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#11
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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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