The Chironomid Suspender is a good emerger pattern when fish are feeding just below the surface. The CDC will allow the fly to floatjust below the surface. The fly will sit in the water at an angle just like a natural Chironomid. The CDC is often presented as the wing, yet itreally represents the gills of the midge.
Dutch tier Henk Verhaar can vary the floatation of the suspender by varying the amount of CDC he uses. He strips off the barbs of the CDC until he gets the amount he desires, these are attached by their butts about two eye lengths behind the eye with the tips extending over the eye. He doubles back the CDC into a loop wing that is about 1/2 the hook gap, secures the loop, and folds the remaining fibers forward so that they lean against the loop wing. His CDC Suspender Midge uses a Red Micro Tubing to mimic the body of the blood midge.
Materials: (To Order Materials, click the link below)
•Hook: TMC 2487 #14-18
•Thread: Uni-thread Black 8/0
•Body: Black Thread
•Ribbing: Fine Copper Wire
•Wing: Dark Dun CDC
•Collar: Peacock Herl
•Tail: White Antron
Reproduced with permission from Steve Schalla’s Fly Fishing the Sierra
Tying Instructions: Chironomid Suspender
1. Attach a sparse clump of white antron for a trailing shuck. Apply 5-6 thread wraps only just to secure it. We’ll trim and cover the material later.
2. Tie in Copper Wire ribbing at the middle of the bend in the hook and secure with some thread wraps back to the shuck tie-in position. Trim the tag end of the antron so that it does not extend past the 3/4 position of the hook shank.
3. Wrap the thread body forward from the shuck tie-in position to about the 3/4 position. Try to maintain a thin thread body that covers all of the antron, hook, and ribbing material.
4. Wrap the wire ribbing forward with about 5-6 wraps and secure at the 3/4 position.4. Wrap the wire ribbing forward with about 5-6 wraps and secure at the 3/4 position
5. Tie in 2 pieces of CDC at the 3/4 position so the ends of the CDC extend about a hook length beyond the eye.
6. Attach a Peacock Herl by the tip just behind the CDC tie-in position.
7. Wrap the herl forward 4-5 wraps and secure the tag end below the CDC with thread wraps between the CDC and the eye.
8. Trim off herl tag. Tie off and whip finish. Trim the shuck to the desired length.
