Midge · Aquatic insect
Duckfly
Chironomus anthracinus
Size
6–9mm
Hook size
#16–14
Hatch window
Season March–AprilPeak time 11:00–16:00
Water temperature
8.5° peak
7°14°
Hatches from 7°C, peaking at 8.5°C, tailing off by 14°C.How fish feed on it
The adult midge matters far less than the pupa did, which is worth knowing before you spend an evening on it. Once it's up and dry it mostly leaves, and trout that were hard on ascending pupae an hour earlier will ignore the finished article. The exception is the egg-layers coming back to the water, and the spent ones lying in the surface film afterwards — both worth a look when fish are sipping in flat calm and nothing else explains it.
Flies that imitate this
Connemara Black
Ecology
Where you'll find this
- British IslesCommon
- Atlantic fringeOccasional
- ScandinaviaOccasional
- Continental EuropeScarce
Common Occasional
Identification
Chironomus anthracinus is a species of fly in the family Chironomidae. It is found in the Palearctic .