Smallest Fly Hook

[Ham]

#18 ad that's stretch for me.

I got really humbled by a guy using 26's one day when my 18's would not even get looked at.

It was BAD.

[BredMan]

This is a picture I found which is actually a comparison of two size #32 hooks based on different manufacturer specs. The hook George showed me was the size of the #32 shown on the right in this picture (smaller hook). I also remember him saying he used 12/0 thread. Didn't know either existed!

[ohmz138]

Any smaller than a #22 usually in Daiichi and I start really bending hooks out.

[dgames]

size 22

I used 22 midge larvae patterns regularly when I used to go to the San Juan in NM every year. That was pretty standard fare on that river and it was often difficult to catch fish on anything larger.

I used to try the same small stuff on the white & norfork tailwaters, but didn't really do any better than with larger flies there.

At Roaring River & Bennett, you can usually find some rising fish feeding on some kind of midge. I can usually get them to take my fly if I throw a 20 or 22 dry. The difficult parts are seeing the fly on the water and keeping it from dragging. I probably have less than a 50% hooking average as well on these flies, but it is still fun just getting the fish to rise.

[fiveweight]

The smallest hooks I've found are 30, tried tying some little gnat-like flies on them and had the same problem - they tend to bend when you are working with them. The same thing happens when you fight fish even if they don't slip out they unbend. I may have caught a small stocker bow or two at one of the tailwaters but they're mostly just for fun.

Now, 24s and we're talkin. Dries of all sorts, but usually it doesn't need to get any more complicated than a thread body, no tail, no wing, and a couple turns of hackle or CDC on top. I find more than that and they get weighted down too much by the thread, and even when they do float they don't fish as well as when they are really sparse. 24 also makes a great baetis nymph with a micro sized black bead head and a strip of olive scud back cut in half length wise, wrapped around the shank and tied off with olive thread. I've had some killer days with that fly and not a bad hookup rate either for such a tiny thing (maybe 50%). One thing I think about those little micro flies, no matter what style you tie if you can get away with it, a scud bend hook holds fish the best.

[Brian K. Shaffer]

I tied on a size 38 one time.. at a show... and sold my midge fly at exactly 4$

I've seen 40s.. and 44's....... they are SMALL. (44's cost 8$ a piece)

Brian

[Gavin]

The 32 on the right side of Bred Man's pic is one of the old mustad gold plated blind eye size 32 fly hooks...They have been out of production for a long time, and they are very hard to find these days. I think the 32 on the other side is a TMC...still very tiny but a lot bigger than the old mustad which has no hook eye.

I have a pack of TMC 32's, and I've tied on them ocassionally. Cant remeber landing a fish on one though. I tie and fish 22-28's though....great for when you spot fish rising to tric's, olives, midges, or something you just cant see in the film. Cheers.

[Brian K. Shaffer]

TMC 501's.. they go down to 32's...

13x tippet ? .22 pound breaking strength.

The hooks are expensive.. the tippet is even more expensive.

I have some that was given to me.. I will dig it out for pics.

It's in Japanese.

Brian

[Wayne SW/MO]

I used to tie 18's, but now I don't think I could tie one on?

[Randall]

I've tied some tricos down to a 26. I bought some 28 and 30 but never really messed with them.

Brian, when would it be practical- assuming possibility- to use a tippet with a .22# break point? What would break point of the knot be? I know I sure couldn't successfully use it or a hook smaller than probably a 30.