Bigger Flies/Bigger Fish????

[zug buggin 0]

Does anybody think the line of thinking of"bigger fish like bigger flies" has any merit?? For the last several years my Buddy and I have developed a Nymph fishing strategy of using a huge, heavily weighted common nymph in conjunction with a smaller dropper. This practice was formulated on the Toccoa river in North Georgia where you need to get your nymph deep in fast water very quickly. So you see the need for the "anchor" fly to be very heavy and we couldn't get enough weight into a #12 nymph so we till we got to tying "anchor" flies on #6 3x long nymph hooks with as much as 30 wraps of .30 lead. add thin rubber leggs for movement and I use Kreough Hen neck as a collar for the long fibers that move in the water also. I'm not going to name the fly pattern I'm doing this too but it is a very basic pattern.

The results from this have been surprising, we have not noticed any less fish takes because of the larger "anchor" fly, we have noticed that smaller fish are not deterred from eating the larger nymph we hook about equal numbers between the anchor/ dropper. We seem to catch a 50/50 rate on mid size fish 14" to 16" range one the 2 sizes of flies. Most importantly we catch the occasional large fish almost exclusively on the large "anchor" fly. I've been fishing this douple nymph rig almost exclusively for 3 years my buddy for 10+ years. Bear in mind we fish mainly larger river in the Southeast, however this tactic did not work on the Clinch River in Tennessee where midge fishing with #20 Brassies and Zebra Midges proved to be the way to go.

Just wondering does anybody think "bigger fish like bigger flies" has any merit??

We have been on a run this year I took the Rainbow 24" 8 lbs on the Toccoa in May and my buddy took the Brown Trout 29" aprox 14lbs on the Nanathala in June, We are very proud of the fact that these fish were took on public water.

[riffleriversteelheadslayer 0]

I don't believe in the bigger the bait bigger the fish theory I have caught many 24+ browns on size 20-28 midges and tricos and have turned around and caught many 8 inch bows on 5 inch long streamers I think it is more that the larger fly is putting you into the fishes feeding zone more then the lighter smaller fly just my 2 cents

[tidewaterfly 0]

I think it is more that the larger fly is putting you into the fishes feeding zone more then the lighter smaller fly

 

I saw the pictures on another site. Awesome fish! I am a firm believer in big flies for big fish, but agree there are always exceptions.

 

However, riffleriversteelheadslayer, if your statement is true, then would that not confirm that using bigger flies is an advantage over using smaller flies? Seems to me that anytime you can put the fly in the feeding zone more, your success rate should be better!

[riffleriversteelheadslayer 0]

I think it is more that the larger fly is putting you into the fishes feeding zone more then the lighter smaller fly

 

I saw the pictures on another site. Awesome fish! I am a firm believer in big flies for big fish, but agree there are always exceptions.

 

However, riffleriversteelheadslayer, if your statement is true, then would that not confirm that using bigger flies is an advantage over using smaller flies? Seems to me that anytime you can put the fly in the feeding zone more, your success rate should be better!

a true test of bigger fly means bigger fish would be to tie the same fly that weighs the same in 2 differnet sizes and then fish them both in the same manner I guess what I am trying to say is if you tie the same anchor fly on a smaller hook and instead of using the 30 wraps of lead you used lead tape or tungsten something that is more dense then the lead wire you could get the fly down just as fast and will get the same catch rate of larger fish

[zug buggin 0]

I don't believe in the bigger the bait bigger the fish theory I have caught many 24+ browns on size 20-28 midges and tricos and have turned around and caught many 8 inch bows on 5 inch long streamers I think it is more that the larger fly is putting you into the fishes feeding zone more then the lighter smaller fly just my 2 cents

 

 

I would tend to agree but the smaller lighter dropper is only 12" to 18" away, I have tried this with the same pattern in a smaller size Anchor #6 dropper #14 obviously there isn't near the amount of weight in the smaller fly but the results were similar to what I previous stated.

[sclucero 0]

It all depends on where youre fishing in my opinion. The foods available are certainly the key. Pyramid Lake in CA is a good example. Most of the large cutts are caught deep midging and the smaller fish usually are on larger patterns. However if you are in any of the rivers in the same area the larger fish are usually taken on streamers. Thats my .02

[zug buggin 0]

I'm know streamers are the preferred choice for big trout, but I'm talking about a nymphing stragety and size choice

[bluegill576 0]

I don't know about trout, but I think that if you do go with big enough bass bugs then only the bigger fish will be able to go for it. Also when I use something like a zonker streamer for bass which is much smaller than a bass bug I will catch mostly 1-2 lb bass but with bass bugs I have gotten up to 6 lbs.

[Matt24 0]

I think it all has its time and place.....Every where is different, I had multiple smallish bass be very aggressive and take this fly and never caught a big bass on it. Damsel nymphs were the key to catching big ones during the day.

[NJ All Day 0]

I also don't know about trout fishing, but as for bass fishing I have caught a 5lb. bass on a size 10 woolly bugger, but fishing a popper I have caught 10" fish.

[Rocco 0]

Check out the Great Lakes Fly Fishing site. BIG salmon, lake-run browns, muskies, smallies on BIG streamers! It is a specialized approach using heavy gear for big waters that hold monster fish and it is extremely effective for that purpose. Not suitable for finicky sippers and leader shy fish who have seen more flies than we have tied. But hooking and fighting lots of the truly big ones on fly tackle is a a different game entirely from trolling for them.

 

Rocco

[iso18 0]

I don't believe in the bigger the bait bigger the fish theory I have caught many 24+ browns on size 20-28 midges and tricos and have turned around and caught many 8 inch bows on 5 inch long streamers I think it is more that the larger fly is putting you into the fishes feeding zone more then the lighter smaller fly just my 2 cents

I have to agree with steelheadslayer. On the Elk small is almost always your best option. Except when the major hatches r coming off. I've hooked plenty fish over 20 inches on #28-32 flies and even laned a 9-20-30.that is 9x tippet,20 inch or bigger fish,on a # 30 or smaller hook.

cheers,

shane

[Rocco 0]

Size 30 or smaller fly? The mind boggles. True pocket lint. You must maybe get one wrap of thread.

 

Oooops! Just realized I should never hit the puter w/o AM coffee.

 

Gulled again.

 

Rocco

[tidewaterfly 0]

I think it all has its time and place..

 

I agree! I'm primarily a warmwater & tidalwater angler, so I'm chasing bass, panfish & saltwater species, and I generally use big flies. Regardless of whether you believe in the big fly-big fish theory or not, you still have to use a fly that whatever you're fishing for will accept.

 

When I tied commercially, I tied for several guides. One guide in Key West used 2/0 size Tarpon flies, even for the bigger fish, while another guide on Florida's gulf used 4/0 size flies. Another guide in Tennessee fished for both Smallmouths & trout. He used huge topwater sliders made on 2/0 size hooks for the Smallmouths, and big streamers, up to 8 inches long for really big trout, while another fellow who fished for Smallmouths in PA, used size 6 & 8 Clousers most often. All examples of folks using what has worked best for them, where they are fishing!

 

There are no rules when it comes to fishing!

[zug buggin 0]

I'm not much of a streamer fisherman, both of these fish were caught on a #6 Prince Nymph tied on a 3x long hook with 1 1/2" long rubber legs tied in x style. I have read that trout can't tell size with in 25% (not sure I believe that) including the antenna and tail this fly is over 2" long. We fish it as a "anchor Fly" with lots of lead wrap 30 turns of .030 lead wrapped from mid point of the fly's abdomen to the head then doubling back on its self to give a thick meaty thorax. We then tie on a dropper a #14 to #18 Pheasant tail or fly of the day. The idea was to get the dropper fly deep quickly as we are fishing fast water over holes. We have found that we catch just as many fish on the Anchor fly as we do on the dropper fly with the occasional larger fish almost always coming on the anchor fly. As several of you have pointed out rivers where large fish take small flies I know of rivers like that also the Clinch River in Tennessee is one that comes to mind. This will not work on all rivers but it has worked on the Chattahochee, Hiwassee, Toccoa, Nanathala, South Holston, and Cumberland rivers.