Keith Passant sticks to his guns when it comes to Keep It Simple when tying flies but also takes a look at size too. Does it matter? Hell yes!
It’s been a while but hey, they do say “work is the curse of the fishing classes”.
I work for a small company that does clothes and fishing tackle. As part of my job I get invited to clubs and associations around the area a few times a year. It’s usually a great way to meet new anglers and catch up with other more experienced lads and lasses.
Recently I got an invite to an evening of entomology and dissection. The dissection was of a trout to get a view of what actually makes it work. Remarkable really.
The entomology side however got me thinking and hopefully the title of this little piece will be a clue for you.
I tie my own flies and enjoy doing so but looking at the bugs in the trays shows just how important it can be to get size and proportions of your offerings right. Most of my flies are nowhere near the same size as some of the insects in that tray. Most are too big by a country mile. And that’s a long way.
Pretty much all the insects apart from a few crayfish and bullheads were no bigger than 3/16” or 4mm long. So why do we fish with such big patterns as we usually see tied on size 12 hooks and bigger? Is it the T bone steak and salad question? I know that trout can be remarkably lazy and only want the fly in exactly the right place/time type of thing. Just how do we try and get them to eat our offering?
Should we try and make the offering stand out from the crowd? Or should we try to match exactly the trout’s chosen menu?
And if we intend to make it stand out what triggers should we be using to do so?
I have said before that my preferred style of fly is the KISS pattern. I try to use a maximum of three materials in addition to the thread and hook. And being old I also need to make the fly pattern easy to remember! Mr Sawyer's PTN is perfect for me. I don’t even need to remember the thread! Hence the KISS or Keep It Simple System (there are other meanings for the last “S”)
Those amongst us that have read anything about Mr Sawyer will know that he was a river keeper on the Wiltshire Avon. It’s a fabulous piece of water. Full of fish and clear as gin. This gave him the opportunity to watch the behaviour of the grayling and trout. His observations helped him develop the now famous Sawyer's Pheasant Tail Nymph. Just about the simplest pattern materials wise to tie. Copper wire and pheasant tail fibres. Tied to imitate the olives on his stream and lakes. It is on its day devastatingly effective. And like most simple patterns people have to “bling” it up a little. Well a lot actually but hey ho. It still works bead-head or no bead-head, pearl thorax, flashback etc. etc. etc.
His observations also helped him develop his “induced take” method.
So Mr Sawyer tied it as an olive pattern. Olive nymphs are generally quite small. Does the size REALLY matter? Or is it as much about presentation of the fly regardless of size? Think induced take here folks.
Getting back to small stuff I am sure that some of you will have seen Andy Baird’s articles on here.
He is a maestro of small flies. But how small do we really need to go? And if it’s too small how do we present the thing to fish and make it stand out?
The nymphs and other items in those trays were in some cases minute not only small in length but small in every other department. Thorax and abdomen were tiny. Yet the unlucky ones are at some point going to become fish food.
All of this is leading to a conclusion honestly folks.
It is thought that around 80% of a fish’s food is taken subsurface so unless we are in a similar position to that which Mr Sawyer was most of us will be chucking and chancing it. I for one certainly do not have the eyesight good enough to watch even a size 12 as it works its way down a run in slow moving water never mind broken lumpy stuff. Get any smaller and forget it for me. I just can’t see it in the water.
That doesn’t matter to the fish though because if it’s in the right place, depth and not dragging it’s a fair chance the one that matters, the fish, will see it and have a nibble.
Fish a fair size still water and the burger on the menu is usually chironomids. That’s buzzers to us British anglers. And dependant on time of year they vary in size just like olive nymphs on rivers. From a size 18 to a size 10 is a good range of sizes for buzzers. And joy oh joy they can be as simple as a hook with a wrapping of thread only. Just a variation in colours of thread through black, olive, brown and red will all work. Yet again here with so many of them in the water how do we make ours stand out from the other burgers on offer?
Well to be honest one of the simplest ways that I cover this problem on both still and running water is hook size compared to dressings.
Tying the flies on a large hook but with a shortened dressing is my way around the problem and it works fine. A size 14 hook with a size 16 or 18 dressing looks strange but it works well. Like most things it’s not new but as I am frequently told there is very little new in fly fishing (or tying). And hook colour can be a factor too. A friend of mine uses gold colour hooks to tie his short patterned buzzers on.
I actually feel that small flies reduce the level of wariness that fish show when taking the artificial. Those amongst you who are fortunate enough to travel abroad to places like Iceland and beyond will generally know that some of the most successful salmon flies are small doubles in the 14 and 16 range. What makes a salmon take a small double Red Francis? No I don’t know either.
There are a myriad of flies that can be tied to represent small olives and midge patterns. A good while back I went to the USA to meet and fish with a gentleman by the name of Dave Masters. We were going to fish for False Albacore and Striped bass on Martha’s Vineyard. Dave lives in a town close to the Little Lehigh river and after the MV trip we came back and fished the Lehigh. Dave introduced me to another gentleman by the name of Al Miller who was a great friend of Dave’s. Al had come up with a midge pattern and it is perfect for small hooks from around the 18 to 32 sizes. And it’s right in the KISS profile I love. Pattern and pics below.
Als Rat.
Hook: Any light wire dry fly hook 14 to 32
Thread: Brown 6/0
Thorax: Muskrat Fur ( The grey underfur predominately)
Tied as below.
Start Thread
Form a tapered body
Add the dubbing and whip finish
Flies below are sizes 15, 18, 22 and 32
Closer look at the 18
To contact Keith please visit his website, details HERE