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whats your largest fish caught on smallest fly



 
 
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  #11  
Old May 17th, 2004, 10:51 PM
Willi
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Default whats your largest fish caught on smallest fly



Jim wrote:
On Sun, 16 May 2004 13:29:40 +0800, "tony weall"
wrote:


thesize of some of these midges blew me away, i have a argument with a
friend of mine who believes you can only catch small fish on these small
flies but i reckon that larger fish would take them too(hes from new zealand
they only use shark hooks there)



As a Kiwi I had to rise to the bait and not let this slur go
unanswered. :-)
My largest fish was 8.5 lb Tongariro rainbow jack on a #14 white
caddis. This is not unusal on the Tongariro though. Why would you want
to tie #20 and #22 flies, which I imagine would be very fiddlerly,
when a #14 shark hook does the job just fine?



In the States we have a number of fisheries called tailwaters. These
tailwaters are the result of an upstream, bottom release dam. Since the
water is released from the bottom of the dam, the temperature in the
river is constant all year round. The releases are also rich in
sediments because the water is drawn from the bottom of the reservoir.
This type of river is very fertile and the environment leads to an
ecosystem that has very dense populations of insects but with very few
different species insects. Many of these tailwaters have two to three
thousand catchable trout (some are as high as 5000) per mile. On many of
these tailwaters, small midges make up the vast majority of the trouts'
diet. These midges are so prolific that the rivers produce many large
fish. The midges commonly run from a size 20 down to sizes that you
can't copy with an artificial fly. Flies in a size 22 and 24 are
commonly used.

Personally I've caught numerous trout over 20 inches on flies size 20
and smaller, as have most people that have fished these tailwaters with
any regularity. Here's a picture of the largest I've heard of caught on
such a small fly. It was caught in Colorado on a size 22 hare's ear.

http://www.coloradofishing.net/ft_taylor3.htm

Here's another big one It was 31.5 inches long with a 24 inch girth. It
was caught in the San Juan River on a size 22 larva pattern.

http://www.ifly4trout.com/images/31_5browntrout.jpg

Willi







  #12  
Old May 17th, 2004, 11:07 PM
detoor
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Default whats your largest fish caught on smallest fly

where have u been fishing steve as browns here are all backing up waiting
for the rains to begin their run especially on eucumbene


  #13  
Old May 17th, 2004, 11:40 PM
Stephen Welsh
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Default whats your largest fish caught on smallest fly

"detoor" wrote in news:YIaqc.44067$TT.36561@news-
server.bigpond.net.au:

where have u been fishing steve as browns here are all backing up waiting
for the rains to begin their run especially on eucumbene




I've been told (haven't been out for a week or so now) they're lining up
down here (Goulburn) as well. My recent fishing has been mainly in the
feeder streams to the G, and around Eildon. We're having some rain
today, which may trigger a run in the next day or two. Unfortunately it
doesn't appear to be "a lot" of rain or pushing up your way.

Steve
  #14  
Old May 18th, 2004, 07:06 AM
Hooked
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Default whats your largest fish caught on smallest fly

"Padishar Creel" wrote in message
...
the Mrs. says the fish was much
closer to 3 pounds than 3 1/2...isn't she cute?



Can't really say for sure. Don't think I've ever seen her.


  #15  
Old May 19th, 2004, 10:54 PM
Clark Reid
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Default whats your largest fish caught on smallest fly

Likewise Jim I had to rise to your bait.

Kiwis don't use "shark hooks", mainly the ones fishing the Tongariro do...
but the Tongariro is more of a steelhead style fishery than a trout fishery.
In the lowland streams of the Lower North Island and many parts of the South
island there will be times when tiny hooks are essential. Chironomid
hatches, willow grubs etc will often force an angler down to very small
hooks.

One of my secret weapons on the wilderness sections of the Mohaka River when
the water is extremely low and and the fish excessively spooky is to suspend
a #20 copper John under a #16 Elk Hair as a dropper and we commonly land
fish in the 8 lb range on these tiny flies.

Overall, most New Zealand fishing (This does not mean the Taupo fishery
which IS NOT indicitive of New Zealand trout fishing in general) utilises
patterns in the #12 - #16 range tied in the same style as wetsern attractors
such as Humpies etc. There are also times when more imatative flies are
required and myself and most anglers I know fishing outside of the Taupo
basin itself would regularly use flies down to #18. This is common practice
on many New Zealand fisheries.

Having said that, there is no real merit to be awarded to the feat as in
some cases the battle to land large trout on the light tippets these small
flies require means that the chance of a trout's survival may be very slim
indeed. For that reason if I am playing a fish and believe the fight is at a
point of, if extended, harming the fish I will simply break the tippet.

My philisophy is always to use the largest tippet and fly I think I can get
away with in order to ensure the shortest possible fight and the survival of
the fish.

--
Clark Reid
http://www.dryflynz.com
Umpqua Designer Flytier


"Jim" wrote in message
news
On Sun, 16 May 2004 13:29:40 +0800, "tony weall"
wrote:

thesize of some of these midges blew me away, i have a argument with a
friend of mine who believes you can only catch small fish on these small
flies but i reckon that larger fish would take them too(hes from new

zealand
they only use shark hooks there)


As a Kiwi I had to rise to the bait and not let this slur go
unanswered. :-)
My largest fish was 8.5 lb Tongariro rainbow jack on a #14 white
caddis. This is not unusal on the Tongariro though. Why would you want
to tie #20 and #22 flies, which I imagine would be very fiddlerly,
when a #14 shark hook does the job just fine?



  #16  
Old May 21st, 2004, 12:18 AM
Willi
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Default whats your largest fish caught on smallest fly



Clark Reid wrote:

My philisophy is always to use the largest tippet and fly I think I can get
away with in order to ensure the shortest possible fight and the survival of
the fish.



That's a good philosophy anywhere but even more important on your back
country streams with their low trout populations.

Willi



 




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