I looked in my outdoor aquarium today and there were 20+ chironomids right under the surface. They look a lot different than the fake ones. The real ones seem to have a lot bigger heads than the fakes. Their body also seemed to be more curled as they float to the surface. I just thought i should share that bit of info with you guys. I think i might try to tie some chirnomids with bigger heads and i might use a hook normally used for scuds or something like that. Ohh, and the gills are practically invisible.
Hi Rory, While I'm not a crackerjack aquatic entomologist (I have played a marine biologist on TV), you might be describing relatives of the chironomids (non-biting midges), specifically mosquito pupae (both in the same subgroup in the order Diptera, along with crane flies and gnats). A mosquite pupa has a big thorax and comes to the surface to breath air through a tube - not behavior that I'm familiar with for chironomids. Consistent with this is your observaton that you did not see any gills. This site provides an overview of some of the differences between mosquitoes and chironomids: http://www.napamosquito.org/Mosquitos/mosquito1.htm. I guess the true test will come when you see if the bugs that emerge bite you. Steve
One thing I wonder is if fish ever key in on e the swimming motion of chironomids. As they some to the top there tail dashed back in forth. I don't know if that is mimicable, or if the fish even key in on it compared to a hook moving straight up in the water.
Hmmm... the more i think about it thte more i think they are mosquitoes. I have seen a lot of mosquito larvae but i guess i have never seen mosquito pupae.
Rory, I picked up a book several years ago (that was a pretty old book even then) called Midge Magic. Seems this gent is a weekend entomologist, and flyfisherman. He catches fish, pumps their stomachs, looks at the midge pupae under a microscope, and copies them in various fly patterns. The book has a really good set of pics of different pupae and some copies he makes with hook and material. PM me if you need the particulars on the book (author, copyright, etc.). The book is worth looking at if you're gonna get serious about matching the hatch with these little bugs. Sean Sultan
I'd like to have the name,and particulars of that book Too. Please share it with all of us then you won't have to keep emailing people back :beer2:
Google is a wonderful thing. Midge Magic by Don Holbrook and Ed Koch. Published in 2001 by Stackpole Books. $29.95 ($18.87 now on Amazon) for 128 pages. Here's a few reviews: www.fishandfly.co.uk/bookrevs/midgemagic.html www.flytyingforum.com/blog/kevincompton/index.php?cmd=showentry&eid=131 There are others on the Amazon site. Steve
Thanks for looking that up, Steve. Yep, that's the one. Sorry - I wasn't trying to be cagey at all about the book - I was just at work, and couldn't google at the time (though I was able to WFF! - go figure... ) Sean Sultan
