The Stupid Midge aka stripped hurl and peacock

 The stripped hurl and peacock as its called in Ed Engles book Tying small flies.  It is called the stupid midge in Takahashi & hubka book Modern midges.  The origins of the fly are unknown.

 Call it what you want, its an effective midge pattern. The quill body is a very life like imitation of the real midge larva and pupa. It has caught me trout when no other midge would.  It will always have a place in my box.
  They are a quick and easy tie. I find sizes 16-24 to all be effective. 

Lets twist on up.

Run the thread down to about the point, Nice touching turns. You dont want lumps and bumps.

Catch in the quill by the tip. Not the very tip, this part is to weak. Run the thread back up to about a hook eye before the eye

Wrap the quill up, touching turns. Tie it off, snip of the excess. I like to coat the quill with a bit of varnish at this point. A very light coat.  If you form a head here, this makes an effective midge larva known as the stripped quill midge.

Tie in a peacock hurl by the tip. If you select one from close to the eye, you will get smaller hurls.

Wrap the hurl, 2-3 turns is plenty. Tie it off and clip the excess quill. Take your thread make an X wrap through the hurl. It will mess the collar up a bit, but it will make it last fish after fish, so its worth it.

Form a nice black head and whip finish.  Give the head a coat of varnish.  Your stupid midge is now complete