Some Midges

Flies from the internet.

Hook: Scud style

Bead: Rainbow color

Thread: Olive

Rib: Black wire

Thorax: Olive Ice Dubbing

Attach the bead and tying thread

Tie in the wire behind the bead and wrap thread toward the bend of the hook

Build a thread body and rib with the wire

Trim off the wire and dub the thread

Wrap the thorax with the dubbed thread and whip finish

Hook: Scud style

Bead: Pearl color

Thread: Red

Tag & Body: Red thread and pearl tinsel

Thorax: Sow/Scud Dubbing - Rainbow Color

Add bead to the hook and wrap red thread for the under body and tag

Attach pearl tinsel and wrap the body as shown above

Dub the thread with the rainbow colored sow/scud dubbing

Wrap a thorax behind the bead, tie off the thread and whip finish

Hook: Scud style

Bead: Silver Tungsten

Thread: Red

Tail: Pheasant Tail Fibers

Body: Pearl Tinsel

Thorax: Sow/Scud Dubbing - Rainbow Color

Attach a silver tungsten bead and trying thread

Tie in the pheasant tail fibers and create the tail and body as shown above

Tie in pearl tinsel behind the bead

Wrap a tinsel body

Dub the tying thread with the rainbow sow/scud dubbing

Wrap a thorax behind the bead, tie off the thread and whip finish

Beadhead Buckskin Nymph

Beadhead Buckskin Nymph

Hook: Your Favorite

Bead: Black; size to match hook size

Thread: Color to match the buckskin

Body: Ultra-Suede (suede like yarn) by Rainbow Gallery

Tail/Legs: Brown hackle fibers

Stuck in Shuck Midge

Stuck in Shuck Midge

Hook - Tiemco 101, size 16-24 

Thread - Black  

Shuck - Amber Z-lon or equivalent

Shellback - White Z-lon or equivalent 

Abdomen - Tying thread 

Hackle - Grizzly 

Thorax - Peacock Herl

Bi-color Nymph

During a recent clean up of my external hard drive that holds my fly fishing and fly tying files that I have collected from many years of web surfing, I came upon a .PDF file of a pheasant tail nymph tied by a British fly tyer named Alan Bithell.. So I have decided to make this fly a new arrticle for this blog with a step by step tying instructions.

Hook: Nymph Style

Thread: Color to match body

Tail & Overbody: Pheasant Tail

Rib: Fine Copper Wire

Abdomen &amp: Thorax: Dubbing*

Tie in the pheasant tail fibers with the tips facing forward. The Pheasant tail should be about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hook shank long. Eventually these fibers will be pulled back to the hook bend and will make the back of the fly.

Pull the butt ends of the pheasant tail fibers forward and tie down behind the hook eye.

Pull the butt ends back towards the the hook bend and tie down. This is now the built up thorax area of the fly.

Trim off the butt ends of the pheasant tail fibers.

Tie in the copper wire and wrap the thread to the bend of the hook. Dub the thread with your favorite dubbing.

Dub the abdomen of the fly.

Dub the thorax with a darker color or use the same color as the abdomen. Your choice.

Tie off the thread behind the hook eye and trim it off.

Pull the pheasant tail fibers from the eye of the hook back to the bend of the hook and bind down with the copper wire.

Spiral wrap the copper wire forward and stop behind the thorax. Add a couple of half hitches or whip finish the wire and trim off the excess wire.

Top View

Side View

TYING TIP: When tying this fly, experiment with different colors of pheasant tail and/or different colors of dubbing. Use gold wire instead of copper or use the Ultra wire that comes in a rainbow of colors.

All Black Pheasant Tail

Natural Hares Ear

Setups for Fly Photography

There is most likely an infinite number of ways to setup an area in your fly tying room or dedicated fly tying space to photograph your flies. Light boxes come in a myriad of styles, from home made to professionally designed that come all inclusive with lights and even a small mount for the camera.

There are time that I will use a professional type of "studio in a box" for photographing some flies, like the one shown below. Its the American Recorder SIB-101CS Photo Studio-in-a-Box i purchased a few years ago.

Reference: https://www.americanrecorder.com/catalog.php?d=46

My other setup for fly photography is just a simpler version of the "studio in a box" shown above and allows me to photograph flies as I tie them or "step by step" style.

The above setup is pretty crude compared to the "studio in a box" setup but it works best for me.It is conveniently positioned on my tying table, i can use my "Daylight" brand tying light from above and a Home Depot clip on light with a "Daylight" bulb lighting the subject from below. The vise is allowed to stay on my tying bench. No moving the vise to the alternate location. The background is a gray colored Tiemco Hook File box that i purchased long ago. Raised up by a couple of fly boxes or books, it is elevated perfectly. I can also tape different colored sheets of parer to the hook boxes for different colored backgrounds or effects. My Pentax Optio W30 at 7.1 megapixels, is more than enough for fly photography. Mounted on a SLIK tripod, it is portable and can get in close for macro or manual focus photography.

In conclusion, there are even more elaborate setups than the ones I use and probably even more simpler setups too. Find the one thats best suited for you and start photographing your flies.

Worms, Worms & More Worms