I was fishing the Bighorn last week and a buddy gave me a midge larva pattern that he'd gotten from one of the shops in Ft Smith. It had a clear glass bead for a head and the body was a dark material that looked black until you looked closely and then you could see that it was a very dark red translucent material. In the light, you could see through the material to the hook. In addition to the good color, the thing that stood out to me about the fly was that the body was extremely small diameter. It was a good pattern for me. Does anyone have any idea what the body was made of?

Thanks,

Jim

probably midge tubing from hareline or another tying supplier. great stuff for not only midge bodies but baetis and caddis as well. the tubing gives the body a great segmented appearance. not sure if the trout have the time to notice that though.....

I agree.

It's called hollow micro tubing - the stuff is great. I have tied tons of flies with this stuff and love it.

Blog page with flies

It's red spanflex with black thread under it.

Brandon - That's a good looking midge larva. Thanks for the info.

Jim

you can also use "stretch magic" cord from the bead supply dept in your local big box craft store

spanflex is an elastic floss type material and is not translucent

Here is one Rick Takahashi tied for me. It is one of the most beautiful flies I have ever seen.

^^ rick is an artist that became a fly tier, and it shows in his work.

Another product you might find useful is Stretch Magic. It is available at Hobby Lobby and Micheal's, I'd suggest buying the .5mm clear. The stretch Magic can be pulled taught to decrease its diameter for smaller sized flies and it will magnify the color of the material underneath. Mark Tracy took a photograph of a midge pupa I tied using the Stretch Magic. Angler's Roost in Fort Collins, Colorado carries clear, red, black, chartreuse and a yellow Stretch magic in .5mm.

Mark Tracy did the product photography for our upcoming book: Modern Midges, tying and fishing the worlds most effective patterns that is being published by Headwater Books a division of Stackpole Books. The book is due out Stepember of 2009.
We have collected over a 1000 midge patterns with recipes, a basic tying guide, fishing tips and info in midge fly fishing techniques.
Hope this helps.
Tak

Another great midge material is Super Hair. It is used for Craven's Jujubee.

http://www.charliesflyboxinc.com/flybox/de...cfm?parentID=95

This is a MONEY pattern....

Stretch Magic is nice, but at .5mm it can't be used on size 20 or 22 flies as it is too bulky. The Hollow Micro Tubing folds down almost ribbon flat.

I will say that Stretch Magic is great for lots of other larger flies and for ribbing large stoneflies.

red stretch magic





might even be able to stretch it for a size 26 hook but i dont tie that small

Here is Stretch Magic on a size 20. I wouldn't say it is too bulky. I also have used it for flies ranging in size 22 as well as it ties and lays nicely.

0.5mm stretch magic works well on long shank hooks down to 24's.

The first fly is spanflex with red thread. The second fly is the fly sold in the shop and tied with black thread.

It's called Larva Lace

Here's what the person who ties the fly in question for the shop gave me

Well then, it appears it could be spanflex.