Fly Fishing With Very Small Flies: A How-To

Land on the rise

Small flies don’t have a lot of calories. When fish are choosing to eat them, it’s because there are lots of them. When trout are gobbling small flies, they station themselves just below the surface and feed with a steady rhythm. Sometimes, they eat several flies from the surface before slipping deeper between rises. If you can land your fly right on a rising fish with proper timing and accuracy, odds are better he will eat it.

How can I see to tie it on?

Magnification is helpful and downright essential for many folks. That’s especially true when working close up and trying to tie thin tippets to small flies. A few magnification options: Hat Eyes are flip-down magnifiers that attach to the bill of your hat; Flip N’ Focus are magnification lenses that attach right to your sunglasses; Clics magnetic glasses are also very popular. Use them when you need them and wear them around your neck when you don’t.

Pre-tie droppers and/or tippets

If you hate standing in a river or floating along tying on small flies, tie some onto tippets at the dining room table. I frequently pre-tie a bunch of tippets with flies. Then I wrap them on a piece of foam. On the river, I can add them as a dropper or use a double surgeon knot to attach them to my leader. The result is one less knot to tie on the river. This is really nice when floating.

Davy Knot

The Improved Clinch Knot is very popular and one that most anglers use to tie the tippet to the fly. I have tied this since I was a little kid and I still use it. It is not, however, a good knot for tiny nymphs and minuscule dry flies. Having a finished knot that is 1/4 the length of the fly is not good.

A much better choice is the Davy Knot. The Davy Knot is basically a figure eight. It is strong and leaves very little bulk at the tie in point. With a little practice, it is very easy to tie. If you feel you need a little more security, learn the Double Davy.

Don’t bite your tippet

I will admit that I’m sometimes in such a hurry to prep a tippet for a fly, that I bite it off the tippet spool. This creates a flattened end that may be impossible to thread through a tiny hook eye. It’s best to use quality, sharp nippers and angle the cut with them. This creates a sharp point that is much easier to thread through a hook eye. The same can be said when switching flies; use nippers to cut off a fly instead of biting it off and trying to thread a flat-ended tippet through the eye of a size 20 or smaller hook eye.

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Don’t be a jerk

When a fish rises for your tiny fly being fished off light tippet, pull the fish onto the hook with a lift, not a hard jerk. A tiny, sharp #20 hook does not need much force to penetrate. A hard hook-set is likely to tear it through the fish’s mouth. If it does find purchase on a hard set, you will likely bend the hook or pop the tippet.

Use FC for tippet

The smaller the fly, the more obvious the tippet connected to it seems to be. Fluorocarbon material is less visible than nylon and definitely seems to result in more bites, especially with small flies.

Nylon vs. fluorocarbon. Here's what you need to consider.

How do I see a small dry fly on the water?

Sometimes, you can’t. Sometimes you will lose sight of it. I’ve hooked lots of fish on small dries without seeing the fly. If you see a fish rise near where you think your fly is, go ahead and lift your rod gently. Maybe he’s on your fly and you got him. If not, a gentle lift is less likely to result in blowing up a pod that’s surrounding your fly.

Oftentimes, fishing a larger more visible dry above your tiny hatch-matching natural is the way to go. The larger fly becomes an indicator for the smaller one and is much easier to see.

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Another trick is to use a Palsa Indicator. Pinch it on 18” to 30” above your dry. If stealth is necessary, peel off the colored coating so a white cylinder remains. The small white foam generally won’t spook fish and it helps you track your fly. It also helps your tiny fly float, by supporting the leader. New Zealand strike indicators also are an option.

Small flies catch fish . . . big ones too.

Many anglers refuse to fish small flies. That’s ok, but they are missing out on some exceptional angling when these small fly hatches come off. Fishing small flies takes some practice, but the results are generally well worth the effort.