Midges hatch year round and are most important to the trout fisherman during periods when hatches of other aquatic insects are light, such as late fall, winter and early spring. Midges can be active during all parts of the day, but by and large they like the warmer periods of the day during the cold months and the cooler parts of the day during the warm months.

Trout also feed on midges as they are hatching and after they have hatched into winged adults.  Alkaline rivers such a s the lower Deschutes have huge populations of midges.  If you look along the edges of the river you will see a stringy yellow green substance ringing many rocks in the splash zone.  To the inexperienced observer this substance could look like a form of aquatic pants or algae.  Actually it is the egg strings from millions of midges.  Watch the rivers edge during mid morning and you will see a multitude of midges laying their eggs.

Floating Midge Pupa
Hook: TMC 100, #12 - #20 
Thread: same color as body
Tail: white Antron
Body: tying thread - black, tan, red, brown or olive
Rib: pearl Krystal Flash
Thorax: peacock herl
Emerging wings: white Antron
Floatation: white sealed cell foam

A large trout with a tiny "Floating Midge Pupa" stuck in its upper lip.

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Steelhead Mysteries (continued from 09/17/01 "Insider").            
Many of the creatures that steelhead eat during their stay in the Ocean are brightly colored.  Some are fluorescent and many are phosfluorescent.  Nearly all of the bobber type lures used by drift fisherman are brightly colored.  Fluorescent yarns and chenilles have been popular with steelhead fly tiers for over thirty years.  Fly  patterns tied in shades of  fluorescent red, orange and pink are especially effective for early winter steelhead in nearly every river in the Pacific Northwest.  Since our rivers are most fluctual at this time of year, these "hot" colors are proven in a wide range of  water conditions. Could these flies mimic an Ocean food?

            Folks at Oregon’s Marine Science Center, believe that steelhead may retain the “search image” of nourishing marine organisms even after they have returned to fresh water.  According to Dr. W.G. Pearcy, steelhead range far out to sea, dining mostly on squid, amphipods and euphausiids.  Squid make up 90% of their high seas diet, but many food organisms are pink or orangish in nature.

            Ghost Shrimp or Sand Shrimp are very popular bait with the monofilament crowd.  If you don’t believe it, just count the empty bait cartons along your favorite stretch of water.  Early run summer steelhead are especially susceptible to these critters.  Several years ago, Rod Robinson, who was then working for Paulson Flies in Portland, Oregon, developed a very respectable imitation of the sand shrimp using chenille covered with a shellback of polyethylene.  Further refinements were added by the then teen age Dean Finnerty.  What evolved is a fly pattern that is so life-like that it is easily recognized by fish and angler alike; the Finnerty Shrimp.

            Summer steelhead enter fresh water sexually immature.  Unlike their winter run cousins who move up the rivers more quickly to spawn, summer runs tend to dawdle.  They may not spawn for several months after leaving the ocean and may school at various points along their journey.  One of the places they congregate is in the estuaries just before leaving the ocean.  This is prime habitat for ghost shrimp.  Steelhead like all trout, are ever the opportunist.  They will feed on what is easily available.  One of the foods most exposed to them just prior to leaving the salt is ghost shrimp.  Winter fish pass through the sand shrimp zone more quickly, having less time to key on them.

            Each river spawns it’s own race of steelhead, which may spread to different parts of the ocean.  If one examines the ocean and compares it to a giant lake or river, it stands to reason that not all food organisms will be found at all locations in the same population densities.  As changing currents, temperatures, and depths create different environments, the species living within each location will vary with their own living requirements.  Each steelhead probably eats from a slightly different menu.  This could explain why fly patterns vary from river to river and why such a profusion of successful patterns exist.  The angler who could match what the steelhead were feeding on in the ocean could probably catch more steelhead.  The problem is how to observe the steelhead while out to sea.