Going small for big fun

The monster fish.  The bigger the better.  If it won’t break your rod why bother.  I hear this all the time.  I admit there was a time in my life where I had this outlook.  I wanted to catch the biggest fish.  While I was deployed to Iraq I managed to catch two fish that turned out to be world records.  I was pretty stoked.  Bucket list items checked off.   As I have aged the need to catch the biggest and baddest fish has faded.  Sure, I’d love to tie into a big ol Marlin or a bull red on the fly, who wouldn’t.  One of the things I have been doing lately is targeting quite the opposite.  I have gone small.  

Using my 2wt rod and tiny dry flies and nymphs I have been targeting the smallest fish I can spot.  I’ll give you a minute or two to stop laughing.  At first it was a fluke.  I was trying to catch some of the shell cracker bream in my pond when I felt a slight tug and wound up false casting a two-inch bream.  I looked at this tiny, scrappy little fish and thought about it.  I put the 6wt away and got my 2wt out and started looking for smaller fish.  I thought to myself, “Small fish, small problem.  This will be easy.”  I was wrong.  W-R-O-N-G.  I am telling you, I have not been this mistaken often but I am here to tell you it is a challenge and it IS fun.  

I am not breaking new ground here, I am not claiming to be the first person to think of this.  Most East coast fly anglers chase tiny brook trout in the streams of the South East on a daily basis.  Small rods, tiny dry flies, ultra-light tippets and tiny but beautiful fish.  For me it is bream and bass.  Sight fishing these tiny monsters has become a kind of obsession with me. Stalking the edges of the ponds where I live looking for them hunting bugs on the edge, watching them and trying to drop that fly perfectly so they jump on it.  It really is a lot of fun.  Being baby fish they are VERY skittish and will dart away at the slightest thing that looks like it may eat them, but that is part of the fun.

Not always does a tiny fish come to hand.  Sometimes they spit the fly, I rip the fly out of their mouth or on one occasion a 3-pound large-mouth decided to grab an easy snack.  The fly ripped out of the bream’s mouth and embedded itself in the side of the bass’ mouth.  With a 2-pound tippet I had to play the bass a while and the noodle like stiffness of the rod helped me to land this fish. 

  

 From my days in Colorado I have a ton of tiny dry flies.   Most I tied myself, but my eyes don’t let me tie anything smaller than a 4/0 without glasses.  I find that a size 20 Adams parachute works very well.  I am also partial to the Crystal Blue Persuasion created by an old friend for Brook trout.  It does wonders on pond fish.  Your typical BWO’s, bead head nymphs and even the old San Juan worm will bring fish to hand.  As with all fly fishing, match the hatch to your local waters.  Some ponds a Griffiths gnat, or a black ant fly will be the ticket, other ponds a Micro-Clouser or a micro Wooly Bugger may be the ticket.  I am not sure if a Micro-Clouser is a thing but I tie them up using mono-barbells I make myself for eyes.  Olives, browns, yellows and of course a TINY bit of flash work well and if you tie your own, don’t be afraid if it’s ugly.  Ugly flies catch fish too.   Get out there and give it a try.  It’ll be fun.  

 Almost every single neighborhood pond has bream in it, and they spawn every full moon from about May to November so there are ALWAYS tiny fish to chase.  Check out your neighborhood ponds and if you need gear The Lowcountry Fly Shop in Mt. Pleasant has everything you need.  Flies, tippet, leaders, fly lines, reels, rods, vests, hats, the list goes on and on.  They have some of the best local fly anglers running the place and Scotty and the Boys are always ready to share experience and even help you fine tune that tailing loop you keep throwing.