Syl's Midge
Curtis - May, 2020
The Syl's Midge, from Sylvester Nemes, has been one of my favorite midge soft hackle patterns over the years. It's a stellar pattern fished on the swing, the rise or just tossing into a pod of midge-eating trout. I've had times where, after throwing lots of my standards, a soft hackle like the Syl's Midge saves the day. Strikes can be subtle but it can also be the mini-equivalent of streamer fishing to aggressive fish. And if you want a different take on it, throw the Purple or Red versions on high mountain lakes during midge (chironomid) hatches when they refuse your surface patterns. Killer stuff!
The purple version here (and a couple of color variants whose materials are shown below) are great additions to any midge or nymph box. With the material list being so simple, it's easy to mix up the colors and show the fish something different. If you go with the colored variations, make sure to go with the Nature's Spirit bleached and dyed peacock since it holds the colors a lot better than just dying standard peacock first.
And the icing on the cake on this is the purple Hen Cape from Whiting Farms. We got our hands on a number of these and they work great on this pattern.
- Hook: Hanak H 200 BL Stillwater & Nymph Hook - 16
- Thread: 8/0 UNI-Thread Waxed Midge - Purple
- Thread (Std Version): 8/0 UNI-Thread Waxed Midge - Black
- Thread (Red Version): 8/0 UNI-Thread Waxed Midge - Red
- Body: Nature's Spirit Bleached Dyed Peacock Sticks - Purple
- Body (Std Version): Peacock Eye Sticks
- Body (Red Version): Nature's Spirit Bleached Dyed Peacock Sticks - Red
- Soft Hackle: Whiting Red Label Hen Cape - Purple
- Hackle (Std Version): Whiting Brahma Wing Soft Hackle Pair
- Hackle (Red Version): Whiting Red Label Hen Cape - White Dyed Fiery Brown
- Tools Used: C&F Design Dubbing Twister Plus, C&F Design Hackle Pliers,
