Pondage Pupa                

Hook:  Curved Midge Pupa or Caddis Hook (Fish don't mind either ;'-)) # 14 - 18

Thread Body: Green 8/0 Uni Thread

Rib: Iridescent Green Taffeta or Copper Wire

Wingcase: Few Pieces of Flashabou

Thorax: Either Green or Orange Superbright dubbing slightly picked out

1/ For this fly we will tie in the thread at the rear as restricting the bulk is our greatest concern. Tie in and wrap several turns as shown. .
2/ Now tie in some copper wire to rib with later on. Once you have secured this trim the excess wire pull it out of the way of the next steps. Do this by placing it off to the rear of the fly.
3/ The body of this fly is to be constructed with thread. We don't want the fly to be much thicker than the hook itself. Wind forward to a point about 1/4 of the hook shanks length behind the hook eye. There you have your thread body.
4/ Now wind the wire forward using between 6 - 9 turns from back to front. Make them as even as possible. This gives the segmentation so common in the early stages of so many of the aquatic insects especially the midges. Tie off with the thread and trim the excess wire.
5/ Tie in some slivers of Flashabou to use as a wingcase. Many midge pupa have a very shiny look to them and combining this wingcase with a heavily ribbed body seems to work. Tie these in at an angle out to the rear and up away from the hook. Trim the excess and cover with a few wraps of thread.
6/ Now form a rope of dubbing using a hot orange for this pattern. Form an un-tapered rope of dubbing which will be used to construct the thorax. Only a very little is needed as this is a very small fly.
7/ Wind this dubbed thread forward, each successive turn in front of the last, to construct the thorax. Leave some small shaggy bits for added movement. When you have cone this remove any excess dubbing and go to Step 8.
8/ This is the final step. Pull the flashabou fibres over the top of the thorax creating the wing case. Tie in using two or three strong wraps of thread. Remove the excess material and add a couple of half hitches. Or if you prefer simply whip finish.

The Pattern

This chironomid variant is straight out of the mind of English stillwater experts who have refined fishing to midge feeders over the past century. The first time I saw this colour combination was when Rick Massie brought in a fly he said was working. Next morning I fished it and got two fish around the seven pound mark that were obviously feeding on the emerging insects at first light. Although the dimensions of the original fly with it's dubbed body would lead me to suggest it wasn't correct for matching the hatch where midge are concerned there was something about the combination of colours that did work. This fly was then married to some of the designs Welsh Stillwater expert Paul Slaney had sent me. He had stressed that such patterns should have extremely thin profiles and also reiterated  the importance of the flash of orange (painted version) to represent the swollen wing buds prior to the insect's emergence. All of these influences came together to produce a very successful fly pattern for which I can claim little or no credit other than to say I've had a rather large role in the application side of it's development! *G*

See you next week!

Antony