Trick to landing.fish on tiny flies

[Bob-WY]

Was out yesterday, landed one small rainbow, lost a couple others including a nice one. I am fairly new to fly fishing. Fish with a friend who is very good, but he couldn't help with this other than maybe to slow and to hard on setting the hook.

We were float and wade fishing. Using a size 18 sow bug and size 20 midge. Friend landed 4 just for comparison

With these tiny flies I seem to miss strikes or loose the fish way more often than with a larger flies.

Any guesses on what I'm doing wrong?

 

[utah400elk]

JMO

I had an entry level rod and a very nice high end rod. They were both broken during a move so let’s not go there…. There is a significant difference in the ability to land fish with a nice fly rod. I had a GLX 5 weight and a Sage DS 6 weight. The number of fish landed per hit was nothing short of amazing. Additionally, occasionally you can get a bad batch of tippet. It could also be your knots. Check knots first, then tippet, then but a nice rod.

 

[Triggw]

You're just gonna lose fish with small hooks, and a size 20 is plenty small. This assumes they're coming unhooked rather than breaking off. Keep a tight line while playing the fish.

 

[Dan-06]

I believe it starts with good gear, good knots, and practice. For me it’s a feel thing. I have a 10 foot full flex rod. That really helps. When drifting my flies I try to keep the slack out of my line, and the rod from 20 to 50 degrees to my flies. I find that not using an indicator helps. Makes me pay attention more.

 

[Bob-WY]

Yup, coming unhooked, not breaking off

Using an indicator. I do have to work on line management, between stripping and mending. My friend "yells" at me over that, but he is a good teacher

 

[FREAK]

I’ve noticed not all size 20 hooks are the same. Sometimes I’ll find that one that seems to do the trick and I’ll cut and re-tie it after landing a few fish to avoid losing it. Just takes practice. Getting your drift right is important too, if you’re not getting the signal at the right time you could be setting as they spit out. It’s a hard thing, sometimes everything’s right, sometimes you’re off by that little bit. That’s fly fishing.

 

[R.K.]

Set the hook towards the tail of the fish. Might only have to pull the line tight- tiny hooks penetrate really easy, and a regular set could rip the hook right through the small amount of skin it was able to grab. Softer rods, lighter drag, try not to let them thrash/roll on it.

Basically- it’s not streamers on tarpon, take it easy on them.

 

[nrpate05]

Let them take the fly, then set gently. If you set too hard and/or too soon it is easy to pull that hook right out. Once they take the fly the head deeper underwater and essentially hook themselves, you just provide a little tension. Sometimes the action of the rod can come into play too. A fast action rod and a fast hookset can easily pull those tiny hooks out (Or snap a delicate tippet). I like softer actions for small dry flies.

 

[Hem]

You also could try the same pattern but in a larger size hook until you get a feel for all the other aspects.

 

[David658]

Be sure the hooks are sharp, so you are sure they penetrate. Concentrate on keeping the rod tip high, I have to remind myself to do that. But take heart, 20's aren't that small! Biggest trout I ever caught was on the San Juan on a 28 - I love to get to fish with 16s or 18s on other rivers. I can see my fly there!

David
NM

 

[cedahm]

Be sure the hooks are sharp, so you are sure they penetrate.

and barbless helps also, especially on those smaller flies/light tippets, much easier to sink the hook quickly to the bend by just raising the rod with barbless hooks (less resistance)

 

[Bob-WY]

Was out again yesterday. My friend (used to be a fishing guide on this river) happened to be Wading next to me in the first take that I lost. He gave a few tips that match much of the above. Next 2 I hooked but both broke off. Turns out I had a 4x leader to a 4x tippet and these 20+ inch trout just destroyed it in the current. We rerigged to 3x and I then landed a 22 inch rainbow and 21 inch brown! Both on a size 18 pink sowbug.

The brown was easy, he didn't fight much. The rainbow took probably 10 minutes to get out of the current into the slack water to the net. He took about 20 feet of line 3 times. Was a complete blast!

 

[Ben Lamb]

The reason there's a 20" fish on a size 20 fly club is because it's tough to land fish on tiny flies.

That's why we count those long distance releases on our total hookup count.

Good advice - good terminal tackle & sharp hooks, don't horse the fish and let it tire itself, and then spend the proper amount of time on the release to revive the fish.

 

[cedahm]

Turns out I had a 4x leader to a 4x tippet and these 20+ inch trout just destroyed it in the current. We rerigged to 3x and I then landed a 22 inch rainbow and 21 inch brown! Both on a size 18 pink sowbug.

That might be part of the issue also. Pretty easy to bend those small light wire hooks if they are attached to a heavy tippet (I consider 4X pretty heavy, I'm generally not going below a size 16 if I'm throwing 4X)

 

[Hem]

The reason there's a 20" fish on a size 20 fly club is because it's tough to land fish on tiny flies.

That's why we count those long distance releases on our total hookup count.

Good advice - good terminal tackle & sharp hooks, don't horse the fish and let it tire itself, and then spend the proper amount of time on the release to revive the fish.

Yeah, I get the point but tiring the fish to exhaustion is bad form.
I don't like " the club"....there I said it.

 

[MTLabrador]

Not all small hooks are created equal. A wider hook gap or stronger hook will hold fish better, and a small jig hook will hold fish a lot better. I’ve lost a lot of fish on small BWO or midge hatches and started bringing them in when I switched to a heavy 18 jig nymph or tied them short on a heavy 16 or 18 hook.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Yeah, I get the point but tiring the fish to exhaustion is bad form.
I don't like " the club"....there I said it.

Get it & don't disagree. If you can't ethically bring em in in time then don't. It's a skill set just like anything else.

The 32 by 32 club is worse.