Size 18 Light Pink Zebra Midges

The Zebra Midge is one of those rare patterns that needs no introduction on tailwaters — Ted Wellington's thread-and-wire original has probably caught more winter trout than any fly ever tied. This light pink variation keeps everything that made the original great and adds the color that tailwater rainbows and browns can't seem to leave alone.

It's tied the classic way: fluorescent shell-pink thread over the hook shank, a crisp silver wire rib for segmentation, and a light pink tungsten bead up front that adds just the right amount of flash and sink. At size 18 it matches the midges trout actually eat, not the ones we wish they'd eat.

Dead-drift it deep through slow winter pools, trail it behind a larger midge larva, or fish it as the point fly when the water's cold and the fish are sulking near bottom. Simple tie, devastating results — the Zebra Midge earned its reputation one January trout at a time.