Tiny Flies

[carpflyguy 0]

Anyone tie on sizes 28-32? I'm talking really small midges. I've been using them for the super picky trout on an ultra-clear tailwater near me, and they get it done. Anyone else tying this small?

 

EDIT: The flies for the most part need to be this small where I'm fishing. These are super pressured trout and the only hatch there is tiny midges. Small flies and very thin tippet are necessary.

[BobHRAH 0]

Never tie that small. Anything smaller than an #18 won't hold a nightcrawler.

 

thanks, Bob H

[add147 0]

I have a hard enough time with 18s! Cannot imagine tying on anything smaller than that!!!

[FIN-ITE 34 0]

Whose hooks do you like for those patterns?

[carpflyguy 0]

Whose hooks do you like for those patterns?

 

Honestly whatever brand I can get. They're hard to find in smaller sizes. Tiemco 518 is the smallest hook that is out there. Daiichi makes some decently priced 26s and 28s.

[Philly 0]

The smallest I've tied is one on a Mustad Gold size 32 for something called the "The Smallest Fly Project" many years ago.

I did tie some on the Tiemco size 32 and a few on the size 30 and size 28. Don't think I could tie them that small anymore. Fortunately I still have some of them in my midge box. Not that I could tie them on tippet if I needed them. There are places around here where I might need them. One of the tricks I picked up as my vision got worse was to use hooks with a 2XS shank.

[Gene L 0]

About 22 is the smallest I can tie, and even then, I don't fish them. I just tie them to say I have.

 

They're pretty simple flies, I'll say that. Not large enough hooks to get really creative. I've got a book which I believe is "Tiny Flies" with a lot of patterns and techniques. Over my head.

[carpflyguy 0]

They're pretty simple flies, I'll say that. Not large enough hooks to get really creative.

 

Yeah, this exactly. Most of them aren't more than some dubbing and a tuft of CDC.

[BattenkillBum 0]

Why not tie them " short or low water" the larger hook gape should improve your solid hook ups. I'd be a bit skeptical of the wire gauge needed for a hook that size.

[utyer 0]

At one time, I did tie a lot of very small patterns. Then I moved to Florida, and sold off or traded off a couple of thousand hooks in sizes smaller than 22. I find a size 22 thread only midge works when I need something small.

[NoSlack 0]

I have tied a 32 parachute adams.

[carpflyguy 0]

I find a size 22 thread only midge works when I need something small.

 

On most rivers I do the same; never smaller than a 22 or if I need to use a midge. But on this particular river a size 22 looks like more a size 1/0

[NohackleHS 0]

I have been quite fortunate to have fished the spring creeks of Montana (Armstrong, Nelsons, Depuys) for 3-5 days for around 20 years. On these creeks the standard midge is a size 24 or 22. I have tied some 26's and have caught a few fish on them, but mostly used the size 24. I can related to your comment about a size 22 looking too large; I can remember seeing one fish on Armstrong feeding literally every second or two, but I couldn't see the flies he was taking because they were so small. He ignored my size 24 midge so I tried for easier fish.

[kennebec12 0]

I tie down to 28 but that's the smallest hook available at my fly shop. I catch quite a few trout in early may on these midges, there is a type of crane fly that hatches 1-2 weeks before the first mayflies and they blanket the rocks in the streams. Sometimes I get fish on streamers during this hatch but for reliable catch rates you just have to use smaller than 24. One of my favorites on a 28 is several strands of midge flash for a tail, thread body, midge flash ribbing, and a few blue dun or white hackle barbs for wings.

[Crackaig 0]

In smaller sizes the discrepancies of hook sizing becomes absurd. I have had two different models of TMC hook. one a #26 log shank. the other a #32. The only difference between the two was the length of the shank. So what size were they? The smallest hooks I've tied on are the #32 mustad ones. Which are a fraction the size of the TMC #32.

 

I think we can all agree these are small flies...

But how small are they? They are much larger than Mustad #32s, but smaller than TMC # 32 in the gap, and way smaller than size 28 Vincent Mariano hooks from Partridge. According to the hook maker (Hyabusa) they are #24 all purpose light hooks. When it comes to small sizes you pays your money...

 

Two things about small flies that may help.

• Rather tie them "normally" on a tiny hook try using a hook a couple of sizes larger and tying the fly the size you want. Most of the time the fish will not mind.

• The finest tying thread you will get is to get standard GSP, Hold the end a bout 1/4" from the end of the thread and tap the end so it frays. Using English hackle pliers grip two of the fibres that make up the thread. Carefully work the rest of the fibres back, so you are left with about 4' of the two fibres. Hold the two fibres where they now emerge from the bunch of the rest of the thread and spin the hackle pliers to twist the fibres together. Wind onto an empty spool and cut away the rest of the original thread. That is usually enough to tie about half a dozen tiny flies.

Hope that helps,

Cheers,

C.