Odd Ball Midge

Submitted by Gary Meier

Hook:               Mustad 3906B size 16 – 18

Thread:            Unithread tan or brown

Bead:               Black brass or tungsten

Abdomen:            Root Beer Crystal Flash

Rib:                  Black Fine Uniwire

Thorax:            Muskrat belly

Tying instructions:

1. Bend down hook barb and apply the bead. 
2. Tie on thread and wind down hook shank to about a third of the way down the hook bend.
3. Tie in wire.  Extend wire  and tie down all the way to the bead to prevent a bump.
4. Tie in four strands of crystal flash.
5. Twist crystal flash into a rope, wind up shank to the bead, tie off, and trim excess.  I like to hang onto the CF with a good gripping hackle pliers.
6. Wind wire forward over the crystal flash keeping it evenly spaced to create a segmented look, tie off, and trim excess wire.
7.  Loosely dub a small amount of muskrat fur, wind a thorax just behind the bead, and tie off.
8. Whip finish just behind bead.
9. Pick the thorax out so that it trails thinly over the nearby portion of the abdomen.  The hook portion of a piece of Velcro works great for this. I have really gone “high tech” with my Velcro tool.  I have it glued to the end of a popsicle stick!

As I was writing up these instructions I tumbled to a technique that could be used to save a step, i.e. wrap the crystal flash and wire at the same time just as you would if you were tying an all wire midge with two colors of wire. 

General Observations on this fly: