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3. Midge Sizes

What sizes are midges in PA and the Northeast in general? I see a lot of patterns and they call for midge larva/pupa in sizes 16, 18, 20. I never thought midges were that big. Am I missing something?

Let me answer my own question after deciding to use this site and read about midges for myself. Sorry, I should have thought of that first. It seems that midges are mostly sizes 22 and smaller. Some are as big as 14s.
Does any body fish midge larva or pupa's regularly?

Bruce-

Don't know about PA, but here in WA, there is a large contingent of fly fishers using Chironomid (a member of True Fly family Chironomidae) larval and pupal imitations in lakes, and they are hugely successful.

In BC, they also have some semi-voltine (one generation every 2 years) Chironomid species (referred to as "Bombers"), which attain a pupal length of ~28 mm, and whose imitations are tied on a #8 3XL hooks.

Lastchance, when I fish midges in PA spring creeks and tailwaters in the winter, size 20 is big. There are some 20's that come off in State College's Spring Creek in January and February, but I more often am throwing smaller, down to size 26. These midges are typically grey or black, though I've seen olive ones on the Tulpehocken in January. And there's a tiny white midge that comes off on Spring and other mid-state streams just after blue winged olives, probably in April that's a size 28 or smaller. I've seen these tiny white midges other times also, even in summer on the Little J and other streams. I like simple little parachutes, but sometimes drop a zebra midge off the bend. Small griffeth's gnats work well too.

Bruce

Take a look at this--http://winglesswets.forumwww.com/confused-midge-sizes-t234.html

John

From my experience there's no such thing as too small when fishing true midges. There have been many times when my size 22 white midge looked big compared to what the trout were taking.

Try a size 10 renegade, griffiths gnat or buzz ball and life becomes way easier. Drop a size 26 sparkle midge off the back about 16 inches. I like that sparkle cuz you can see it well and the antron covers anything that may be crippled in the film.

If none of the above works, try stripping a size 8 wooly bugger. You may trigger an aggressive strike, or find some fish looking for a main course!