Published Apr 24. 2007 - 17 years ago
Updated or edited Sep 22. 2016

HiVis CDC Midge

A high-visibility orange post and CDC makes this small dry perfect for your 7X tippet. Easy to tie, easy to follow on the water and a perfect choice when the fish are picky. Darryl Lampert from South Africa shows us one of his effective patterns.

CDC
Dry flies
Midges
Stream fishing
Trout
Darryl Lampert
The finished fly
Darryl Lampert

The fish are rising all around you to midges. You open your flybox and search for your tiniest midge pattern. You finally manage to tie one onto the 7x tippet and cast it out. With so many rises, it’s very difficult to see when the fish has taken your fly, especially if like me your eye sight is not that great to begin with.

This is the problem I have faced for the last couple of years on the Cape streams, especially with Net-winged midge hatches on the Elandspad. While small midge imitations like the Griffiths Gnat are very effective, when tied on size 18 and smaller they are not the easiest flies to see.

A year or so ago, I started tying a midge pattern using a dubbing loop and a couple of CDC feathers. The pattern was very effective but when tied in black (which I have found to be the best colour) it was very difficult to see.

Underwater release - A HiVis fish returning to the water
May Fly resting - Small May flies and net winged midges can be imitated with the HiVis midge
Rainbow on a Hi-Vis - You can see the fly in the upper jaw of the fish
A dragonfly
Darryl Lampert

One evening after tying up a couple of Parachute Adams, it suddenly hit me that if I added a parachute post to the pattern it would make it far more visible. I tied up a couple using a bright orange post and tried them out on my next outing. They could now be seen at a distance and took fish just as well as the non-parachute version. When tied in sizes 14 – 16, the pattern works well as a crippled mayfly imitation. You can also try skating the pattern to imitate emerging caddis.

HiVis Midge
Pattern type: 
Dry fly
Originator: 
Darryl Lampert
Species: 
bream, brown trout, grayling, rainbow trout (landlocked), roach
Materials: 
Hook
Grip 11011BL Size 18 or Grip 14723BL Size 20 or equivalent
Thread
Gordon Griffiths Sheer Thread 14/0 - black or colour to match CDC
Post
Antron or Poly Yarn - fl orange or colour of choice
Body
CDC Feather - black or colour of choice
Skill level/difficulty: 
Medium
Instruction: 
  1. Start at the hook eye and run the thread about a third of the way down the shank.
  2. Tie in your post at this point – no need to wrap up the post as you would for a normal parachute fly, although I find that a slight wrap up the post makes it easier to palmer the CDC without catching the post fibres.
  3. Run the thread down to the end of the shank.
  4. Take a CDC feather and stroke the fibres so that they are at a 90 degree angle to the stalk. Do the same with a second feather and then place them one on top of the other.
  5. Clamp the one side of the two feathers using a bulldog clip, leaving about 5mm between the feather stalk and the edge of the clip.
  6. Using a sharp pair of scissors, cut the barbs off the feather as close to the stalk as possible.
  7. Spin the bobbin in an anti-clockwise direction until the thread starts to flatten. You can also pinch the thread between your thumb nail and index finger and run your nail over the thread a couple of times to help flatten it.
  8. Split the thread in half using a dubbing needle (I use a large embroidery needle) and hold the dubbing loop open using your finger.
  9. Place the end of the feather barbs into the dubbing loop and then pull down gently on the bobbin to lock the feathers in place.
  10. Gently spin your bobbin in a clockwise direction until the CDC fibres are well trapped and splayed in all directions.
  11. Now palmer the CDC forward and around the parachute post to the eye of the fly and tie off.
  12. The finished fly should look very rough and buggy.
  13. For faster/rougher water, use more CDC to create a bulkier fly, which will float better.

Tying sequence
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Step 5
Step 6
Step 7
Step 8
Step 9
Step 10
Step 11
The finished fly
Darryl Lampert
Sections: 
Patterns
Tie Better
Article gallery

Comments

Submitted by Kevin Thompson on Sun, 2010-12-05 06:52
This is one of the s...

This is one of the simplest explanations of the Petitjean tool I have seen. As good as a video! Great description coupled with the great photos. Keep up the good work!

Submitted by Korrie Broos on Wed, 2009-05-13 03:12
The feather clip is ...

The feather clip is a Marc Petitjean Tool.
Most fly shops will have it or will be able to get it, You can also order it on the web.

Submitted by Nancy on Tue, 2009-05-12 20:06
Hi Darryl, thanks fo...

Hi Darryl, thanks for the great pictures, now can you tell me where I can get a feather clip like that?

Submitted by dlampert on Fri, 2008-11-07 00:14
Hi Richard, Glad ...

Hi Richard,

Glad your son got his first trout on the midge. Don't be scared to tie them larger and fish them during mayfly hatches. I recently caught some mullet using a white version of the pattern with the hivis post.

Regards,
Darryl

Submitted by Richard B. on Tue, 2008-04-08 05:59
Hi Darryl, This fl...

Hi Darryl,
This fly helped my son land his first trout. Thank you so very much for the good memories and excitement this fly brings.

Richard B.

Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 2007-05-05 18:52
Thanks Darryl! For ...

Thanks Darryl!
For years I have fished a #19-21 black parachute w. yellow wing a no tail for midges, but this is about 18537 times easier and quicker to tie!
Will keep you informed :-)

Lars

Submitted by dlampert on Wed, 2007-05-02 16:29
Hi Lars, I have not...

Hi Lars,
I have not had a problem with the fly landing on it's side. With this fly you can cut the post very short and it will still be highly visible on the water. Good luck and let me know how it goes.

Darryl

Submitted by Lars on Tue, 2007-05-01 18:57
Hi Darryl! This is ...

Hi Darryl!
This is a nice fly that I want to try for my local streams here in Denmark!
Does it always land with the orange wing upwards?

Lars

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