some size 20's

[fishhead]

all 3 of these patterns have worked for me in the past. I like fishing them on an 8x tippet behind a larger pattern of the same color

all 3 fly's are size 20 TMC 3761 nymph hooks
fly 1
olive thread
yellow chartreuse dubbing
olive hen hackle


fly 2
chartreuse thread
neon chartreuse feather for body, wrapped with thread for toughness
partridge hackle


Fly 3
black thread
peacock ice dub
starling hackle

[letumgo]

Excellent flies, fishhead! The third one is my favorite. It reminds me of Tummel & Tweed style flies (minus the tiny wings). Thanks for sharing.

[GlassJet]

Very cool, fishhead

Is that hook gold coloured?

Andrew

[redietz]

These jog my mind about a question I have in general (not a criticism of these specific flies): why use a nymph hook on small flies? It seems to me that effectively using a narrower gap hook then is necessary. A size 20 2x long is another way of saying size 18 2x narrow gap. When you get down to that size, wouldn't simply using a size 18 be better as far as hooking ability? With larger flies, I guess it really doesn't matter.

[narcodog]

When I was at the FFF Conclave in WY there was a tyer from Sheridan, Wy that ties his small CDC emergers on wet fly hooks. He showed me the difference in the gap between the two and the gap on the wet fly hook is larger. I think he was using TMC hooks.

[fishhead]

the hook is a gold color
As far as the hook size, I had finished my pack of size 18 nymph hooks and my local shop was out of them, so I looked at the size 20's and they looked the same to me. The size 16's are much larger, but as you mentioned there is not much differance between size 18 and 20 nymph hooks.

[Jerry G]

Not wanting to detract from this threads original intent I hesitate to reply. Hopefully "Fishhead" is an understanding soul as I think Bob brings up a valid point. Especially so in these smaller sizes where hook gape is already marginal why make matters even more confined. This then is also where hook design may come into play and with that the choice of various suppliers of these hooks. We have pretty much centered out thought's around hook gape in conjunction with shank length. Yet another thought might be what is going on the shank in regard of body material's. In other words a very slim profile for a body may work out just fine with a more narrow gaped hook. On the other hand I suspect a fly with a more robust abdomen and thorax may not only not look right to our discerning eye but also become the culprit of poor hook ups.

Regards, Jerry

[Joe Billingsley]

I used to try so hard to match my fly to the proper hook size and type so I could cover up as much of the shank as possible and still have a wide enough hook gap. The least amount of hook showing has got to be better.....right? Then I tied up a couple of Roy Christie's Copper Wire Hare's Mask and caught fish on them. Completely shot my theory.
This picture is from Roy's flies on Hans' Danica website.



Joe

[Jerry G]

I used to try so hard to match my fly to the proper hook size and type so I could cover up as much of the shank as possible and still have a wide enough hook gap. The least amount of hook showing has got to be better.....right? Then I tied up a couple of Roy Christie's Copper Wire Hare's Mask and caught fish on them. Completely shot my theory.
This picture is from Roy's flies on Hans' Danica website.



Joe

Does sort of make a person wonder doesn't it.

Regards, Jerry