Written by Mike Gentry

It's virtually impossible to fish any lake without seeing fleets of barberpole-striped midge pupae floating in the film, awaiting their chance to mature. We're not the only ones who notice them; these chironomids are known morsels to trout in any waters. And the added virtue to us as fin-stalkers is that they are virtually always present, in any month and most any weather. I won't tell you that trout always key on them; that often depends on hierarchy of food present on the water at any given time. But I will tell you that when midge hatches are occurring, this pattern has earned its way into my "dirty dozen" of lake fish along fifty feet of shore, on one of the "pay to play" lakes John and Amy Hazel manage near Maupin.

Hook: Tiemco 100 BL, #s 16-18
Thread: 8/0 Black
Ribbing: White Thread
Emerging Wing: Silvery-white Z-lon
Hackle: Grizzly


1. Secure your thread on the hook with seven or eight turns just behind the hook eye.

2. Tie in a three inch or so piece of white thread on top of the hook shank with several turns of the black tying thread (as if the white thread was going to be a long tail) and start winding the tying thread in tight single-layer wraps (no hook showing) back from the eye, covering the white thread. Continue to the start of the bend of the hook.

3. Wind a second layer of thread in tight turns forward to halfway to the eye.

4. Cut a small bunch (about 15-20 strands) of Z-lon into a three-inch or so length (so you'll have enough to hold when winding), and tie the forward end down with the rest sticking backwards. Wrap the typing thread forward in tight loops over the tag end of the Z-lon so it doesn't show, to about 1/8 inch behind the eye.

5. Holding or crimping the Z-lon forward and out of the way, wrap the white thread forward in loops such that the black and white alternating spirals of the body are evenly spaced. Stop when you are two turns short of the Z-lon.

6. Holding the Z-lon tight pointing backward along the top of the hook shank, continue wrapping the white thread, wrapping two more turns over the Z-lon and then continuing forward (2-3 turns) until reaching the tying thread. Tie off and clip.

7. Tie in a sized (i.e., small) grizzly hackle and make four turns, tie and clip. The tying thread should then be at the back of where the head will be.

8. Pull the Z-lon forward on the top of the hook and through the hackle, and tie off the Z-lon so there is a bulge or crest in the Z-lon (imitating emerging wings). Clip off the remaining Z-lon as close as possible.

9. Wrap the head and finish with a small drop of head cement.