Midge Fly Swap

[Hairstacker]

Well, since Ben's wonderful foam fly swap has wrapped up, so to speak, I think it's time for another fly swap. With the trees changing colors, the nights getting cooler, and the anticipation of Winter/Spring trout, what better time to have a midge swap? So, if there's sufficient interest, let’s swap midge flies!

For those who don’t know, a fly swap involves tying up a set of identical flies and sending them in. The swap host (me) will then sort the flies so you get back one of each type of fly each person sent in, plus one of your own back. This is a great way to hone your tying skills, and it feels like Christmas when you get a package back in the mail.

Here are the rules for this swap:

1. This swap will be limited to 12 people counting myself so everyone needs to tie 12 flies. Any midge stage (egg, larva, pupa, or adult) is ok (although I've yet to see an effective midge egg fly :D).

2. Please put a “toe tag” (a little slip of paper) on each fly hook with your username and name and size of fly – that way everyone will know who to contact to seek additional details regarding the pattern.

3. You will need to put your flies in the mail by 15 December 2010. I will PM everyone who signs up with the mailing address for your flies.

4. When you send in your flies, please include a self-addressed mailing envelope with sufficient postage so I can mail you your flies.

I want to sincerely emphasize this is not just for veteran fly tyers – I mean this, EVERYONE, especially those who have just started learning how to tie flies, is very welcome to participate. Midge flies are typically not overly challenging to tie and can be as simple or as complicated a fly as you feel comfortable tying. Actually, with midge flies, oftentimes the simplest ones are the most deadly . . . . Above all, this is meant to be fun!

If you want in, please sign up by replying to this thread with "I'm in." First 12 who sign up are in:

1. Hairstacker -- Flies are done!
2. Jay -- Flies Received!
3. BigOkieWhiteBoy916 -- Mailing Address Sent
4. nrvi -- Flies Received!
5. Scott V -- Flies Received!
6. Mike Borba -- Flies Received!
7. Nomadic Fisherman -- Flies Received!
8. TMS -- Flies Received!
9. Jgoding -- Flies Received!
10. Frank.S -- Flies Received!
11. WoolyBugger -- Flies Received!
12. catch&release -- Flies Received!

Swap is officially closed to sign-ups.

[Jay]

im in.

"i'm in" isnt long enough to be an acceptable message, lol

[BigOkieWhiteBoy916]

I'm In also. I'll tie my UV Raiders Midge. Silver and Black Baby!!!

[nrvi]

I'm in..I will let you know what my pattern is.

[Scott V]

I'm in, i just want to get one of okies "Raiders" fly so I can burn it. :D Just kidding.

Sorry okie, I am a long time raider hater from back in the day, go Broncos, even though we suck something real bad this year.

[BigOkieWhiteBoy916]

I'm in, i just want to get one of okies "Raiders" fly so I can burn it. :D Just kidding.

Sorry okie, I am a long time raider hater from back in the day, go Broncos, even though we suck something real bad this year.

Umm 59-14... After that game if I was a Broncos fan I would hate the Raiders too. ;)

[Jay]

I'll be tying a parasol midge in dark olive/brown.

[mike borba]

I'm in. I get my mail a day or two later than evreyone else it seems, so i haven't seen the foam swap flies yet. The photos look great. Anyway I'll decide later on what pattern.
Mike Borba

[Mike O]

Umm 59-14... After that game if I was a Broncos fan I would hate the Raiders too. ;)

Why...we can just fall back on a decade's worth of history...what do you got?

[BigOkieWhiteBoy916]

Why...we can just fall back on a decade's worth of history...what do you got?
An AFC Championship. Which I don't believe the Broncos have had in the last ten years. If you want we can talk about the all time record between the Raiders and Broncos, but I think the 59-14 was enough of an insult :D

I Love Football Season!

[Nomadic Fisherman]

Count me in. Don't know what to tie just yet but will get back to you.

Mikel:D

[Mike O]

An AFC Championship. Which I don't believe the Broncos have had in the last ten years. If you want we can talk about the all time record between the Raiders and Broncos, but I think the 59-14 was enough of an insult :D

I Love Football Season!

And we all know what happened in THAT Super Bowl.

[Jgoding]

I'll play with a generic olive emerger or something.

[Hairstacker]

Thank you to all who have signed up thus far! :)

Well, it seems like sign-ups have slowed after an initial flurry of sign-up activity. We still have 3 spots left, and I know of a few fellas who carry midge boxes who haven't signed up.

In any event, I'll leave it open for a few more days before closing the swap to further sign-ups, so that we all know how many to tie and send in if it's less than 12.

[Frank.S]

Im In . I will tie the Pyramid snow cone midge

[Ben Kobrin]

I'll give it a shot. Fly TBD.

-Ben

[Hairstacker]

Great, thanks Frank and Ben for joining in!

Well, that leaves 1 open spot left . . . . :D

[Ben Kobrin]

I'll give it a shot. Fly TBD.

-Ben

I'm going to give this one a try:

http://www.charliesflyboxinc.com/flybox/details.cfm?parentID=20

Stuck In The Shuck Midge

I will shoot for size 20, but reserve the right to get bigger as my frustration level increases.

-Ben

[Hairstacker]

Sounds good Ben, that's a great looking fly!

[catch&release]

Im in! I'll tie the Pyramid midge I used on my last trip!

[Hairstacker]

Im in! I'll tie the Pyramid midge I used on my last trip!

Sounds good!

Well, now that we have 12 tiers on board, sign-ups for this swap are officially closed. Thanks again everyone! :)

[DFrink]

Darn, 1/2 hour late. Next time...

[Hairstacker]

Darn, 1/2 hour late. Next time...

Bummer, I always hope that everyone who wants to participate has the chance. And here I thought this one might be in danger of not filling up. Sorry 'bout that. :(

[DFrink]

Bummer, I always hope that everyone who wants to participate has the chance. And here I thought this one might be in danger of not filling up. Sorry 'bout that. :(

No biggie, I'll catch the next one. :nod:

[Scott V]

No biggie, I'll catch the next one. :nod:

You snooze you loose. :D

[Jay]

Where do I gotta send these bad boys? I am a huge procrastinator so if i dont capitalize now, they will show up late for sure :D

[Nomadic Fisherman]

Guess I'll tie a black midge w/ red rib and beadhead.
Not sure what its called but used it on Crowley.:D

[Hairstacker]

Guess I'll tie a black midge w/ red rib and beadhead.
Not sure what its called but used it on Crowley.:D

Proven flies are particularly welcome in any fly swap. :D

[nrvi]

My Christmas brassies are ready to go....They worked at Baum and it wasn't even the Holidays....

[mike borba]

Happy Thanksgiving everyone Mike

[Hairstacker]

Thanks for the update Mike. I'll be sure to look out for them and update the 1st page with a note next to your name when they're received.

[Hairstacker]

Received swap flies from TMS and Mike Borba! \\:D/ You fellas are going to love these -- aside from being meticulously tied, they've got fish written all over 'em. :D

[Hairstacker]

Well, my flies are done! I tied up a dozen dark olive-gold Diamond Midges using DMC 829 embroidery floss and silver tinsel exactly as described and illustrated in the book, "Midge Magic," by Don Holbrook and Ed Koch. I thought these were easy and fun to tie. 8)

[catch&release]

Please give me the address to send the midges too. Thanks

[Nomadic Fisherman]

Mine should be done soon. Will also need shipping address.

Thank You.

Mikel

[Hairstacker]

Received great swap flies from Frank S. today! \\:D/ These are the kind of flies that remind me why I join fly swaps. :cool: And thank you for the extras Frank!

[Jgoding]

Gonna try to get mine done this week. Still thinking about the final pattern and what exactly I want to do.

[Jay]

See, this is the procrastination I was talking about, been done for weeks and I still havent got them in the mail. Soon.

[nrvi]

I too suffer from the procrastination ailment...been done for weeks just got em in the mail..

[Jgoding]

Least you guys are done.... but hey, still got til the 15th right....

[catch&release]

Flies in the mail today!

Made a mistake on the receipt. Should be Tiemco Hook 2487, not 2187. Didnt want to take the time to reprint. Also would advise that you tie these on a 2457 for Pyramid Lake. I ran out of 2457 so thats why I tied them on 2487. Also make sure you pinch down the barbs, I left them on so the fly would stay in the receipt cards.

Thanks and enjoy!


P.S.

Put about 50 extra beads in the package for the swap master, just my way of saying thanks.

[Ben Kobrin]

Done...size 20 Stuck In The Shuck Midges.

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j35/lazychuck1/MidgeSwap.jpg

-Ben

[Hairstacker]

Ben, those look great! More evidence of the very nice variety of flies coming in. By the way, I PM'd you the address for mailing 'em in. :D

On another note, I have received some awesome swap flies from Jay, Nomadic Fisherman, and nrvi! \\:D/ Must say, there are a lot of talented tyers that frequent this board, and I am quite impressed with the quality of the flies coming in. Enough so that I'm now thinking I may tie up another dozen midges with a little more to 'em than what I had tied. :lol:

I must also note that Jay very generously included what I believe to be a furled leader as a gift for hosting. I say "believe" because I've never actually seen one in person, although I've read up quite a bit on them in the past and have always been curious to try one. Thanks Jay, a great surprise and truly appreciated!! :)

[Jay]

Thanks Mike! Let me know how that leader works out for you. I've just started making them. It is treated to float, but you may have to grease it from time to time.

Ben, that is a sweet lookin fly!

[Scott V]

Mike, send addy to me please, I should be finished Sunday.

[Hairstacker]

Just extending a friendly reminder that tomorrow (12/15/10) is the due date for mailing in your swap flies, if you haven't done so already. :D

[Scott V]

Mine are waiting for the mailman to pick them up right now, I hope you all enjoy my Midnight Lightning.

[Hairstacker]

Mine are waiting for the mailman to pick them up right now, I hope you all enjoy my Midnight Lightning.

That sounds like a cheap wine -- are you also sending flies? :D

[Jgoding]

Mine will go out Friday, a little late, but they'll be out.

Jeff

[BigOkieWhiteBoy916]

Hey guys. I just moved to Cool. I have a few done, but they are in a box somewhere. I will try to get them out Saturday. If you don't want to wait you can drop me from the swap. Sorry I forgot how crazy moving is. I haven't even been fishing since Nov 6.......:(

[Jay]

I live in Cool!

[BigOkieWhiteBoy916]

I live in Cool!


Thats Cool! <---Kinda gets old huh. I just moved into A.L.T. I'm loving it.

[Jay]

The Rec lake has big bass and GIANT grass carp. like 40+lbers. I havent caught one of the grass carp yet, but ive seen them a bunch of times. That would be a ride on the 8wt.

[Scott V]

Cool has an really nice mountain bike trail right in town, they do a race every February and so far I believe it has always been raining and cold. I did it a couple of years ago and it was a blast.

[Hairstacker]

Well, received swap flies in the mail today from Woolybugger and Scott V.! \\:D/ Man, you fellas are going to love fishing the flies you get out of this swap, with lots of food for thought for future tying as well. 8-)

[Hairstacker]

Hey guys. I just moved to Cool. I have a few done, but they are in a box somewhere. I will try to get them out Saturday. If you don't want to wait you can drop me from the swap. Sorry I forgot how crazy moving is. I haven't even been fishing since Nov 6.......:(

That's Cool. :D With catch&release's flies already on the way, Jeff mailing his tomorrow, and you mailing yours the next day, it sounds like all the flies will be in some time next week hopefully. I'll continue to post when each set of flies is received. The plan is, once I get 'em all in and sorted, I'll post again when I send 'em out.

Good luck with the move! If your move is anything like the ones I've done, you'll still be figuring out where stuff is 6 months from now . . . hopefully, that doesn't include your vise. :lol:

[Hairstacker]

Got swap flies from catch&release today! \\:D/ Awesome flies too, very, very pretty.

When I look at his flies and some of the others, it occurs to me this is the perfect time to hold a midge swap, as so many of the pupa patterns in particular look like miniature Christmas ornaments. Appropriately so too, as I recall Don Holbrook wrote in his book "Midge Magic" that when he once shined a flashlight in the mouth of a trout, it appeared to be full of what looked like sparkling diamonds. They were midges of course.

Well, based on a prior post, I thought catch&release was going to include 50 glass beads with his swap flies as a thank you for hosting. I think he made a mistake because he included over 170. :D More than a half dozen colors too and perfect for tying up beadheaded midges and other small nymph/caddis larva patterns. Absolutely too cool. Catch&release, thank you very, very much, very much appreciated! :)

[catch&release]

Glad you like the flies and the beads, just put a pinch of beads in the envelope so didnt know how many beads but glade to see that you like them. Those beads are fantastic for Pyramid midges because those fish are very color happy.

Maybe in end of January or beginning of February we can meet up at Pyramid and put them to good use.

Ernie.

[Hairstacker]

Well, just a quick update . . . . Received a PM from Jeff yesterday stating his flies are in the mail. BigOkie said he would try to get his in the mail Saturday but I don't know if he was able to do so -- he was in the process of moving; hopefully, he'll see this and provide an update. As swapmeister, I assure you I will turn these flies around and get 'em all out to you immediately once they're in.

[Hairstacker]

Received flies from Jgoding today! \\:D/ Man, you look at these things and you expect them to start wiggling. Great flies!

Well, sure hope to hear very soon how BigOkie is coming along. . . .

[Hairstacker]

Well, it is exactly 2 weeks from the date all swap flies were due to be put in the mail, so today I sorted and mailed all the swap flies back to everyone.

I ended up sending two of each swappers flies back along with a sorted set, because I concluded BigOkieWhiteBoy916 has dropped out of the swap -- he has not responded to my earlier post on this Board or to a PM I sent him a couple of days ago.

Also, by the way, a couple of swappers included return postage that was printed on a sticker by the post office and placed on the return envelope. I strongly advise against using such return postage in the future, because it is technically not legal for the post office to accept such postage. (The reason is printed postage has a mailing date on it that will be different from the actual date mailed.) Luckily, my post office did accept it but many will not and it could cause the return postage to be paid yet again by the swap host -- use stamps instead.

In any event, I think you fellas are really going to like these swap flies! There are some really cool, buggy-looking patterns, and I look forward to hearing of your success fishing 'em.

Anyway, thanks again to everyone who signed up and made this swap a success! =D&gt;

[Jay]

Sorry if I was one of the printed sticker guys. I sent my girl to the PO so she may have done that. Anyways, thanks for putting this on Mike, I'll keep an eye on the box!

[Hairstacker]

Sorry if I was one of the printed sticker guys. I sent my girl to the PO so she may have done that. Anyways, thanks for putting this on Mike, I'll keep an eye on the box!

Jay, your return package was in a regular envelope with no postage on it, so I paid the postage for it. No big deal.

[Jay]

Jay, your return package was in a regular envelope with no postage on it, so I paid the postage for it. No big deal.


GEEZE! I'm sorry bud. She had express instructions to procure postage for both. :(

[Nomadic Fisherman]

Wow...Did not know that ! :eek: Thanks for the info. I 'll be sure to use stamps instead.

Mikel:nod:

[Hairstacker]

Jay, like I said, truly no big deal. :) It was absolutely my privilege and pleasure to host this swap and I'm especially looking forward to trying that furled leader you very kindly sent me. It is all good!

[Hairstacker]

Oh, and by the way, I forgot to mention that I tied and sent two different midge patterns for everyone:

1. Size 18 olive Diamond Midge pattern invented by Don Holbrook, which uses DMC embroidery floss (readily and cheaply available at Michael's) for the body and tied off with it per his detailed instructions in his book, "Midge Magic," and

2. Size 18 Chironomid Pupa pattern that uses turkey tail feathers for the body exactly as described by John Gierach in his book, "Good Flies."

I was just going to go with the Diamond Midge until I saw the flies everyone else started sending in . . . end up thinking I should tie something that at least looked like there was more to it. :lol:

[Jgoding]

I dunno, I thought mine were pretty simple. I had some luck on a similar pattern on some selective fish. Originally on a TMC 206bl but I've really fallen out of favor with this hook since it'll open up on a 10"er which is too bad because it has a real nice profile to it.

[nrvi]

Mine arrived yesterday, thanks for the great flies guys. I will have to remember my cheaters or bring along my grandson to tie a few of those on for me.

[TMS]

Flies in hand. Very nice selection...when is Spring?!

Thanks again Mike for hosting.

[mike borba]

Got the flies in the mail today. Every fly look great. I need to put more effort into it next time. I plan on hosting a soft hackle swap in the spring. Thanks again everyone. Mike Borba

[Scott V]

Great flies everyone, I have never been a midge user so this set will start my new box of midge.

[Nomadic Fisherman]

Received flies yesterday! Great Job Everyone.
Looking forward to the nest time.

Mikel:D

[Jay]

Mine showed up yesterday. Thanks all! They look great.

[Hairstacker]

Wow, I'm surprised they took so long to get there -- I mailed all of them on the same visit to the post office. :-s

[Jay]

My Christmas present from my sister was postmarked on Dec 9th. Showed up the 30th. I wasnt suprised, lol.

There are definitely a couple patterns in there that I am gonna duplicate for my midge boxes! Thanks guys!