March 2, 2024
Having reached my goal of 100 U.S. Freshwater Fish on Fly, I've considered changing my stance on micro-fishing. It wasn't something I was particularly interested in, although I DO like seeing some of the cool micro species folks catch, such as the beautiful darter species. Most Micro-anglers use bait, often a tiny chunk of worm or even a piece of a grain of rice. I'm going to try it with micro "flies" on a fly rod. Something artificial (not bait) tied on a very small hook. Trout anglers have been using very small hooks for some midge dry flies and midge larva nymph flies for many years.Anyway... So I looked into micro-fishing a bit. Many micro & minnow species have TINY mouths. Gotta have a tiny hook they can get in their mouth. For my first go at this, I bought some Tanago hooks that are pre-snelled on a length of line/thread. I tied some material to 3 of the hooks (so far), each one a bit different material and different color. I took them fishing to a new-to-me creek.
I fished for at least a couple couple hours, caught at least a dozen fish. Lost 2 of the 3 tanago flies to overhead trees after missed hooksets. Might be a little too aggressive... hey, I'm just learning! 
One of the reasons micro fishing didn't previously appeal to me, was that minnow species can be pretty hard to distinguish from each other. Today was a good example. There were 4 species I recognized (3 I'd caught before on larger flies), and then there were some I was not sure about... and still am not sure about.These 2 are Creek Chubs. Much smaller than I'm used to catching:
Mottled Sculpins:
Southern Redbelly Dace (just one):
Striped Shiner:
David Merical
St. Louis, MO
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Originally Posted by lee s
