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CDC Suspender Midge

2013.04.dryfly.me.midge_suspender_red

Hook: Gamakatsu C12-BM #26 barbless
Thread: Sheer 14/0 Red
Body:  Sheer 14/0 with UTC Ultra Wire Small
Thorax: Taimen Beaver Dubbing Black
Wing: Single white CDC

A tiny suspender on the Gamakatsu #26 barbless hook. As you can see on this picture I have a tendency to tie in too close the hook-eye, but thanks to the large eye on the C12-BM this is fishable.

Tiny Adult Down-Wing Midge

If you read towards the end of the excellent book “Tying Small Flies” the following pattern shows up in the  “32s!” chapter: Tiny Adult Down-Wing Midge.

I’ve tied some flies on the TMC #30 before, but I had a package of Varivas #30 Ultra Midge and Gamakatsu C12-BM #30 that I hadn’t tested out yet, so this ended up as a showcase between the three hooks.

All flies tied with Sheer 14/0 for body, CDC as wing tied in with TMC 16/0

TMC 518

I like the 518: it has a nice hook-gap and good strength in the hook that can deal with “some” force. The eye is small, but that is only to expect in these small hooks. For standard dry-fly in the #30/#32 this is my preferred choice.

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Varivas 2300

First time I tie on the Varivas 2300. Compared to the 518 above this must be handled with a delicate hand! The hook is really light and bends with only the smallest amount of force. On the positive side: the hook-gap is slightly larger than on the 518. I have not fished this yet, but my initial thought is that I would trust the 518 over this hook, but that is to be seen later this summer.

2013.04.dryfly.me.midge_down_wing_varivas

 

Gamakatsu C12-BM

It is barbless, curved and has a extra large eye. The feel of the hook is now better again: it feels strong and can deal with some force. The extra large eye makes this a better choice for attaching it with cold fingers when you are out next to the river.

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The hooks

All hooks together to show the big difference in eye size:

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The packages together with their respective midges on top:

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The pattern itself is easy to tie in on these small hooks. The 518 is still my favourite, but the Gamakatsu is a very good runner-up after this round, so I will experiment some more with that hook before the summer (it is also the only barbless I have seen in this size)!

Practising with #32

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Hook: TMC 518 #32
Body:  TMC 16/0
Hackle: Smallest hackle from a Whiting Bronze dyed brow

 

I really enjoy the challenge of tying on a #32, here I practice on tying in the smallest hackle feathers I can get of my Whiting cape. To take a idea and bring it down from #12 to #32 challenges both your imagination, your stock of material and your eyesight!

This pattern is one of the simpler to tackle in this size, as long as you can get the hackle small enough.

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