Published Apr 17. 2007 - 16 years ago
Updated or edited Aug 8. 2015

Hivis CDC Midge

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Hi Guys,

This is my first post on the forum. I am based in Cape Town, South Africa and mainly fish our streams for wild rainbow and brown trout. I developed this pattern over the last year or so and find it works very well for selective fish. In size 18 and smaller it's a good midge imitation and if you tie it on 12 - 16's it makes a good crippled mayfly imitation. You can also retrieve it using short strips during a caddis hatch. I don't seem to be able to get all the pics in so shout if you want more details on the tying.

Regards,
Darryl Lampert

Hook: Grip 11011BL Size 18 or Grip 14723BL Size 20
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

Step1: Start at the hook eye and run the thread about a third of the way down the shank

Step2: 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.

Step 3: Run the thread down to the end of the shank

Step 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.

Step 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.

Step 6: Using a sharp pair of scissors, cut the barbs off the feather as close to the stalk as possible.

Step 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.

Step 8: Split the thread in half using a dubbing needle (I use a large embriodery needle) and hold the dubbing loop open using your finger.

Step 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.

Step 10: Gently spin your bobbin in a clockwise direction until the CDC fibres are well trapped and splayed in all directions.

Step 11: Now palmer the CDC forward and around the parachute post to the eye of the fly and tie off.

Step 12: The finished fly should look very rough and buggy.

Step 13: For faster/rougher water, use more CDC to create a bulkier fly, which will float better.

Hi Dave...

Hi Dave

Nice fly!! numerous vartiations on the theme (colourwise).

I've tried the dubbing loop method before but I find it rather time consuming so I tie cdc feathers from the tip and wind them hackle-style round the hook shank. It takes a couple of seconds and the result is very similar. You just have to be careful to choose the right sized feather and to stroke the cdc fibres back after each turn so they don't get caught up in the next turn.

PS Just wanted to pay my compliments for your great photos!! Makes me want to come back to SA (I live in Italy now)!!

Hi Dave...

[quote:cdd5822272="Morenofly"]Hi Dave

Nice fly!! numerous vartiations on the theme (colourwise).

I've tried the dubbing loop method before but I find it rather time consuming so I tie cdc feathers from the tip and wind them hackle-style round the hook shank. It takes a couple of seconds and the result is very similar. You just have to be careful to choose the right sized feather and to stroke the cdc fibres back after each turn so they don't get caught up in the next turn.

PS Just wanted to pay my compliments for your great photos!! Makes me want to come back to SA (I live in Italy now)!![/quote:cdd5822272]

Hi Moreno,

Thanks. When I first tried splitting the thread for a dubbing loop, I found it quite difficult. With a bit of practice I can now tie these flies in around 3 minutes. The advantage of the split thread dubbing loop is that you get a fly that is buggy from back to front compared to your technique where the rear of the fly will have a slimmer profile. Also by using half of a single feather in a dubbing loop, you can tie a very sparse pattern that is still buggy - this is not possible when you palmer the whole feather. Having said all of that, both flies will catch fish !

Thanks for the compliments re the pics, I will be posting more on the site in the near future. What is the flyfishing like in Italy ?

Regards,
Darryl

Hi Darryl...

Hi Darryl

You are perfectly right about the "buggyness"! With my method the body tends to taper a little but this also depends on the type of cdc feather which you choose.

I'm a little fixated with sparsely tied fies but then you don't have the hi visibility of yours. I often fish is slow waters where lighter dressings are almost mandatory. I'm going to try your dressing and propose it at one of our next club meetings. I'm sure our members will like it!

Fishing in Italy is great althougfh we do have a lot of environmental problems with many of our best streams getting ruined with powerplants that produce so called "green" energy but which dramatically change the characteristics of our rivers. This said we still have a lot of good trout and Grayling waters!

Cheers

Hi Darryl...

[quote:cc06793cff="Morenofly"]Hi Darryl

You are perfectly right about the "buggyness"! With my method the body tends to taper a little but this also depends on the type of cdc feather which you choose.

I'm a little fixated with sparsely tied fies but then you don't have the hi visibility of yours. I often fish is slow waters where lighter dressings are almost mandatory. I'm going to try your dressing and propose it at one of our next club meetings. I'm sure our members will like it!

Fishing in Italy is great althougfh we do have a lot of environmental problems with many of our best streams getting ruined with powerplants that produce so called "green" energy but which dramatically change the characteristics of our rivers. This said we still have a lot of good trout and Grayling waters!

Cheers[/quote:cc06793cff]

Hi Moreno,

I have attached another pic of a slimmer tie. I will also be sending Kasper more details and pics on the tying sequence which he will post in due course. In the Western Cape at this time of year our streams are very low, clear and slow running. It is under these conditions that the pattern excels, especially if the fish has already rejected another pattern. With long leaders and tippets (12 - 16ft) and long casts to avoid spooking fish, I find that seeing the smaller patterns is almost impossible - again the HCM is ideal because it is so visible. Once you have tied up a couple and fished them, let me know how it goes ?

Regards,
Darryl Lampert

Very nice! I'm going to tie a...

Very nice! I'm going to tie a couple as soon as possible. Then I'll send you a dressing that works very well on both trout as well as grayling. I use a couple of versions and a friend recently modified my dressing and called it the Macedonian Fly. I'll ask Kasper to publish them as soon as possible.

Returning to your fly, have you tried the HCM in other colour variations?

Cheers

Very nice! I'm going to tie a...

[quote:a4d85ff4f5="Morenofly"]Very nice! I'm going to tie a couple as soon as possible. Then I'll send you a dressing that works very well on both trout as well as grayling. I use a couple of versions and a friend recently modified my dressing and called it the Macedonian Fly. I'll ask Kasper to publish them as soon as possible.

Returning to your fly, have you tried the HCM in other colour variations?

Cheers[/quote:a4d85ff4f5]

Hi Moreno,

I look forward to seeing and tying your pattern. I have tied the HCM in olive, brown, dun plus a couple of other colours and they all work well. Simply match the colour to whatever mayfly, caddis or midge you are trying to imitate. If no hatch is in progress then I tend to use black as a general searching pattern.

Rgds,
Darryl

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