Sizes 18 and up

S

Sturubu

Smolt
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I'll preface by saying I've taken about a 20 year break from "serious" fishing but am getting back in the swing (gaged by being able to count fishing trips per year vs. the old days of counting weekends that did not involve fishing). However, compared to the old days, I spend less time on the water, go to bed earlier, my fingers are not as nimble, and just can't see as well as I did back then.

Does anyone regularly fish these teeny flies, and/or is it one of those things that one does while they're young and can actually see?

I recall having a lot of fun fishing small patterns, seems usually at dusk, and I even remember having fun tying what now seems microscopic. My evening go to box was a Sucrets tin with foam glued on holding dozens of tiny flies of all sorts, fished with a slow 6 wt or cane rod of unknown origin that seemed to like 5 wt. I studied the book "Micropatterns" (which is hopefully somewhere in the garage) and surely have forgotten more than I learned. It would be fun to see if it is worth the effort to visit these patterns again with lighter gear, but wonder if it is worth the trouble...
 
Sturubu said:
I'll preface by saying I've taken about a 20 year break from "serious" fishing but am getting back in the swing (gaged by being able to count fishing trips per year vs. the old days of counting weekends that did not involve fishing). However, compared to the old days, I spend less time on the water, go to bed earlier, my fingers are not as nimble, and just can't see as well as I did back then.

Does anyone regularly fish these teeny flies, and/or is it one of those things that one does while they're young and can actually see?

I recall having a lot of fun fishing small patterns, seems usually at dusk, and I even remember having fun tying what now seems microscopic. My evening go to box was a Sucrets tin with foam glued on holding dozens of tiny flies of all sorts, fished with a slow 6 wt or cane rod of unknown origin that seemed to like 5 wt. I studied the book "Micropatterns" (which is hopefully somewhere in the garage) and surely have forgotten more than I learned. It would be fun to see if it is worth the effort to visit these patterns again with lighter gear, but wonder if it is worth the trouble...
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I usually end up tying on a size 14 dry. I keep thinking I'm missing out, though, and read with great interest Ed Koch's Fishing the Midge.
 
I have tied flies for a long time. Now I buy size 18 and smaller. One of the things I earned by getting older...
 
@Zak , 14-16 seems to be my "small" threshold lately too.. But, that is casual mid-late summer flailing, mainly on a suburban river here.. I have not bothered to go smaller, but wonder if I am missing out.

@RCF, Makes perfect sense! My old man says the same about muddlers.
 
Tiny flies are required for the Mighty MO in MT (Trico hatch) and on spring creeks.
 
Anything smaller than 16 just isn't in my wheelhouse anymore. Can't see them to tie them, can't see completed flies to find them or tie one on. I hooked a Grayling on a size 24 Jassid on the the upper Big Hole one time after a great many rises & futile misses. My Cousin asked: "What's the secret to hooking them?" "I must have waited until the fly passed through the digestive tract and then hooked it in the ass, I think . . . "
 
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My usual go to small fly is a 16, mainly because I can tie it on with my old eyes...however, a few years back late fall on the S fork of the Boise, an afternoon bwo hatch humbled me as I watched my buddy hook fish on 18-20 bwo dry's while they ignored my 16's...so I've carried some 18 & 20's ever since...
 
Brute said:
My usual go to small fly is a 16, mainly because I can tie it on with my old eyes...however, a few years back late fall on the S fork of the Boise, an afternoon bwo hatch humbled me as I watched my buddy hook fish on 18-20 bwo dry's while they ignored my 16's...so I've carried some 18 & 20's ever since...
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Exactly ... The SFB can humble you if your not fishing 18-20's
 
If you ever watch a Brian Chan tying session you may think he has a problem with memory when he says tying a 18 on 16 hook
 
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Anything smaller than a #16 hook is a pain in the ass to tie on a tippet, even with my readers on.
Mostly I like to fish with #14's and 12's
When in MT I like to use a #10 Sally X, caught some big cutts with that fly
 
I like using the small flies. I can't see that good either. But a light tippet like 6x fits in those eyes just fine. I have nymphs to 20 and smaller. On another note I had a buddy in Washington that tied me up a l fly on a size 32 hook. It looked like a piece of lint. I kept it in a plastic vial. I lost the plastic vial. I wasn't bummed that I lost because I probably never of used it there. I caught a RB out of the Beaverhead on a size 20 black zebra nymph. It sure looked small hooked in the lower lip.
 
I have a few boxes of those smaller flies. For the most part I rarely have used them. I did join the 20 on a 20 club, but still rarely use them.
 
Sturubu said:
I'll preface by saying I've taken about a 20 year break from "serious" fishing but am getting back in the swing (gaged by being able to count fishing trips per year vs. the old days of counting weekends that did not involve fishing). However, compared to the old days, I spend less time on the water, go to bed earlier, my fingers are not as nimble, and just can't see as well as I did back then.

Does anyone regularly fish these teeny flies, and/or is it one of those things that one does while they're young and can actually see?

I recall having a lot of fun fishing small patterns, seems usually at dusk, and I even remember having fun tying what now seems microscopic. My evening go to box was a Sucrets tin with foam glued on holding dozens of tiny flies of all sorts, fished with a slow 6 wt or cane rod of unknown origin that seemed to like 5 wt. I studied the book "Micropatterns" (which is hopefully somewhere in the garage) and surely have forgotten more than I learned. It would be fun to see if it is worth the effort to visit these patterns again with lighter gear, but wonder if it is worth the trouble...
Click to expand...
I’m one of the fortunate ones, 65 and don't need glasses. I regularly use small flies with 6x and 7x tippet, even tying at dusk.....sometimes with several choice words! When you tie a #18 fly, use a bigger hook and tie the fly smaller. C&F midge fly threaders might be an option. Do you still have and fish your bamboo?
 
Smallest I go is 22, but more usually 18 or 20. When I do fish those, the are as a dropper with a size 14 or so as a, dare I say it, as an indicator so I have some idea where the small one is - there's just no way I can see 18 and smaller on the surface.

Cheers
 
Canuck from Kansas said:
Smallest I go is 22, but more usually 18 or 20. When I do fish those, the are as a dropper with a size 14 or so as a, dare I say it, as an indicator so I have some idea where the small one is - there's just no way I can see 18 and smaller on the surface.

Cheers
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roger that...
 
If I go with anything 18 or smaller it has a parachute or is fished behind a fat dry that acts as an indicator. I do tie in size 18 or 20, but that's a separate branch of the tying art. I either remove my glasses and get really close to the fly (we're talking 6" for me to focus without them) or use a magnifier. I once tied a bunch of midges and took a photo of 8 of them sitting on a quarter. (I can't find the pix or I'd simply attach it.)

I remember a guy at a CO fly shop recommending size 22 or 24 dries (!). We have it a lot easier around here. No need to carry a scanning electron microscope simply to see the flies when tying them on 120X tippet!
 
I don't usually use dry flies smaller than size 16 but there have been a handful of times over the years where anything larger than a size 18 wasn't productive.
 
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