Smallest size hook you will use to tie?

[JeffK]

99% of my midges and tricos are size 22. Got a few 24's in the box just in case. At one time tied down to 30 as a stunt, then I got tired of fishing tiny stuff. A few years ago I got back into fishing tricos and midges and swore I wouldn't go below 22, but a few 24's have crept into my box because there are those days when you can't go too tiny. BTW, a size 14 Walt's Worm has been good for me lately, but I feel like I am tying saltwater flies compared to my usual offerings this time of year.

I am a big believer in what the British call an anorexic nymph - a nymph tied smaller than the hook size. Works most of the time when I need to go tiny.

 

[stecal]

18-20 is as small as I go. I can always use a short shank if I want to tie something appearing smaller

 

[JerryC]

At one time I tied flies down to size 32, including three or four on the Mustad size 32 which is no longer made. Here's a comparison between the Mustad size 32 and the Tiemco size 32.
but these days the smallest I'll tie are size 20.

 

[bdhoover77]

At one time I tied flies down to size 32, including three or four on the Mustad size 32 which is no longer made. Here's a comparison between the Mustad size 32 and the Tiemco size 32.
but these days the smallest I'll tie are size 20.

Which hook is which in that photo?

 

[Bamboozle]

Size 32 Mustad 277 (no eyed hook) inside of a size 32 Tiemco 518. The scale below is millimeters.

Those 277's were more of a gimmick hook than a fishing hook because because you had to create snelled flies to use them and the gape was so small it was about impossible to get them to set in a fishes mouth...

However...

...that didn't stop me from tying a bunch of thread midges on them and fishing for bruiser sized "sippers" at the "Ditch" back in the day...

I wish I could declare sucess but I'd be lying. I'd get strikes but the flies would bounce off their teeth or the crazy .015" - .002" tippet material that was around in those days would break if you looked at wrong...

It still was stupid fun!!

FWIW - No size 32 hook made recently was as small as the long discontinued Mustad 277's.

 

[stecal]

Confusing. How are these even the same size hook? I've seen this size creep before where I buy new size 18 or 20's which look like Mustad 16 to me. Maybe I've always been tying on "new" size 24 and didn't know it.

 

[Bamboozle]

Confusing. How are these even the same size hook? I've seen this size creep before where I buy new size 18 or 20's which look like Mustad 16 to me. Maybe I've always been tying on "new" size 24 and didn't know it.

Differences in hook sizes are only relevant to the same model hook. That also means comparing a size between models or brands is apples to coconuts.

Daiichi, Tiemco and Varivas all offer wide gap hooks in the tiniest sizes and I don't even think Mustad made the 277 in bigger sizes which throws comparisons out the window as well.

Possibly the Mustad 94842 size 28 was the basis of the size 32 Mustad 277 but even the 94842 size 28 is a LOT smaller than a size 28 TMC 518, and probably smaller than a TMC size 32.

 

[rancid waders]

I had been known to bring a 6" machinist ruler to the shop as hook sizes/ gap are all over the target.

 

[Bamboozle]

I had been known to bring a 6" machinist ruler to the shop as hook sizes/ gap are all over the target.

It funny but I've been carrying around a small metric scale in my fly fishing gear forever to measure bugs I capture that I want to imitate.

When I get back to the bench I chose the hook size that equals what I measured...

The stated hook sizes are and have always been been irrelevant to me for that same amount of time. The only time I choose a hook by size is when I'm tying attractor patterns.

 

[just_jon]

I still tie a couple dozen #28 Peg’s midges every year.

 

[JeffK]

Hook sizes are not standard and here is a good presentation on the matter.

The Fly Tying Hook Size Problem and What We've Done to Address it.

Fly hook sizes are all over the place.As the fly tying hook market has expanded greatly over the last few decades, the consistency of sizing between and even within brands has become ever more problematic. It is hard to buy any size of hook these days with a realistic expectation of what the...

tacticalflyfisher.com

The supplier lists measured length of hooks because it can vary all over the place.

 

[rancid waders]

It funny but I've been carrying around a small metric scale in my fly fishing gear forever to measure bugs I capture that I want to imitate.

When I get back to the bench I chose the hook size that equals what I measured...

The stated hook sizes are and have always been been irrelevant to me for that same amount of time. The only time I choose a hook by size is when I'm tying attractor patterns.

Great thinking

 

[Nocktavius]

Don’t like tying much smaller than 22 for the simple reason that the tippet needed to fish it wouldn’t be able to handle any fish worth catching

 

[Bamboozle]

Don’t like tying much smaller than 22 for the simple reason that the tippet needed to fish it wouldn’t be able to handle any fish worth catching

I've landed more than a few fish over 18" and up to 20" on 7X & 8X and I didn't have play them to exhaustion to release them because those light tippets are surprisingly strong. Having a rod with a forgiving tip section and keeping the fish in check also helps.

Now whether a fish that size could be bothered to eat a size 32 fly is less definitive but I can tell you from experience that good light tippet material is definitely up to the task.

 

[Silent Ocelot]

I concur with Bam here, people often underestimate the strength of tippet. Can't say I've landed 20" fish on 7 or 8X but I've landed 8 Erie steelhead on 5X, granted this 5X was rated at 5.7lbs so not terribly impressive. The 18 inch brown I pulled out of the Little J this year was on 6X AND I was tossing a 4.0mm mop that should have snapped off by just casting it.

The only problem with fluorocarbon is that it has near zero stretch, so once it reaches its breaking point it just snaps. It can be tough when using lighter tippet as a fish can rip your fly off when hook-setting because the tension is too great (thinking of my May Penns trip this year).

I also put more wraps in my clinch knots when using lighter tippet.

Shameless plug: I am madly in love with Cortland's fluorocarbon, really great but expensive stuff. I can't justify it for stockers around me but when making a trip to central PA or the Delaware the 5X is my go-to. Cortland's diameter ratings are often 1 lb. or more (1.6 pounds more than Orvis Mirage when dealing with 5X) than other brands in the same diameter. I'd have to get a micrometer to really see if the diameter is exactly what it says it is, but the tippet "feels right" for the advertised diameter so I really don't care that much, Imma keep using it. My Trout Hunter tippet gathers dust...

Ultimately being intimately tuned in with ones gear can allow lighter tippet usage, just be aware the margin for error is greatly reduced when using this tippet, and you will lose flies and fish.

Lightest I have gone is 7X (Cortland, so 2.9 lbs. of breaking strength). I just checked their 8X and it's rated at 1.9 lbs. so I could justify its usage. I have used P-line fluorocarbon 2lb. for chubs and would run that on my spin rods when fishing 1/64 ounce trout magnets (I could really launch those!).

 

[Bamboozle]

I don't want to get too far OT on this but I still remember the first time I tried 8X fluorocarbon...

I switched from mono to fluoro because I was tired of the twists, flat-spotting and curly-cues I got with mono. I chose Seaguar Grand Max because it got high ratings and it came in 8X which I use on occasion.

I was fishing a local Class A section that unfortunately is part of the "Stocked Class A Sections" program and I was fishing some tiny midge pupa on the Seaguar 8X when I hooked a stocked rainbow around 15" that proceeded to bolt downstream over a small "falls" to a pool below with a submerged tree.

I was amazed the tippet didn't break!!

I was too lazy and not motivated to climb over the falls and spook the fish working in the stretch above it that I was fishing to release the fighting fish. So I put a LOT more pressure on him, even jerking the line a few times HOPING my tippet would POP...

...NOPE...

So I had to do want I didn't want to and climb down to release him. But I always remembered how strong that stuff was and I never hesitated going forward to horse my fish in when using that or 7X.

I DO have the moderate action rods that help greatly in these situations but regardless, 1.5 - 2lb breaking strength against the flex of any rod is a LOT more than folks realize.

Maybe that's why I land my fish so quickly...

 

[Boulders]

I fish size 24 BWO or trico's.

 

[EchoRidgeElder]

Size 22 is my current limit of my resolution! Very hard for me to see anything smaller while tying, let along fishing something that small!

 

[salmo]

Put me down for size 22. If I can’t see it I don’t fish it.

 

[fly_doggie]

You guys have me beat. I tie down to an 18. Anything smaller than that I buy.