I wet waded the creek for a couple of hours this morning. There wasn't too much wind this morning, and the flows dropped to 565 cfs (from 800 cfs last week). I hooked six, landing three of those. The three that got away were in the 18-20" range. They were all hooked on a #22 black drowned midge. It's hard to get any takes if you don't fish that small, but it's even harder to land the fish if you actually hook them. What are you gonna do? The three landed all took a #18 tan micro mayfly, the largest landed being a fat 17"er.
-- Edited by JT at 15:28, 2007-08-07
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"Nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught."
JT nice job, fun stuff. Yeah I have my most hookups and losses on the 22 as well. Once in awhile you stick one where they cant shake it out. And heck yeah I know what your talking about when you say the fish are fat. Some of the big ones are so fat they're starting to look silly. Sure I'll see you out there soon. Matt
JT, are you using wide-gap hooks for your midges? Several years ago I was complaining to Greg Schuerger (Sweeneys Sports guide) about losing a lot of big fish on Putah. He suggested that I try a Tiemco 3769 hook. Since most nymphs are tied on a 2X long hook and a 3769 has no extra length, a size 16 3769 has the gap of a size 16 but the length of a size 20. I tie a lot of my flies on this hook.
I use 3769's for micro mayflies and pt's, but I have been using 2488's for midges. I prefer the curved hook. The other day I was looking at the way the 2488 is built, and it's not designed to hold fish. It works well to hook fish, but the wide gap makes it easier for fish to throw the hook. I also looked at the 2487. It is one size smaller as far as gap goes (2X wide gap instead of 3X) still aiding in hook-ups, and the down-turned eye appears that it would help hold fish easier.
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"Nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught."
You might want to look at the DaiRiki 135 hooks. They are basically identical to the TMC 2487 but with an offset bend. I find that this aids in both hooking and landing. Another benefit of these hooks is that they come in boxes of 50 for the same price you normally pay for 25 of the TMC hooks. Yeah, I am that cheap!
Looks like we're all on pretty much the same page as far as hooks go. I like the 2487 for my smallest stuff, been messing with the 2457 size 18 same style hook just heavier but without a size 20 or 22 I dont use it that much. I've used the 2488 but I didnt like that big of a gap the fish do seem to shake it easier and when they weren't biting I would think cus they could see the hook maybe I'm trippin. 3769's are plentiful in my box as well the 3761's.
Sure I'll see you out there soon. Matt
