Simple Thread Black & Red Chironomid Pupa Fly
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Simple Thread Black & Red Chironomid Pupa Fly
With the arrival of May, a peak month for still water chironomid fly fishing in British Columbia, we thought it would be appropriate that the next fly pattern in our series of best fly’s for the trophy trout water lakes of the beautiful BC Interior should be our Simple Thread Black & Red Chironomid Pupa fly.
Of all our fly’s, our chironomid pupa patterns account for more fish than all other imitations combined, and, our simple thread black & red chironomid pupa is among the top producers of the group! It is a very versatile and simple pattern that works well in all sizes – from the tiny 18’s and 20’s right up to the big size 6 bombers! This chironomid pupa pattern is a staple fly that we use successfully year in and year out on every BC Interior lake that we visit.
The Simple Thread Black & Red Chronie is tied on Mustad’s signature C49 hooks but a Togens Scud hook works just as well. The bead is a simple and inexpensive white glass, the body is formed with the black 8/0 tying thread and the rib is a small red wire (although our fall version replaces the wire with holo tinsel). Top it off with some krazy glue and you’ve got a simple yet deadly and virtually indestructible chironomid pupa fly pattern that is guaranteed to catch fish when the chronies are hatching – and sometimes even when they’re not!
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Black & Red Chironomid Pupa Fly |Tying Instructions:
- Place the white glass bead on the hook and start the tying thread right behind it.
- Use the tying thread to build up a nice thin tapered body ending with the tying thread at the bend of the hook.
- Tie in the red wire (holo tinsel) rib and return the tying thread up to right behind the hook.
- Wrap the red wire (holo tinsel) rib forward in spaced turns and tie it off behind the bead as well.
- Optional: Tie in and wrap a strand of peacock herl right behind the bead to form a thorax (usually on #12 and bigger patterns only).
- Whip finish the fly right behind the bead.
- Coat entire body with krazy glue and let dry.
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Black & Red Chironomid Pupa Fly | Tying Video:
*** New updated video showing how we tie the fall version of this pattern …
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Black & Red Chironomid Pupa Fly | Fishing it …
Fish the Simple thread Black & Red as you would any chironomid pupa pattern – still or very slow moving and “in the zone” and therefore the fishes view for as long as possible. You can long line it with a floater (see out chironomid page for details) or use a full sink right below the boat for deeper water. Either way, if you find the right size and depth the simple thread black & red will perform when the bows are on chironies!
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That’s it – no fuss no muss – no expensive body materials or tungsten beads – and the real beauty is if you want a different colour all you have to do is switch the colour of your tying thread! Give the Simple Thread Black & Red Chironomid Pupa a shot – as far as fly tying goes it really doesn’t get any easier than this. If, however, you would rather have us tie some for you please contact us for more info.
*** if you’re interested in custom tied, time tested & proven effective BC Interior fly patterns, but would rather buy than tie, please Contact us for details!
*** for more effective BC stillwater fly fishing patterns be sure to check out all of flies on our BCs best fly patterns index page!
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