I have been midging Lake Taneycomo up at the headwaters lately, right up at the dam -- and if you haven’t tried fly fishing these small size 18 thru 26 sized flies here in Lake Taneycomo - you need to start doing it to hook up when times are slower than normal.

I caught 4 fish over 20 inches today (9/17/04) ... all on the midge below my #18 Super Scud, between 7am and 11am. I started fishing from the Rocking Chair Hole early and ended up down to the KOA rocks, using only a SuperScud (a great scud/sowbug/worm type killer pattern) and a glass bead Micro Tubing midge pattern in a size 20. A simple plain red thread midge could have worked, but I was using a slick new Planarian Midge pattern as a dropper.

The Gary Borger "Heave It and Leave It" tactic was the answer to all.

Using a Tuck-Cast to dump the bugs quick into the water, pause to about a 5 count to let the bugs settle, then twitch ‘em fast -- only enough to see the indicator move. The less you twitch --- the better. The bug (or bugs) will jump off the bottom - then fall back again, looking very alive!

Do this until they bite!

Very slack, extremely slow water is the key to making this technique work. Placing your indicator at just the right depth takes a few trial casts.. however you will find that happy medium within the first 1 or 2 drifts. Be sure to use the smallest indicator possible, so if it hooks up with the bottom you can tell - and just gently pull it off.

IF any size fish gobbles it up -- you will see the indicator take off so you can set the hook.

This Fly Recipe is very EASY!

I use the Spirit River Micro Tubing (or any very thin stretchable thin material) in red or olive as my body and I tie it with a glass bead or tuft of dubbing at the eye - mostly size 20's and smaller.. but occasionally when it is cloudy or cloudy / windy together - I will go up to a size # 18 or even a 16 (you can certainly use the Tiemco 200R BL.)

If you haven’t tried tying with this very thin stretchy / sheeny wormlike material -- you need to try it. It promotes strikes from Planarian biters! (which is every fish in the river!)

I use the Daiichi 1190 barbless hook for the point fly.. which works great (and it's *way strong*) for any midge or sparse scud pattern.

Sometimes I add the Midge dropped off another barbless Daiichi 1190. I don’t think I lose any fish on the barbless point fly using a tandem rig.

Using a very stout dropper hook will keep your flies from opening up if you get anything hooked up over 20+ inches. The V. Marinaro Partridge 20-28 or the TMC 206BL 20-24 are very good as they have smaller barbs -- use ‘em in situations like faster running water/current.

The idea is to net more fish - right? So if you try a size 18 or if you are daring enough to try a size 20 - YOU will be rewarded.