fossil-fish
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STRAID - A lesson on dry fly fishingHad a fantastic evenings fishing last night in the company of Firey Brown and got a real lesson on fishing dry flies. I have been really anxious about fishing tiny patterns, but after an evening seeing just how effective Firey's size 22  CDCs can be, I am convinced.
We took a boat out and fished from about 6.30pm to about 11pm. We both landed 4 superb rainbows each, fish up to about three and a half pounds, and I even managed a little wild brownie. We must have hooked and lost almost as many fish as we landed and missed a stack of bites. It really was great fishing. The method was really simple, just cast out the little single fly to a range where I could see it, only about 20 or 30 feet, and leave static among the rising fish. They would just come up and take it with the most amazing confidence. If you connected they had to be played very carefully on such small hooks, but that was all part of the fun. Leaders were tapered down to 4lb bs which was much heavier than the pressure that would straighten such tiny hooks.
We sat in the dusk on a flat calm lake backed by the most beautiful pink tinged sunset while fish rose all about us. Great place, great fishing and great company. It is hard to ask for much more. Thank you very much Firey from an eager pupil who will be out today buying a supply of size 22 hooks.
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Watty's Rock
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Saw you last night ff when I was walking the dog. You looked as if you were enjoying yourself,  
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fossil-fish
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| Watty's Rock wrote: | | Saw you last night ff when I was walking the dog. You looked as if you were enjoying yourself, |
I certainly was 
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captain beefheart
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Are you willing to share the tying details of these cdc patterns.Please!
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fossil-fish
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| captain beefheart wrote: | | Are you willing to share the tying details of these cdc patterns.Please! |
All the fish were caught on Firey's flies and I am sure he will be glad to explain all the details. They are surprising simple, even to the extent that I am going to have a go at them. I could not get my hands on any 22s toaday but got some size 20 partridge nymph hooks that are similar to the pattern Firey's were tied on. I also got some size 20 Drennan Carbon Specimens which have a short shank the same length as Firey's 22s. I am hoping these will be a little less prone to straightening and that the extra weight in such a small hook will be of no consequence.
Very small, very simple but devastatingly effective. Captain B watch this space.
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FIREY BROWN
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CDC`s | captain beefheart wrote: | | Are you willing to share the tying details of these cdc patterns.Please! |
yea no worries captain.... nothing special about them whatsoever mate,,quite simply a size 22 hook,tie in a CDC feather near the eye and trim off the acess then dub on some Hares Ear for the body thats all there is to it..if i can find a photo i will post it....
Regards
FIREY BROWN
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captain beefheart
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Cheers, will give it a try.Thanks
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fossil-fish
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WoodfordTied up some of these patterns myself and took them to Woodford last night. The conditions were awful with a near gale blowing and very few fish either rising or being caught. Fished with my normal wets and nymphs for most of the evening with not even a bite.
About nine o'clock the wind dropped a little so I tried one of the little dries. It was one that was tied on a size 20 Drennan Carbon Specimen hook. These hooks are relatively strong coarse fishing hooks designed with chub fishing in mind. They have a short shank making the final tying about the equivalent size of a 22. As per Firey Browns instructions, a tiny plume of CDC and a smidgen of fur from a hare's mask. There did not seem to be either any caenis hatch or anything of an evening rise. There was a hatch of sedges and a few fish startedto rise
I had brought along a nine foot 5/6 weight rod and found it absolutely perfect for this. If I cast any more than about 40 foot I simply could not see the fly. Most of the time I was casting between 15 and 20 feet often along the bank right at the edge.
I ended up with three fish, all about two pound each and missed about another half dozen takes. I had no problems at all with the hooks straightening, these little hooks are certainly tough.
There were others catching, and catching more, but I was perfectly happy with my results on a difficult evening. At darkness they almost had to drag me off.
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apache
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Well done FF i think you,ve mastered the small dry fly and well done to Firey for being a good teacher
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sydb
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StraidFor someone who doesnt tie flies where can you buy these? Ive tried a few places online and tackle shops and they dont have anything that small. I know what the fly looks like as Ive seen Firey using them and he gave me a couple. Firey do you sell these flies as I would take a couple of dozen off you.
Syd
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fossil-fish
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| apache wrote: | | Well done FF i think you,ve mastered the small dry fly and well done to Firey for being a good teacher |
Not so sure about mastering, but they say you should learn to walk before you run. I am definitely walking.
Sydb,
My fly tying skills are rubbish, two left hands full of thumbs and as blind as a bat, but I can make a presentable and servicable stab at these little patterns. You really should give them a go. In fact all of my dressings are pretty poor, but they do catch fish. As brilliant as the evening fishing at Straid using Firey's flys was, the real satisfaction was fooling that first fish on one I had tied myself, even though I was doing nothing more than trying to make as best a copy of someone else's pattern as I could. Anyway, next forum meet I will certainly pass on a few of my humble efforts.
Just for the information of all, Darren has Mustad dry fly hooks down to a size 24 at Woodford. I bought some today, but now that I have had a second look at them, maybe I am being a bit over ambitious, but we will be giving them a go. They do look a very good hook, (at least the ones that I can see look a very good hook).
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