Last month I presented a floating midge pattern to be used if the weather had warmed and there was an afternoon hatch. Well, the weather certainly didn’t warm. Instead temperatures plummeted. So to start this month it’s time to use the reliable combination of a small nymph and midge pupa.

The pupa I’m recommending you tie and try is a pattern I’ve used for many years. It originated when I found midge pupa clinging to my waders when fishing Armstrong’s Spring Creek one early April. I was fairly new to tying my own flies at that time but It occurred to me that I could use a small black brass or tungsten bead to quite accurately represent the head and thorax of the pupa I had picked off my waders. Then a simple thread body, a strand of pearl flashabou over the bead, and some sparkly fibers to represent the legs would give me about as exact match to the natural as I could imagine. I never gave the pattern a name. But recently I discovered that Brian Hilbert, a Colorado guide, professional fly tier, and fly designer for the Montana Fly Company, had created an almost identical pattern and named it the Daysaver Midge. I like his catchy name so I’m calling my pattern a Variant. The back end of my pattern is the same as his.

To tie this month’s pattern I recommend you first view his recently posted YouTube video. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpYrp6cXsN4t=41s) Then if you check out the materials list, study the flies in the photo and follow the details of the instructions section covering the front of the fly, you should have few tying problems.

In the instructions you’ll note I use 2 turn whip finishes at the end of a number of steps so that the thread is precisely placed for the next step. These are important for this and other small patterns to keep exact proportions.

I originally used a dark olive thread to match the pupa I’d captured. But I found black and light olive to also be effective. Hilbert suggests additional colors to try. I originally used a strong barbless scud hook with a slight offset and have stuck with it over the years. I’ve found the offset increases the chances of a solid connection in a small pattern. And, as I’ve often observed, small flies are often get imbedded deep in the throat.of a trout and removing a barbless hook is much easier for the angler and certainly kinder for the trout.

I’ve taken to tying many of this pattern at a session, doing the rear part of a half dozen or so flies, coating them with thinned Liquid Fusion and letting them dry before doing the fronts. I get funny feelings on my lips if I use resin but resin is an alternative if you aren’t as sensitive. With some coating, the thread body is more resistant to damage if you are forced to use your forceps to remove the fly.

You can send comments, questions and suggestions to Bill at fotm@cjtu.org

Material List:

Hook: Saber 7251, size 20 or equivalent

Bead: 1/16 inch brass or tungsten bead, black

Body Thread: Wapsi UTC 140 in dark olive, light olive or black

Thorax Thread: Uni 8/0, Black

Thorax Cover: Flashabou. pearl

Legs: Fluoro Fibre, Grey

Tying Instructions:

1. Place bead on hook, smaller hole toward hook eye. Mount hook in vise tilted slightly downward so bead rests against back of hook eye and hook wire intersects with vice jaw half way around the hook bend.


2. Start the body thread 3 bead widths behind back of hook eye and form body as Hilbert shows in his video ending the body at the thread starting point. Do a 3 turn whip finish and trim body thread. Tilt hook up and push bead back hard so that the larger diameter hole at the back of the bead covers the whip finish. You should now have 2 bead widths of bare shank in front of bead. Grasp the bare section with an EZ clip and remove hook from vise. The width of the hook on the EZ clip just matches what should be bare wire in front of the bead. Now coat body and bead as you choose. Set aside while making another body. If you use thinned Liquid Fusion by the time you get to this point again it will have hardened enough you can place the body on the edge of a Styrofoam cup and use the clip for the new body.


3. Remount hook in vice in normal level position. Start thorax thread behind hook eye winding back to bead. Do a 2 turn whip finish immediately in front of bead. Trim thread tag. Bring thread behind bead and take 2 turns to secure it.


4. Hold about a 2 inch piece of the flashabou with the middle over the back of the bead and on top of the hook shank. Take 2 firm thread wraps and pull the flashabou back until you’ve almost pulled it out from these wraps. Take 3 more thread wraps and move thread to front of bead. Take a 2 turn whip finish immediately in front of bead.


5. Pull flashabou over the top of the bead being careful to keep it centered on top. Over wind forward to back of the eye. Fold flashabou back and overwind to front of bead. Trim flashabou.


6. Cut out about 12 strands from the Fluorofibre bundle. Place on far side of hook with ½ inch protruding behind bead. Overwrap forward to back of hook eye. Fold bundle back on near side of hook and overwrap back to bead. Form a nice thread head, whip finish and trim thorax thread.


7. Tug the bundles back so they emerge from the whipped wraps level with the hook shank. Trim to half way down the body. The longer section of the Fluorofibre bundle is ready for use on your next fly. Coat head with nail varnish.

On our streams this month the most productive rig to fish when both the air and water are cold is a small nymph trailed by a midge pupa. It’s hard work but someone has to train those stocked rainbows. But, if the weather warms up for a few days in a row and the sun is out in the afternoon, you might see a few sips in the film. Then it’s time to attach this month’s pattern to a few feet of 6 or 7X tippet and put some drag free reach casts over those sip locations. Witnessing actual sucks rather than watching an indicator is preferred by me and I suspect most of you.

The pattern is the assemblage of Davie McPhail, the famous Scottish tyer. If you have been tying for a year or two and have an inquiring mind, you’ve undoubtedly run into his videos on youtube. He has hundreds. I say assemblage and not design because the technique of using an extended body of ultra chenille or similar material was pioneered by Brett Smith several decades ago in what he called a Palomino Caddis. McPhail has merely down sized the hook to match midges and matched it with recent materials for the body extension.and the wing.

For tying instructions I refer you directly to McPhail’s 2016 video. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUxb9iZ3u5o). It’s how I first tied the pattern for testing back then. However experience over the intervening years has motivated me to make some simple changes. First is that I use Hareline EZ Magic Dub which is readily available in the US vs the Veniard Easy Dub Micro Chenille which is more easily obtained in the UK. The two products are extremely similar and either will work fine. .Another change is the recommended hook. I tried the Fulling Mills hook that McPhail recommends plus a number of alternatives and have settled on a barbless scud hook from the Fly Shack, their Saber 7259. It’s easily obtained here and hooks very well. Further, the smallest size available of the Fulling Mills hook is a16. I’ve found the pattern also works well as an 18 and the Saber hook is available in both 16 and 18.. Finally, I greatly recommend barbless hooks or hooks with barbs bent on any small size fly since they frequently get imbedded deeply in a trout’s jaw and are removed easier with less damage to the trout than a barbed hook. As for colors, black is the most useful but I also carry a few in olive, brown and chartreuse. In his video McPhail recommended you carry a dozen of these flies in your box. That’s been a bit of overkill for local fishing but I’m glad I took his advice on my last trip to the Missouri.

My final comment is a personal one. I love McPhail but have great difficulty understanding him. Many others whom I’ve talked with have the same problem. So watch the referenced and other of his videos with the closed captions on and rewatch key segments several times until your brain gets properly tuned.

You can send comments, questions and suggestions to Bill at fotm@cjtu.org

Material List:

Hook: Saber 7259 Barbless Scud Hook, sizes 16 and 18

Thread: Uni-8/0, Black

Wing: 3 CDC feathers, stacked

Body: Hareline EZ Magic Dub or Veniards Easy Dub Micro Chenille

Thorax: Peacock Herl

Hackle: Grizzly Cock