What happened?

[foambug65]

It is a odd question , I don't know if it has been addressed before....
When I was young... The fly was a average size of 12-18 ..., an if one looks at the traditional flies ( mom, Bergman) they were in a average of 8-10 ... Now the flies have gotten so small
20-24 ... Did we do this ? Or is it a evolution thing ? I ask this because I reallyike tying the older traditionAl wets .. I don't catch as many .. As I would the smaller size. Would love to hear theory

[Steven]

My guess:
1) Marinaro's A Dry Fly Code - published in 1950 - and his "discovery" of minutiae.
2) The "discovery" of Baetis and other BWO-type flies. I've read somewhere that back in the day, some states had very short seasons that didn't encompass many early hatches. It always strikes me that there really was no classic Catskill BWO pattern (Flick had a variant).

[ScottP]

Development of smaller hooks, genetic hackle, finer thread, finer tippet, etc, opened up ability to tie/fish smaller flies. With increase in fishing pressure, it also became harder to tempt fish with stuff like a #8 Fanwing Coachman, so flies at least a little more realistic in terms of size became more effective.

Regards,
Scott

[Byron haugh]

Usually, the tier tries to imitate the actual insect in terms of size, shape, and color. For small insects, the fly will be small.
There are times, and tiers, who will enhance aspects of a fly. This is often true with wings since they tend to be early sights in the trouts vision as it floats toward the trout.

[okflyfisher]

Leader and tippet technology allowed finer stronger tippets that would allow you to successfully fool and land fish on tiny flies. Probably all of the above but fine strong tippets made it possible

[Silver Creek]

In heavily fished waters, it is my opinion that fishermen can influence trout feeding behavior.

An example is the San Juan River. Back in the early 1980s (30 years ago) a size 18 fly was small and I would catch trout on size 16s. Now a size 20 is a big fly.

I used to catch fish on size 16 red hots. Now the largest red hot that is recommended is a size 22.

"Larva Patterns: Red hot (size 22-24)"

http://www.ifly4trout.com/tipsntechniques.htm

http://www.sanjuanfloatnfish.com/pro...hing_flies.htm

[Joe Billingsley]

National Geographic posted an article a couple of years ago about a five year study of mayflies on the River Dove and their two year nymphal cycle has been cut in half down to one year because of increasing water temperatures. The size of the mayfly (of course) has been reduced, as well.
Interesting article.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/n...limate-change/

Joe

[Steven]

Mention of the San Juan brings up another thought...many of our great tailwaters were created post 1955, I think. Over time, the bug life likely changed significantly.

[jszymczyk]

Only applies to trout, if it really applies at all. I catch a hell of a lot of fish in the east on size 10 and 12 wet flies.

Contrast your small flies to the practice of using large 3 and 4 inch long streamers for trout.

[WarrenP]

That is a good question and I have noticed the same thing as you. That might mean the "bug" life has become smaller or maybe other fly fishermen have convinced others to downsize their flies. It could be a little of both. For me, I still use sizes 8, 10, 12 and 16 for all my trout fishing and do very well. When I decide to use a dry fly, which is very seldom, a size 12 is the smallest I will use and it produces for me. I usually stick with what works for me and my "style" of fly fishing and disregard what others or books tell me. As long as I am enjoying my fly fishing and it is producing results, I will stick with the sizes that I have confidence in.