If you look closely, you can see I should have been wearing my glasses when I finished the thread on this. Ah well.. it still caught fish! And you can use less herl too!

Chironomids are one of the most important food sources for fish, especially in lakes. As adults, they become a small two winged insect called a midge or gnat. There are over a thousand different types of chironomids in North America, and many fly anglers do not use them enough. Although related to mosquitoes, adult chironomids don't bite human flesh. In fact, most adult gnats don't even feed during that part of their lifespan.

In the larva stage, chironomids are worm-like in that they have a segmented body. They can be a variety of colours including brown, red. black, and green, or even cream coloured with a green tinge. As they develop into a pupa, an eye spot and wing casing appears.along with white gills near the head. You can often see the wing cases floating at the surface of the water when they have developed into adults. This can be a good sign that it might be a good time to give chironomids while using a floating line a try.

During the daytime, some estimates suggest that in lakes, chironimids can account for up to 27 percent of a fish's diet - but this drops off considerably in the evening and night time hours.

This particular pattern was created when Ernie Kalwa asked me to tie up some "skinny" flies for the team when we competed near Grand Prairie, Alberta, in the Canadian Fly Fishing Championships, and we'd be fishing only lakes. I had some red flextreme material and some red Charles Jardine F221 "Grayling/Bug" size 10hook. You could probably try sizes 8 to 16. I recall that I hooked at least one Rainbow Trout on this fly at Moonshine Lake. Since then, I've caught numerous rainbows with this fly pattern (I also tied up a bunch of these skinny chironomid flies that used French Oval tinsel). The best way to fish it is the same as when using buzzers: Either very very slow with hardly any movement at all, or by giving the line a quick sharp pull, and then pausing for several seconds before another quick sharp pull.

It can also be fished where it is legal, in a tandem of two or three flies - either the same pattern or with other chironomid patterns.

I never gave this pattern a name. I'm sure someone else has tied up lots of them exactly the same, and I know there are many that are similar. So, it's my "Just A Bloodworm" pattern - that works.

Dressing:

Hook: Jardine F221 Grayling/Bug Red Hook
Sizes: #8 to #16
Body: Red Flextreme
Head: Gold Bead
Thorax: Peacock Herl

A stillwater rainbow trout that succumbed to this bloodworm pattern

Thread: Red Uni-Thread

Tying Steps:

1. Slide bead up the hook shank to the eye.
2. Tie the thread onto the hook shank well down the bend of the hook.
3. Trim away the excess thread.
4. Tie in the red Flextreme.
5. Wrap the thread up to the bead..
6. In touching turns wrap the Flextreme to the bead.
7. Tie off the Flextreme
8. Trim away the excess Flextreme.
9. Tie in 3 or 4 peacock herl.
10. Make 3 or 4 turns around the hook shank just below the bead with the peacock herl.
11. Tie off peacock herl.
12. Brush some head cement on the thread.
13. Whip finish.

Simple. And it catches fish.

Related:

Copper Oval Tinsel Brassie Chironomid

More Midge - Chironomid Patterns

More Success Fly Fishing Lakes