Umpqua Craven's Two Bit Midge Tungsten Fly

Overview

The Two Bit Midge was designed by Charlie Craven, Umpqua's Southern Rockies signature tyer, as a heavier take on the Zebra Midge. Instead of one bead it carries two of Umpqua's Radiant tungsten beads, so a tiny fly gets down fast.

Craven built it for fast pocket water on a dry-dropper rig, where a fly has to reach the fish quickly and stay down through a short drift. The body is micro tubing with an internal rib for a segmented, durable midge larva or pupa look, and a drop of UV resin forms the swollen thorax of a pupa about to hatch. Midges are on the menu every month of the year, which makes this a fly worth carrying all season.

Euro Specs

• Bead: Two tungsten beads (Umpqua Radiant).
• Role: Dropper, below a dry or as the trailing fly on a nymph rig.

How to Fish It

• Dry-dropper: hang it 12 to 24 inches below a dry in pocket water and riffles.
• Tailwater nymphing: trail it behind a larger fly under a small indicator on 6X or 7X fluorocarbon.
• Euro rig: use it as a small dropper above your anchor fly.
• Season: midges hatch year-round, and the fly is especially useful in winter and early spring.

Choosing Color and Size

This listing is Brown in 22, a natural color and a small size for clear tailwaters and wary trout feeding on tiny midges.