Ever Catch Another FLY?

[tinybwo]

Another incident some years ago on the W branch of the Farmington in CT, the Hendrickson had been underway for a week or so and a saw a rather large fish gobbling duns in a small back channel of the river. I threw my biot body Hendrickson to him and he took it proudly. A pretty good back and forth took place but the fish finally took me downstream and into a blowdown and broke me off. I hung around after the hatch ate some dinner and went back to the same pool that evening to see if spinners would show. Sure enough some spinners in the air I see a fish feeding very close to where I had hooked the fish earlier but the eat didn’t look the same. But I throw my spinner and the fish takes and blows a big hole in the water. This time I slip him into the net look in his mouth and my Hendrickson is smack in the middle of his upper jaw. I took that out and tucked into the band on my hat where it stayed and weathered so long that it was only a bare hook with a few turns of thread left.

 

[dryflyguy]

I've removed many flies that had been broken off from the mouths of fish.

Once while fishing a small stream, I removed a beautifully tied parachute Adams from a fish.
It was in great shape and - since I had really never tied that particular fly - I decided to try it.
And proceeded to catch a half dozen fish on it that day

 

[JohnPowers]

During an incredible Hendrickson hatch in 1995 on the WB of the D I took out my fly and a Phillips Usual that looked like one tied by Fran Betters. Been there awhile. Couldn’t catch a small fish that day to save your life.

 

[Kyle]

not a fly. but i did catch a tagged rainbow. my fly hooked it through the tag in its jaw.

 

[discomidge]

Not another fly but does a rod count? I may have told this story on here before, but long ago in my saltwater days a buddy and I anchored up on a large school of gorilla blues. The thing is that we didn't know that when I threw my first line in, so I (stupidly) left my BRAND NEW rod wedged against something in the boat while I baited another rod. The first bait wasn't on the bottom for more than a few seconds when a fish pulled my BRAND NEW rod over the side into 20' deep moving water. We kept fishing and had the best day of bluefish catching I've ever had, landing as many 15+ lb blues as we wanted on bait and spoons, it was automatic for a couple hours. Finally I reeled in yet another monster, but this one had mono looped over the hook bend. I pulled on the mono and up comes my rod. Then I started reeling in the slack and the fish that pulled my rod in was still on! I now always secure rods to the boat.

 

[JGR]

In the early 1980s, I broke off a black stone fly while playing a strong fish on Cool Spring Creek. Two weeks later I returned to the same pool and caught a nice rainbow with my stonefly in it's jaw. The fly was was still usable.

 

[KeviR]

In the FFO section of the Little Lehigh I was nymphing a large pool and hooked a piece of monofilament. I pulled it and at the end was a spinner - with a brook trout still on the hook. Obviously somebody was breaking the law - but at least they broke off and lost their lure.

 

[wildtrout2]

Not in a fish, but I found this set-up snagged in a low hanging branch along the stream today. The bobber caught my eye. I cut the tippet away from it. Don't know why the angler didn't retrieve it, it was very easy to reach.

Any idea what this tiny fly is and what size? Looks like an 18 or 20? I do know it's much smaller than any fly I've ever fished. Not the best pic quality. 🙂

Edit: Better pic of the fly.

 

[6xAdams(Jones)]

Not in a fish, but I found this set-up snagged in a low hanging branch along the stream today. The bobber caught my eye. I cut the tippet away from it. Don't know why the angler didn't retrieve it, it was very easy to reach.

Any idea what this tiny fly is and what size? Looks like an 18 or 20? I do know it's much smaller than any fly I've ever fished. Not the best pic quality. 🙂

Edit: Better pic of the fly.

I was fishing in the YB while waiting to bring home two boys from a college nearby. The water had lowered after the start of the SC PA early season, so I was near mid-channel when something reflected sunlight right in front of me. If the size 18-16 treble - YES TREBLE! - hook that was hanging from a tree branch hadn't been shiny gold, it would have likely snagged on my face. I was able to pull it down and throw it away. The only purpose of a treble hook that small is to bait and hook a fish in the guts. I can't believe anyone even sells them.

 

[JimNovo]

Any idea what this tiny fly is and what size? Looks like an 18 or 20? I do know it's much smaller than any fly I've ever fished. Not the best pic quality. 🙂

Looks like a caddis pattern tied with glass beads. Probably size 18 or 20 as you suggested.

 

[JimNovo]

Over the past few years I have caught and retrieved my fly twice. Once in NJ when nymphing. Once on the West Branch of the Delaware while dry fly fishing. Always fun to get your fly back!!

 

[salmo]

I like that!! Here's something similar...

I was fishing on Cross Fork one afternoon & clobbering them on a Purple & Snipe soft hackle I tie using purple wire for the body. I had the Purple & Snipe on a dropper below an EWC.

I busted off my next to last Purple & Snipe in a fish and I was paranoid I'd be down to none so I contemplated walking back to the car to restock my Richardson Box.

A few casts later, I hooked a fish on the same set-up and when I brought the fish to hand, I discovered my Purple & Snipe was hooked on the bend of the Purple & Snipe I broke off in the fish, not IN the fish... 😳

In other words I caught the same fish again AND got my fly back!!

BTW - Just so you know, I didn't bother walking back to the car to restock. 😉

Had to be a brookie!

 

[salmo]

Years ago my son and I were fishing “The Convent” jetty in Cape May near dawn. Small weak fish were in and my boy was cleaning up using blood worms. A guy on the beach had 2 rods in the sand and was fishing bunker. One of the rods started to twitch so he ran over to reel in a skate. While his back was turned his other rod bent and got pulled into the bay. He asked if anyone had a large heavy metal lure. Sure enough after casting about a dozen times he hooked up with his rod and landed a short striper. If my son wasn’t there to witness it people would call me a liar. Calling me a liar is quite offensive. After all I’m an attorney.

 

[Striperbobby]

Was on Kettle Potter County 5-28 -24
Using a small 14 to 16 bead head
Hooked a stock Bow with another small bead head broken off
Removed my bead head and the other
Used the one that was in the bow the next day
And hooked up!
Actually this was the second time I hooked someone elses broken off fly

Steve 98

I never caught another fly but was fishing a pond with a friend who was spin fishing. We both only took our rods and I had a Woolybugger and he had a culprit and a offset hook. We were in stealth mode on a pond along route 1 in Delaware and weren’t sure how long it would be before we got kicked out or arrested. He hooked a real nice largemouth and it broke him off. He walked over to me and I said “why aren’t you fishing and he said cause I lost my culprit” I said let me make one more cast and we will head out. On that cast I hooked the same fish he did and when it jumped out of the water it spit his culprit right back into his hand!!!!! No lie, I swear to god this is a true story! He tied it back on and we kept fishing!

 

[CRB]

I take it you don't fish steelhead LOL. I bet I catch more than ten fish every season up there that have "jewelry" in them. In some cases it's daily. Insane fishing pressure and lots of foul hooking (both intentional and inadvertent).

More than ten fish a season up here. The best time to gather flies is when the tribs are frozen solid. You can fill a flybox from on banch at times.

 

[wbranch]

Many years ago down below the Meadow Pool at Douglastown Salmon Run I was swinging for steelhead. All of a sudden I had a vicious strike and my reel was screaming. After a lengthy fight I was about to beach a large resident rainbow (non steelhead) and I was shocked to see my fly had gone through a perfection loop attached to a short piece of tippet with a another fly in the fishes mouth. After all the running and splashing I was surprised my fly never came free from that loop. It was a male of about 9#.

 

[wbranch]

Here is the resident rainbow. There was a fly in the fish's mouth with about a 12" piece of nylon with a Perfection loop on the end. My fly drifted into the loop! Crazy. One in a million.

 

[laurelhighlander]

That has to be a one in a million shot

I was trout fishing a small stream a few years ago for stockies. My fly hooked a loop knot with 7 inches of line down to a fly in the corner of a rainbow trouts mouth. Pretty crazy catching someone's broke off liter connected to a fish