Mo Report: Midges

The water is a fishy and buggy 44 degrees plus.  The flows are holding between 38 and 3900 cfs.  There are often swirling vortices of hatching midges covering the water.  Baetis are showing more and more, with strong hatches occurring closer to Cascade.  I fished a piece of water on Tuesday that was covered in tiny sails and trout were eagerly sucking them down.  They mistakenly slurped my tiny para BWO from time to time.

Nymphs
Try fishing a Green Machine in black, PT or Grey.  Other good choices include the JuJu Baetis, Pandemic May, Flashback Biot Nymph BWO, Indigo Child, Bruised Baetis and a variety of colored Zebra’s.  You can fish your tiny flies behind a good old Czech/scud/sow if you need to go deep or drop it off a dry fly in the shallows.

Emerger / Soft Hackles
Midges have been hatching prolifically.  Get after it in the morning with an RS2, Pulsating Emerger, Lightning Bug Softy, Ice Breaker or your favored itty bitty.  Fish them solo or drop off a larger dry or a little white Palsa indicator.

Dry
Water conditions and bug life are good.  Weather will be your factor.  Fishing dries blind has potential.  I found some fish still willing to take my Skwala this week.  BWO’s are coming on strong.  Try a Smiths Striving Dun BWO, Galloup’s Ride Rite BWO, Wike’s Donatello, BWO Para Extended Body, Griffiths, Buzz Balls and a few #14 Parachutes of your choice.

Streamer
The bite is iffy.  Low clear water is not the ticket for fishing the big flies in the spring.  Especially during bright daylight hours.  I’m not saying not to streamer fish right now.  If it is your game, you can still find some players.