Fishing The Fly Scotland Forum

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91
Social Corner / Re: Midge Tip Fly Lines
« Last post by Mike Barrio on 28/02/2024 at 14:34 »
Forgive my ignorance, but when would you use a midge tip over a floating or intermediate line?
Hi Andrew, sorry for the delay, it's been a busy few days.

Good question! ...... I think it would be fair to say that like most folk, I use a floating line for 90%+ of my fishing.

A Midge Tip for me is just a Sink Tip, but with a shorter intermediate sinking tip. So a Midge Tip might have a 3ft tip and a Sink Tip might have a 9ft tip. How long that tip is can affect how deep we fish our flies below the floating section of the line, unlike an intermediate line which will continue to sink when we pause until it finds the bottom.

When we retrieve an intermediate our flies usually come back in a straight line, or level plane. When we retrieve a midge/sink tip our flies are drawn upwards by the floating line on the surface, how much they rise usually depends on how fast we retrieve and on any currents/wind on the day.

In my experience, on lochs and stillwaters, there isn't much in the way of trout food that swims on a level/straight plane, with the possible exception of small fish? Most of the food tends to wiggle and rise and fall in the water? Buzzers tend to wiggle as they rise, pause and fall a bit, then wiggle and rise towards the surface again. Damsels do this too, they wiggle their body back and forth in an exaggerated manner and stop for a rest after a foot or so, sinking slowly while they rest. Some food darts about, like water boatmen, but they tend to dart up and down as well.
I like to think that I can mimic some of this with a floating line by retrieving a couple of feet at a time with a pause in between to let my flies sink again. Same with a midge/sink tip line, but a bit deeper in the water column depending on the length of the tip.

Apart from depth control, a midge tip can help to 'anchor' your flies in windy conditions, helping to keep them in the area that you were targeting for longer, rather than being swept round in an unnatural way by the arc of your floating line in the wind - this can often be a game changer on lochs and stillwaters in my experience.

I use a floating line for the vast majority of my river fishing. I have tried an intermediate line in the past but I find these hard work, I have practically no line control with an intermediate in running water, and they have a nasty habit of finding a rock or something to wrap themselves around.

But I quite enjoy fishing wet flies on a midge/sink tip line in streamy runs on the river ( I prefer the shorter Midge Tip for this ) as I find it helps to keep my flies sub surface and moving at a more natural pace, rather than being swept round faster by the downstream bow in the line. Unlike an intermediate, I find I have plenty of control with a midge tip and can mend the floating section of the line across the currents as required, helping to adjust speed and depth.

Hope that makes sense  :z16
Cheers
Mike


92
Fly Tying / capes
« Last post by James Laraway on 28/02/2024 at 13:39 »
Hi All

so i bought a nice grizzle hen cape ( this one is a whiting one) . The 'middle feathers' are nice and long and i would describe them as half way between a cock and an hen feather. The 'side bits' are more 'webby and soft' more like a hen feather. If there a 'technical' term for the 'side bits' ? Those feathers colour up much more intensely than the ones from the middle of the cape bit i guess that is down to the fibre width and closeness.


To be honest i prefer the side feathers.....
93
Fly Tying / Re: Can you...
« Last post by James Laraway on 28/02/2024 at 11:29 »
here is an attempt with 'pen dying' grizzle hen hackles - claret and blue ordie


94
Fly Tying Step By Steps / Re: Hare's Ear Spider
« Last post by Steven Sinclair on 28/02/2024 at 10:56 »
Cheers Magnus!

Its actually teal  :z16 with the fiber lengths it can be a bugger to tie in the hackle conventionally so instead (idea fully stolen from my Dad) I tie a tail in at the head in reverse and fold it back.

 :z18

Steven.
95
Tackle Talk / Re: Smaller rods..any advice?
« Last post by Jonathan Kerr on 27/02/2024 at 20:34 »
Thanks James.  Interesting hearing about all this glass. Never seen one in the flesh, not many use them up here. Will need to read more about them!
96
Fly Tying / Re: Can you...
« Last post by Magnus Angus on 27/02/2024 at 10:08 »
Have you seen Dylon pens - basically marker pens, the pigment is fixed with a little heat.

AND :) some years ago I saw someone dying feathers in tiny batches using a bowl of water and a microwave. or - Phil White would dissolve some dye in a jar of boiling water with some vinegar- add feathers and leave it overnight.

97
Social Corner / Re: Midge Tip Fly Lines
« Last post by Sandy Nelson on 27/02/2024 at 09:38 »
They are actually quite good for spider fishing on the river. Because the tip is fairly short it’s enough to sink the leader but still keep the flies higher in the water.
98
Social Corner / Re: Midge Tip Fly Lines
« Last post by Dave Robb on 26/02/2024 at 23:01 »
Forgive my ignorance, but when would you use a midge tip over a floating or intermediate line?

For still water fishing if you’re not fishing a dry or perhaps something like a suspended buzzer, for me, midge tip every time over a floater. 

That couple of inches under the surface makes a huge difference in my opinion.  And that is the difference between the two other lines.  With a midge tip you will get your buzzer or nymph just under the surface whereas an intermediate takes it down too far.

I would never bother with it on the river though.
99
Social Corner / Re: Midge Tip Fly Lines
« Last post by Andrew Boswell on 26/02/2024 at 21:45 »
Forgive my ignorance, but when would you use a midge tip over a floating or intermediate line?
100
Social Corner / Midge Tip Fly Lines
« Last post by Mike Barrio on 26/02/2024 at 20:40 »
The Barrio Midge Tip is back ..... hot off the machines in Redditch   >)

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