Small Fly/big Fish

4236 Views 47 Replies 30 Participants Last post by jasmillo, Jan 6, 2017

Augy

Discussion Starter · Dec 29, 2016

My curiosity got the best of me and wanted to ask the board what your biggest catches were on the smallest flies. Photo's would be great but love a good fishing story if you have a tale to tell.

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Bob Triggs

· #2 · Dec 29, 2016

Augy said:
My curiosity got the best of me and wanted to ask the board what your biggest catches were on the smallest flies. Photo's would be great but love a good fishing story if you have a tale to tell.

I have caught many trout on dry flies down to size 24 and 26. And only a few were trout over 18 to 20 inches. I had one of the best few hours of dry fly fishing of my entire fishing life, on the San Juan River one autumn afternoon, on a size 24 blue winged olive and 7 X tippet.

This reminded me of this:
https://joetheauthor.wordpress.com/2015/03/29/joining-the-2020-club-at-last/

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Augy

Discussion Starter · #3 · Dec 29, 2016

Bob Triggs said:
I have caught many trout on dry flies down to size 24 and 26. And only a few were trout over 18 to 20 inches. I had one of the best few hours of dry fly fishing of my entire fishing life, on the San Juan River one autumn afternoon, on a size 24 blue winged olive and 7 X tippet.

This reminded me of this:
https://joetheauthor.wordpress.com/2015/03/29/joining-the-2020-club-at-last/

Didn't know of this exclusive 20/20 club. Thanks for sharing!

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Jim Darden

· #4 · Dec 29, 2016

Interesting question, most of the time the difficult trout will only take the smallest imitations but are hard to land on such a small fly, the attached fell to a #20 cdc caddis. In another area, I have often found the hammered steelhead and salmon go for a smaller bug just cause it is different.

Water Smile Vertebrate Salmon-like fish Sunglasses

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kmudgn

· #5 · Dec 29, 2016

I got a 24" brown on a # 20 BWO on the Missouri right by the area with the old railroad tunnels.

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Squamishpoacher

· #6 · Dec 29, 2016

For me a size 18 Chromie caught me a fish that may have went 6 pounds. It also caught me a fish about 2 pounds that then caught me a loon about 4 pounds that made several screaming runs before I snapped him off. My partner took an 11.5 (weighed) up in the Cariboo a few years ago on a size 16 Chromie, Big fish like that seem to be showing up less and less recently.

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Penobscot

· #7 · Dec 29, 2016

A certain river in Oregon, full of Boise Bros
gave me mutiple 20 in + fish on a size 22 pmd

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jeff bandy

· #8 · Dec 29, 2016

Winter on the Methow. Wild steelhead on a size 18 Prince nymph.

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Kyle Smith

· #9 · Dec 29, 2016

22" brown on a #20 Rainbow Warrior.

I've also caught a few big fish during trico and BWO hatches. It will be a couple months before I cast a dry fly

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Robert Engleheart

· #10 · Dec 29, 2016

33" Tiger on a #16 choronomid, red/silver.

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Mark Mercer

· #11 · Dec 29, 2016

Small fly, probably this Cady lake bow, if memory serves me (I'm old) #18 Chartreuse choronimid 30' deep.

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Irafly

· #12 · Dec 29, 2016

The thing to consider is proportional relationship. Size of fly to size of fish. Maybe a length relationship. So a 1" fly to a 20" fish might be one thing at a 1/20 ratio, but what about a 2" fly to a 60" fish at a 1/30 ratio? Would that be considered?

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T Bag

· #13 · Dec 29, 2016

First fish I ever caught on a fly rod was a 22" San Juan rainbow on a #22 zebra midge. I also got a 21" Yakima RB on a # 2o dropper under a Chubby Chernobyl.

That first San Juan fish was a hell of a way to begin fly fishing for me. How could I not be addicted after that? Credit to some bery generous guides on their day off that saw me and took enough pity to help me out.

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The T.O. Show

· #14 · Dec 29, 2016

Bob Triggs said:
I have caught many trout on dry flies down to size 24 and 26. And only a few were trout over 18 to 20 inches. I had one of the best few hours of dry fly fishing of my entire fishing life, on the San Juan River one autumn afternoon, on a size 24 blue winged olive and 7 X tippet.

Travis Bille said:
First fish I ever caught on a fly rod was a 22" San Juan rainbow on a #22 zebra midge.

When I read the title of this thread I immediately thought of the San Juan. Lots of giant fish lurking around sipping tiny flies in that river. I had one break me off on that river that probably would have been the biggest trout I'd ever caught, and had another bruiser try to eat a smaller fish I had on.

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Squamishpoacher

· #15 · Dec 29, 2016

Mark Mercer said:
Small fly, probably this Cady lake bow, if memory serves me (I'm old) #18 Chartreuse choronimid 30' deep.

View attachment 130849

I thought fish like that only rose to flies that imitated bacon double cheeseburgers as that's what a fish like that has to be eating.

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T Bag

· #16 · Dec 29, 2016

The T.O. Show said:
When I read the title of this thread I immediately thought of the San Juan. Lots of giant fish lurking around sipping tiny flies in that river. I had one break me off on that river that probably would have been the biggest trout I'd ever caught, and had another bruiser try to eat a smaller fish I had on.

You used to lurk around the Rio Chama too, right? Damn, some of the browns in that place. Yikes

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Ernie Adams

· #17 · Dec 29, 2016

Large Summer steelhead (40+ inches) on a size 8 wet fly. It also tried to eat a size 4 and a size 6 wet. I suspect it would have tried to eat anything.

Go Sox,
cds

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Wilken

· #18 · Dec 29, 2016

40 inches of summer steel and you don't have a picture?

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SilverFly

· #19 · Dec 29, 2016 (Edited)

A 32# fall chinook on a #8 krill pattern.

This was from an experimental trip using intermediate lines targeting chinook and coho staging in tidewater of a lower CR trib. Wasn't really expecting to catch anything but got tired of waiting for the fall rains. So we decided to try some still-water techniques normally used for steelhead in the CR Gorge, trib-mouth fisheries.

This was also a meat trip from pre camera-phone days (for me), hence the super-classy lawn shot. The fly is barely visible in stuck in the cork handle.

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Ernie Adams

· #20 · Dec 29, 2016

Wilken said:
40 inches of summer steel and you don't have a picture?

I rarely have a camera with me. I'm not a photo guy.

Go Sox,
cds

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