The Orange Asher seems to have been invented in the 1970s as an adult-midge imitation for the high-mountain lakes of Colorado. Several Internet sources credit the pattern to Jack Howarth, of Colorado Springs, but that’s not really much to go on. According to Tim Flagler of Tightline Productions, the fly works well on his home waters, far from the Rocky Mountains. So I suspect that it’s a productive winter pattern wherever fish eat midges. Best of all, it’s ridiculously easy to tie, unless you have real sausage fingers and have trouble dealing with small hooks and hackles.
Orange Asher
Hook: TMC100, size 22.
Thread: Fluorescent orange, 70-denier or 8/0.
Hackle: Grizzly.
Tools: Hackle pliers.