Umpqua Rojo Midge Fly · 20 · Hot Red

The Rojo Midge was designed for the tough classroom of Cheeseman Canyon. Greg wanted something different from the ubiquitous Black Beauty midge. When he discovered glass beads, Greg was especially curious about the red color after having read about the life cycle of midges. It was noted that frequently in the late pupa to adult stage, midges produce extra, “super-charged” hemoglobin and the color is frequently visible in the thorax of the insect. The red bead seemed like a possible attractor color that might also create a reddish visual trigger (hemoglobin). Just like Dorsey’s Mercury Midge, Greg experienced terrific results with this new color scheme and he tallied the votes from the trout’s oral endorsements. The resulting series yielded clean-looking and slim bodied midges, with the addition of white uni-stretch at the head to simulate the breathing filaments of a midge pupa.