Here’s another great midge pattern from the mind of Tim Flagler. The pattern is named, of course for the super(?)hero of recent film fame, for it share’s Deadpool’s black-and-red color scheme. In combination with a glass bead and buggy collar, this creates an attractive little midge that’s sure to work all season long.
As usual in his videos, Tim offers some interesting tying tips that can be applied to other patterns, as well. His use of two bobbins here speeds up the tying process and allows you to create a cleaner-looking pattern.
Deadpool Midge
Hook: 3X-long Natural Bend hook (here a Dai-Riki #270), sizes 20-24.
Bead: Crystal pearl glass bead, midge size.
Thread: Black, 8/0 or 70 denier.
Body: Red Sulky Holoshimmer Metallic Thread.
Rib: Black thread, 8/0 or 70 denier.
Collar: Black rabbit fur.
Thorax: Rusty brown Superfine Dubbing.
Tools: Plunger-style hackle pliers two bobbins.
Nice pattern but the use of two bobbins seems total overkill. Just use one bobbin to wrap back the Sulky leaving bobbin at rear, wrap Sulky forward and single half hitch Sulky at head. Rib with bobbin tying off Sulky securely at head and finish as shown. This is both a faster and easier tie.
Bill,
Half hitching or even whip finishing with Sulky on hook this small can be very problematic. One little relaxation in tension and the those nice even, touching Sulky wraps become a jumbled mess. Even with a half hitch tool it is difficult. Rather than overkill, I view the two bobbin method more as an overlooked technique that has numerous applications well beyond this particular pattern. I would urge you to try both methods and see which one works best for you. No cheating either. Size 22 or smaller. As always, thanks for keeping me honest.
Tim
Tim,
You are right that relaxing of tension on the Sulky while half hitching creates a mess. You are also right that two bobbins is a useful technique in some cases. But I don’t think it is needed for this pattern if you have the right tool. If you use a half hitch tool with a hole just slightly bigger than the bead diameter, maintain tension on the Sulky as you slip the tool over the bead and put you finger tip on the Sulky wraps before doing the final tightening of the hitch, it works fine. I just tied a half dozen #22 flies with no problems. I then tried using a half hitch tool with a larger diameter and had slippage problems. So my conclusion is that if a tier doesn’t have the right size half hitch tool, use your two bobbin method. If a tier does have the recommended tool, use it and tie the pattern slightly easier and faster.
Bill
I haven’t trout fished in years , but really love this guy Flager. Stripers don’t eat Midges!!
That doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate a great fly tier. Good job. I love the instructions.
Thanks Ralph,
More striper flies coming soon. I’m getting tired of this small stuff!
Tim
What a smart way to keep the body of the fly as slim as possible. So simple yet I never thought of doing that. I can think of a couple of patterns this would be helpful on. I’ll probably tie a few of these guys up before the weekend. As always thanks for sharing Tim.
Thanks for another great video. I have been tying a bunch lately after a “few” year break. I have found your videos help demystify some of the techniques I had trouble learning from books as a lad. Would love to see some foam body adult stoneflies (sofa pillow etc.) the season is coming up. “Pat’s” is working well for now.
Thanks again.
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Tried tying this today and had to substitute tensil for holoshimmer.
Like the two bobbin method and is easy to do even on #20 hook.
I like how Tim is always handing out a new technique here and there. And before anyone gets their panties in a wad, I’m fairly new to all these videos that are on the Internet, so it’s new to me ( and probably a few others ). Keep up the good work Tim!
I don’t know whether it’s just me or if perhaps everyone else experiencing issues with
your blog. It looks like some of the written text in your content are running off the screen. Can someone else
please comment and let me know if this is happening to
them too? This could be a issue with my internet
browser because I’ve had this happen before. Cheers
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