Fly In Focus For Fruitful Fishing

Fly In Focus: Chironomids AKA: Bloodworm Fishing Tips

Fly In Focus

Naturally, as winter tightens her grip there is less in the way of fly hatches at the surface and given this, Trout turn towards subsurface food.  One principle food source are the larvae of chironomids (midges) that are commonly known as “bloodworms” in angling circles. Most reservoirs, lakes and tarns have vast silty areas that are the perfect environment for bloodworms to hide and develop. When hatches fail to materialize, it’s vital then we target these areas using a bloodworm pattern fished close to the lake bed.

Consisting of translucent glass beads with the desired movement of turkey marabou the beaded bloodworm has all the ingredients to attract winter feeding Trout.  When dressing this fly, it’s important to lay down a thread base, on which the glass beads are seated.  They can be secured with a layer of varnish, though this isn’t absolutely necessary as the build of thread that holds the marabou tail in place keeps them held in place.

As the glass beads provide significant ballast, a single fly can be used with confidence.  As bloodworms wiggle about with no real sense of direction, it’s important our imitations copy this by being inched back painfully slowly.

Fishing Tips

To gain maximum depth, ideally the wind should be on your back where crosswinds exist, try to cast at a slight angle into the wind to reduce the likelihood of a “bowing” line, which only results in fishing your fly round too quickly and preventing it achieving the desired depth.  Above all, remember to fish this bloodworm as slowly as possible for it to behave in a natural matter!

Along with leader length, a floating line then like the Cortland 444 SL WF helps control depth, as mistakenly using a sinking line only sees your fly bottom out to snag the lakebed. A good starting point would be a 12ft strong but supple leader with a 4 foot tippet of The Essential Fly 5.06lb fluorocarbon to give an overall length of 16ft foot.

For ultimate depth the use of an indicator isn’t a bad idea, as this creates a right angle hinging, so your fly plunges really deep.

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