The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

And I mean little.

So I have been tying a lot of flies lately, and sad to say none of them were for me. Now that my tying list is finished I thought I'd try something new for me, and that being tying size 22 flies. I have tied #20's before and did somewhat ok with them. It all started with talking with a young lady at work who used to fish the San Juan River, which is a river known to have quality trout and possibly the pickiest trout on the planet. The river is heavily fished by people and because of that the fish have learned to pretty much eat only the smallest of flies. Midges seem to be the main meal for these fish and they seem to take flies just below the surface quite often.
I'm 55 years old, and my eyes are not what they used to be, but I have to say I am a little surprised at myself. The hardest part is the material always breaking. Peacock herl and hackle were the worst things to handle because they were so fragile. When it comes to small hooks I found that you have to be very gentle when applying the materials. Though the more I tied, the easier it became.

Now for the viewing.

Four Griffiths Gnats on a penny.


This fly is called Matt's Midge. It was first developed here in Colorado, but I don't know what year or where in Colorado it was first tied.


Here's three of Matt's Midges on a dime. I think I could have fit more on it.


This pattern really surprised me, a parachute midge. I didn't think I could do this, but after my first attempt I got into it and it almost became rhythmic. It was almost fun, This is the first one, and it's not too shabby.


I ended up tying a bunch of these little guys, and now I want to try tying the next size smaller. But why rush it? I'll keep with these until I get better and then I will try for smaller flies.

These flies are incredible, they are all like tiny individual works of art. I would love to be able to fly fish to a decent standard, but alas, I have tried, I have been tutored, and it never really happened. To catch a wary old Brook trout on one of these beauties will be a marvelous achievement and a fitting tribute to your undoubted skills.

Thanks
BB

Iasgair sorry In don't know your real name so I apologise. the trouble in the UK there not enough anglers fish size flies down to 24's, I even used a fly tied on size 26 hook, on one stream having been given one to fish with by my guide, I caught fish, when others struggled, the number of anglers who will fish tiny buzzer patterns on rivers is like a dozen, I've tried to get my pupils to fish these patterns but get told "You don't get buzzers in river". 'Utter poppy cock', I try to get them reading Midge Magic and Fishing the Midge, but its a waste of time. I well remember fishing the Yakama river, in Washington State caching a rainbow on a size 22 Rusty Spinner estimated at around 3lbs, the guide had asked several previous clients to try and small patter for this fish, but non would. I reckon many American fly fishers both in salt and fresh water are in advance of the English fly fishers. I have learnt so much from the anglers your side of the pond. At one time I spent a lot of time in winter attending the fly fishing shows for T&T, also fishing with the likes of Randall Kaufmann, Lou Tabory, Trey Combs, Lefty Kreh and many others, in fact it was Lefty who had my wife on the casting pool in ther Denver fly fishing show one year.

I heard once that hook sizes went down to an incredible size 32... As a match Angler I have seen a size 26 for fishing Joker (midge larvae) but my eyesight being poor I had trouble hooking the stuff... must be fun tying a size 22 fly up... wonder if its possible to go much smaller...?

Iasgair,

I have tried very small flies but I had several issues. First, I found the dry fly hackles shielded the gape of the hook and my hook up rate dropped. Second, the hook hold was shallow and fish easily escaped. Third, I had to use tippets of about 1.5lbs breaking strain which was not suited to the bigger trout in the river.

I don't go smaller than size 14 now :-)

Incredible workmanship! I don't make them smaller than a 1/0.

Excellent work Iasgair! I love a small parachute dry and you've nailed it there Do you use a flip down magnifier? Nigel raises a good point about standard hackling masking the hook point but trimming a vee out of the undercarriage helps here. Martin you are not alone in encouraging anglers to fish the midge and generally try smaller flies in the UK! One thing I would point out is that hook sizes vary wildly from one manufacturer and model to the next - Partridge in particular are renowned for this and almost all of their models are way over size. When fishing say caenis hatches in waters where larger fish can be encountered my patterns are mostly tied on a Kamasan/Drennan "Specialist' coarse fishing hook in a 22 which is the equivalent of the smallest Tiemco 26 and has a strong hold when in a fishes jaw.

Hats off to your trying skills Iasgair, wonderful work

They are fabulous Iasgair, works of art. I am in awe of your tying skills

They are truly works of art. I too struggle with anything smaller than size 20 these days ( my eyesight ain’t what it used to be either).I cannot believe I used size 26 in my teenage match fishing days.