Ginny Midge Pattern & Tying Instructions
Fly Tying Recipe:
Ginny Midge
Show / Hide Ginny Midge Transcript Video Transcript:
The Ginny Midge is a super simple midge pattern thats been getting a lot of positive press lately. If you’re just beginning to tie real small, it’s a great fly to start with. Even a size 24 is fairly easy to master.
For a hook, a Dai-Riki #125 in size 24 works really well. Plunger style hackle pliers make handling such diminutive hooks much easier. Although it’s practically microscopic, I still think it’s worth it to mash the barb. Small hooks like this can be difficult to remove, and a barb doesn’t help.
A midge sized silver and gray glass bead gives the fly some extra shimmer, but other colors also look good. Usually, you can impale a bead just by dragging your hook through the herd.
If your vise has midge jaws, by all means, use them with hooks this small. Once you have the hook firmly secured, push the bead all the way up to just behind the eye.
For thread, I’m going to use black 6/0 Danville because it works really well on teeny stuff. Start your thread on the hook shank immediately behind the bead and take wraps rearward before snipping or breaking off the tag.
The body and wing are made from small pearl flashabou. A single strand is enough to make a bunch of flies. Secure the flashabou to the top of the hook shank and begin making touching or slightly overlapping wraps rearward, down into the bend. Then turn around and do the same back up the hook shank to behind the bead. Secure the flashabou with 3 or 4 wraps of tying thread.
With hackle pliers, get hold of the strand and give it 2 or 3 turns which will make it want to double over and form a loop. Using a pinch wrap, secure the flashabou with 2 wraps right behind the bead then carefully pull on the flashabou to draw the wing down to about half a hook shank in length. Take one more thread wrap to lock down the wing and then snip the excess flashabou off close. You can put it away in a safe place to be used on the next Ginny Midge.
Do a 4 or 5 turn whip finish and then snip or cut your tying thread free. That little twist in the wing material gives it a good bit of dimension and a more natural look.
And that’s the Ginny Midge, they’re great for those times when you need to either go small or go home.
For a hook, a Dai-Riki #125 in size 24 works really well. Plunger style hackle pliers make handling such diminutive hooks much easier. Although it’s practically microscopic, I still think it’s worth it to mash the barb. Small hooks like this can be difficult to remove, and a barb doesn’t help.
A midge sized silver and gray glass bead gives the fly some extra shimmer, but other colors also look good. Usually, you can impale a bead just by dragging your hook through the herd.
If your vise has midge jaws, by all means, use them with hooks this small. Once you have the hook firmly secured, push the bead all the way up to just behind the eye.
For thread, I’m going to use black 6/0 Danville because it works really well on teeny stuff. Start your thread on the hook shank immediately behind the bead and take wraps rearward before snipping or breaking off the tag.
The body and wing are made from small pearl flashabou. A single strand is enough to make a bunch of flies. Secure the flashabou to the top of the hook shank and begin making touching or slightly overlapping wraps rearward, down into the bend. Then turn around and do the same back up the hook shank to behind the bead. Secure the flashabou with 3 or 4 wraps of tying thread.
With hackle pliers, get hold of the strand and give it 2 or 3 turns which will make it want to double over and form a loop. Using a pinch wrap, secure the flashabou with 2 wraps right behind the bead then carefully pull on the flashabou to draw the wing down to about half a hook shank in length. Take one more thread wrap to lock down the wing and then snip the excess flashabou off close. You can put it away in a safe place to be used on the next Ginny Midge.
Do a 4 or 5 turn whip finish and then snip or cut your tying thread free. That little twist in the wing material gives it a good bit of dimension and a more natural look.
And that’s the Ginny Midge, they’re great for those times when you need to either go small or go home.
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