Chironomid Question

[Donald Nicolson]

Couldn't get an answer, so I'll try a general question.

I have noticed a lot of North American chironomid patterns use a white bead head, is this plastic and is it fluo or luminous, also what is the hook size range. We often tie ours on size 10s as the buzzers on lochs/lakes can be very big.

[Fly Goddess]

Can't speak for everyone, but the people I know and myself, they are WHITE METAL beads. I prefer Tungsten for the weight. I have read that by using these you don't need the tuft for gills, but I still use it sometimes.
I tie mine on scuds and straight hooks, but the largest I make is a #12, but there are some stillwaters I go to that you could definitely use larger.

Here are some of mine:







Black and white are really popular here on a straight hook.

I think Chironomids are my favorite choice to fish (next to dries)

[Normand]

i think the white bead can be plastic or metal, depending on how you want to fish it. plastic to keep it near the surface, metal to allow it to sink. i'm not quite sure about the fluorescent beads. i dont use them but others might.

[Ron Eagle Elk]

I tie most of my buzzers on scud hooks as well, with the sizes ranging from 12 down to 20. Sometimes that small buzzer fished under a dry will bring a trout up nicely.

[Donald Nicolson]

I really like your flies, I have used chironomids [buzzers] quite a lot on stillwaters and they are great fish catchers.
Do you fish a stingle fly? I use two or sometimes three. A weighted fly on the point and a CdC on the top, which can sometimes act as an indicator,
if the surface is calm enough.
Otherwise I use a good indicator.
The most successfull buzzers are variations of
black with various contrasting ribs.







There are a lot more of the large ones on my site,
some look a bit rough, but they did catch fish.
I was into Spanflex at the time.

[Fly Goddess]

To me Buzzers and Chironomids are two different things...That is TO ME.
I have far better luck with Chironomids of different sizes and I have to think it is the BEAD.
I do have moments when Buzzers are the ticket, but My Chironise always work.

Here are the buzzers I use



But here is a Chironomid in action:

[Donald Nicolson]

Ah, bit of a problem in terminology, here in the UK, Buzzer is the
common anglers name for the actual insect,
so called because it 'buzzes'.
Chironomid is the latin name for them,
and is not used much by anglers.

"Two nations separated by the same language"

[JohnScott]

.... is still a midge ?? Can't speak to still water fishing, but for stream and river midge fishing they don't need beads, they don't need gills, and they don't need stripes. Here's a link to my favorite midge pattern. It has worked everywhere I've fished it on moving water, tied on a size 16 1X short scud hook.

http://www.flyanglersonline.com/flyt...091007fotw.php

John

P.S. I like to bring this one out of the archives once in a while in the name of simplicity.

[Fly Goddess]

.... is still a midge ?? Can't speak to still water fishing, but for stream and river midge fishing they don't need beads, they don't need gills, and they don't need stripes. Here's a link to my favorite midge pattern. It has worked everywhere I've fished it on moving water, tied on a size 16 1X short scud hook.

http://www.flyanglersonline.com/flyt...091007fotw.php

John

P.S. I like to bring this one out of the archives once in a while in the name of simplicity.

Now put a small tuft of white on the front and back of that and it is my favorite Pupa....Also add white softhackle to it and it becomes a killer dry or emerger.

[Buddy Sanders]

Donald,

I don't have any pictures of them, but I use GLASS beads for my 'buzzers'..white opalescent (pearlized) glass...Looks like a bubble, which is what I'm trying to imitate....

The rest of the fly is just thread with a wire rib- Red/black rib is by far my most productive (catch 90% of my chronimid fish on that color)...I also tie them with brown/tan rib, yellow/green rib, and black/silver rib. I like to coat the whole body/rib with lacquer, makes the fly more durable and I think it shimmers better, but I often do without that step.

I fish them in stillwater under an indicator in a 'gang' of three or four flies (where legal)..I sometimes fish them pretty deep this way...found a couple of off shore ledges in 20 to 30 feet where these are killers....I'll also use it as a trailing fly when using leech patterns or streamers in mid summer....don't know why that works, but it does...

Buddy