Smallest flies you use

[Clan Ford]

Ok ok so just what size of leader are youz guyz with the great eyes using to get these dots on to the water.  I personally cannot see any kind of natural presentation if anything above a pound is used on 20's and above


Davie

Spot one Davie,

1lb tippet for the wee flies although now that we have "super strong" materials available, I find myself using 2.4lb Rio Powowerflex for the wee flies.

Norm 

[Crawhin]

Mostly Lochs for me so usually 12s and 14s going up to 10s and LS 8s for big waves and monster sedge/daddy hatches. Down to sparse 16s when things get dire/anglers curse hatches or on smaller burns and I think ah've a couple of 18/20s somewhere in a corner of a box but don't remember ever throwing one at the troots.   

Ian

[deergravy]

Most seasons will see me going down to 20's on the odd occasion - you want 7X tippet for this (2.8 lb in Froghair). Great when it works, but to be honest, it's a marginal tactic for me rather than a first line approach.
This last, gale-tossed season was not a vintage one for 'midge-fishing'.

I do find that, apart from the LDOs in spring, I tend to use either small (#16-18) or big (#10) dry flies. 12's and 14's don't see as much use from mid-May onwards.
Dave

[River Chatter]

Fisher folk often associate small burns with small flies. I don't understand this as the range of insects available to the trout can be the same on a small burn as it is on a large river. So why a tendency to scale down?  I don't usually fish smaller than a 14 or 16. Even minnows will have a go at a 14 dry - little buggers! I'll go down to an 18 on a loch in a flat calm though, especially when there's a Caenis hatch on, or if I want to lazily drift a wee buzzer below the surface. Bores me stupid though after about 10 minutes and I chuck a great big daddy or a CDC suspender on to give me something to look at. The diameter of the line make these flies in the 20s seem a bit daft as the knot must surely be as prominent as the fly itself?

[Part-time]

Mainly fish lochs and size 16 is the smallest i would use regularly. Very occasionally use some 18 to 20 nymphs/dries.

[.D.]

Fisher folk often associate small burns with small flies. I don't understand this as the range of insects available to the trout can be the same on a small burn as it is on a large river. So why a tendency to scale down? .........

I quite like fishing upland burns now and then. I'd say terrestrials swept off the banks onto the water are just as likely to be taken as waterborne insects at the surface, if not more so. They're often medium to large sized beetles, hoverflies, heatherflies etc.  I think that gives you quite a bit of license in terms of fly size.

The trout in those sorts of places are often pretty hungry too.

.D.

[haresear]

Never go below 14s.  I tried to tie on a couple of 16s last year and gave up.  Is there an easy way for those of us who are knocking on a bit to tie on small flies?

Have you thought of trying one of these Bob?

http://www.fishtec.co.uk/INC_EnlargedImage.cfm?ID=cf&ShopRef=23&Prime=No&shopListRec=40074

Actually, they do the threaders on their own, so you don't need to buy the box. even the threaders are expensive though. I find them great for the evening rise.

Alex

[haresear]

I can't chuffing see to tie on anything that hasn't got an eye the size of the Channel Tunnel, and I'm a tw@t 'cos I always forget my glasses when I go out..... I'm at that "difficult in-between age" when I'm still gobsmacked by the rapid and sudden transition from  20/20 vision to rampant long-sightedness ..... by the time I've held something far enough away that I can focus on the bl**dy thing, it's too far away to see!

Been there CB. I'm now totally lost without my glasses. I always wear polaroids and got prescription varifocal ljobs made up. I couldn't get on with the varifocals when fishing so now I use these.... http://www.stitchaholics.net/shop/products.php?p=1308&f=f

Alex

[Fishtales]

Practice tying them on in the dark or with your eyes shut, then you wont need the glasses to see to do it

[Hans]

Obviously 20 and smaller for me....
This pattern gave me lots of fn last year in Norway....
Size 24,
cheers, Hans