple pattern it is easy to tie in any size.  While I catch trout on both flies the smaller pattern is the money fly.  Without the indicator.  So I watch the size 22 or 24 and react to a rise around the bigger fly.  Someone asked me how many fish I land on the smaller flies.  I had never thought about it because once I fool the trout I don’t care if I land the fish.  The ratio is about one in four.  I guess.