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kingfish22

tiny fly questions

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Hi, I'm new to fly tying and I've seen some very small hook for flys like size 28-30s how do you keep track of those flys when you thought them out and how often do you use flys that small?

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When I find it necessary to fish so small I always fish them with a bigger dry fly, so the big fly lets me know where the small fly is. When I tie mine I will pair them up with a larger fly at the bench, tying them onto mono, and the other end to the bend of the larger fly. Carp anglers trappers here have various "Rig Boards" for carrying rigs ready made. These are ideal for carrying two ready rigged flies. Though I just use a piece of board with a couple of strips of foam on it, in a box.

 

Cheers,

C.

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On very flat water with no surface foam and proper lighting conditions, it is surprising how well some of those small offerings can be seen at medium distance. However as Crackaig said, when the conditions are difficult I tie the small offering off the bend of a larger dry fly with a fairly short piece of tippet no longer than 12". If I see any surface disturbance of a fish rise near the larger fly, I will set.

Another reason to get used to using a form of dropper.

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Smallest I've tied is a #24 for a stream in ID -- none of my local waters require a fly that small. Smallest flies I carry are #20, and if I have to fish smaller than that, I would prefer to find different waters to fish...

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A 24 or 26 is not uncommon for a spent trico or midge dun. I usually tie those on an emerger style short shank hook (TMC 2488 for example) in 22 & 24. I get the short body length and wide gape that makes for better hook-ups. If I can't see that fly, I will use a 14 or 16 G-Gnat as my indicator fly and trail the trico. I used this two weeks ago to catch a nice bunch of wild browns.

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Awww.. com'on Crackaig.... lol! I've caught a few carp on the fly and ... well I didn't THINK I 'trapped' them. But then again, they were hot into mulberries and a hair tie of an imitation was the 'cat's meow'.!

 

BCT

No I don't think you have. But have you seen carp fishing over here? Rods are set up on a "pod", with alarms that transmit to their phone. At the terminal end they use self hooking rigs. It isn't unusual to cast out on Friday evening and not touch the rod until they go home on Sunday evening. If a self hooking rig is connected to a bite alarm isn't trapping what is it?

Of course there are other ways to fish for carp, and I recognise, and applaud, the angling skill involved. However, popular carp fishing, as done here, would be illegal if used for salmon or sea trout (migratory species). It is using what is legally defined as a "fixed engine". That is why I can't call that "angling".

Cheers,

C.

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Hi, I'm new to fly tying and I've seen some very small hook for flys like size 28-30s how do you keep track of those flys when you thought them out and how often do you use flys that small?

On my local river (the San Juan) the trout are super picky. All the bugs in that river are small, and when nymphing, or dry fly fishing, usually you are using size 24-28 to imitate those bugs. I've tied some 30's but usually I'm tying/fishing size 26-28 for that river.

 

They make some magnet backed fly boxes, which work great for these small flies.

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Fishing midge larvae in sizes 20 to 24 is very effective, I have fished size 24 Trico, and have had success. I use a down stream and across cast when fishing tiny dry flies. I cast well above and beyond the lie of a rising fish, then lift the rod tip to draw the fly in line with where I think the fish is holding. This will create a "V" wake with the fly, so I know exactly where it is. Once the fly is in position, I drop the rod to let the fly drift down over the fish. If I don't get a strike, I let the fly float well past the fish, and nearer to me before picking up and repeating the cast. Works quite well for me. I can usually get several drifts over a fish without putting it down.

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I have never had a need to go smaller than #24, but I haven't fished anywhere like the San Juan or rivers where tricos are on the menu. I do fish a lot of #20 and 22 midges, though, both dries and pupae, usually in winter. I usually tie my small flies on short shanked emerger hooks with a wide gape like the TMC 206BL. I also tie my flies on one size larger hook, for example I tie a #20 sized fly on a #18 hook, and this really helps increase hookups and reduce the number of fish I lose.

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I'm with Flytire on this one -- if the want something smaller than a #18, I don't fish dries. Case in point: this morning on the Au Sable, the trout were all over Tricos that looked to be about a #22-24. I fished a streamer. Caught two 13-14" browns on two consecutive casts. :)

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I can't even get a tippet into anything smaller than a 22 anymore. The rest is all pocket lint to me.

 

Rocco

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I've tied a couple of size 32's for fishing using the TMC 2488 size 32. I caught two sunfish with them. I've tied one fly on the old Mustad size 32 but that wasn't for fishing. Mainly I use two methods already mentioned. I use the TMC 2488 size 20 and 22 to tie my very small flies. I found that one midge pattern I tie works equally well for the trico hatch and another one works in case I run into a size 20 white mayfly hatch like I did on Pine Creek a few years ago. Both the midge patterns have white CDC wings and can be seen on flat water, but it's much easier to use them as a dropper behind a larger dry fly which often serves as a strike indicator.

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