How to tie the Mayhem Midge
I am not sure who created this fly, but this is a lethal little pattern best tied on a longer shank hook. If anyone knows, please share some history in the comments. The Mayhem Midge is a super effective emerging pattern trailing behind a dry, or fishing it with little to no weight under an indicator. Mix your sizes and colors for different species of midges or mayflies. For our western trout rivers sizes 16 and smaller is best, but on stillwaters, you can tie them quite a bit bigger. Black, brown, olive, blue dun, and wood duck are all worth having in your box.
Ingredients & Recipe
- Hook – CB230BL
- Thread – UTC 70 Light Olive
- Foam – 2mm Tan Foam
- Tail – UTC Antron Brown
- Legs/Wing – UTC Antron Brown
- Rib – Small Olive UTC Wire
- Dubbing – Superfine Mahogany Brown
Tools Used
- Vise – Peak Rotary Vice
- Scissors – Loon Ergo Hair Scissors
- Bobbin – Loon Ergo All Purpose Bobbin
- Whip Finish – Loon Ergo Whip finish
These flies are deadly on small alpine lakes.
Great to hear!
I was able tie this fly with only one piece of Antron yarn by tying in the tail and then running it up to the front and pulling it over the hook eye before I cut it off. To make the sparser tail, I just cut away more fibers when I was trimming it in layers to make it look more like a shuck. I tied it this way to conserve on yarn, which it did, but I also think it saved some tying time. You might try it this way and see what you think.
That’s a great looking little fly! The foam wing case and stub should certainly help it stay up near the surface or at least sink slowly.