Midge · Aquatic insect
Reed Smut
Simulium ornatum
Size
2–4mm
Hook size
#22–20
Hatch window
Season May–SeptemberPeak time 11:00–15:00
Water temperature
15° peak
10°22°
Hatches from 10°C, peaking at 15°C, tailing off by 22°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
Reed Smut
Black Gnat
Griffith's Gnat
CDC Midge Cluster
Ecology
Where you'll find this
- British IslesPresent
- IberiaPresent
- The AlpsPresent
- ScandinaviaPresent
- Continental EuropePresent
- Atlantic fringePresent
- North America — WestPresent
- North America — EastPresent
- East AsiaPresent
- New ZealandPresent
- PatagoniaPresent
Present throughout