Last summer I decided to finally start fishing flies without hooks…
… and / or tied on hooks without points …
Fishing flies tied on straight pins is cheaper, which is not the reason to do it, and can lead to a lot more action on the crick, which is a good reason to do it, depending on your priorities. Any number of times it seemed very likely that the same fish were coming back two or more times to try to catch the fly because they had not been knicked the first time they hit it. I suspect in nature a lot of naturals that get hit don’t get eaten and fish are accustomed to immediately looking for another shot at a treat. Another possibility is that fish in the immediate vicinity are not put down by the process of an angler landing and releasing one of their buddies.
Fishing flies tied on hooks with the point broken off creates a really interesting challenge - landing fish that would normally be well hooked and easily landed, given decent skills in that aspect of angling. As it turns out, with a good number of fish “caught” with pointless flies, I never could land one. Got close a few times, but just about any slack at any point in the tussle means the fishy is gonna go bye-bye. Perhaps someone using a net would have a better chance of landing a fish caught on one of these hooks, but why spoil the fun.
Last summer, I got away from fishing these flies because I had a shot at catching a steelhead on my regular flies. A bull trout would have been another treat if that happened while fishing dry flies, which is pretty rare, at least that is my impression.
Over the winter, it’s mostly a nymphing game around here. And there is no point to fishing nymphs tied on straight pins or pointless hooks. But now that I have caught one mature steelhead ( last summer ) and one good size bull trout ( this spring ), it’s time to get back to playing tag with dry flies.
I figure to split my dry fly fishing this year about half and half between the two versions, assuming that I can tie smaller flies that will present properly without the “keel” effect provided by the hook.
Not sure that counts, Byron, but it is fun, isn’t it ??
A few other advantages, especially with the straight pin flies - flies last longer because they don’t get beat up as quickly, people fishing behind you, if any, can have more fun since the fishies aren’t put down by your success, and hooking mortality drops to ZERO per cent.
Sandy Pittendrigh, a former BB member who was quite creative, used to tie nymphs out of very soft materials that fish would hold on to for some time, but the nymphs I’ve experiemented with haven’t produced that kind of result.
I don’t do a lot of streamer fishing, but pointless streamers would certainly have the same impact as regular streamers, and present the challenge of landing a fish with that kind of hook.
About 25 to 30 years ago I taught a fly tying lesson with a renown, at least in this region, fly tyer/fisher. He espoused ‘tagging’ as you describe. In fact, he said he often caught 100 trout a day using this technique! As I recall, several of the fly fishers raised questions about the results he described and afterward basically said he was full of himself and it! Here, as I recall, are some of the comments and questions: Many of the fish came to the fly more than 1x but you’re counting each one separately; You assume you would not have lost any fish; How do you know all the fish were trout? He did not know the answer to #1, Said yes to #2, and said something like, ‘He just knew they were all trout’ to #3.
I wonder how you’d actually know you had a strike with sub-surface flies unless the fish hung on for awhile?
John,
I was fishing a soft hackle on the Henry’s Fork summer before last. Now, with soft hackles, you get quite a few “short takes”. But, I was hooking (I thought) some nice fish and quickly losing them. Finally, after 5-6 that way, I checked my fly. The hook was broken off just below the bend…
Personally, I prefer to bring my fish to net to enjoy seeing their beauty.
My point in being out somewhere with a fly rod breaks down like this - outdoors, on my feet, active, in a place I really like to spend time. And I enjoy casting a fly rod, and hunting fish and finding them, and seeing them rise to a dry fly and try to eat it.
“Playing” fish and landing them is no longer a priority - hasn’t been for some time. I just celebrated my tenth anniversary fly fishing a couple days ago. After something like 1300 days fly fishing averaging somewhere around 20-25 fish landed per outing, the point for me is to enjoy my time outdoors and the hunt, and not pester the fishies so much. The pointless flies, when fished, will suffice for the challenge of an occasional fish in hand, maybe …
This is a personal preference just now, and may or may not last. And it is obviously not something everyone will want to try, especially those who really enjoy playing and landing fish. That’s cool, and the way it should be. On the other hand, maybe some folks will try it and find that it enhances their fly angling experience in a way that they never thought to try or imagined it would ???
I have to wonder about the take that fellow you mentioned had on the playing tag thing. Sounds like he set himself up and had to deal with the consequences of doing so.
As far as the subsurface thing goes, in reference to nymphs, I just take Sandy’s clearly described accounts at face value. He is an excellent fly angler, best I could tell from several sources, a very creative fly designer, as evident from a number of flies posted on the FAOL Fly Tying Forum, and related observing fish chewing on his big soft stonefly nymphs while they swam along for upwards of 20’ on a number of occasions. Good enough for me. But I don’t care to tie the kinds of flies that the demo’d on the Fly Tying Forum and the ones I have tried didn’t produce the result he described, quite possibly because I was fishing them in fairly fast freestone currents.
As far as streamers go, I guess I should clarify - I present mine down and across swinging and stripping them. It’s really clear when you get a strike using that kind of presentation. Actually, I’m kind of looking forward to the challenge of landing a fish caught on a pointless streamer one of these days.
My point in being out somewhere with a fly rod breaks down like this - outdoors, on my feet, active, in a place I really like to spend time. And I enjoy casting a fly rod, and hunting fish and finding them, and seeing them rise to a dry fly and try to eat it.
“Playing” fish and landing them is no longer a priority - hasn’t been for some time. I just celebrated my tenth anniversary fly fishing a couple days ago. After something like 1300 days fly fishing averaging somewhere around 20-25 fish landed per outing, the point for me is to enjoy my time outdoors and the hunt, and not pester the fishies so much. The pointless flies, when fished, will suffice for the challenge of an occasional fish in hand, maybe …
This is a personal preference just now, and may or may not last. And it is obviously not something everyone will want to try, especially those who really enjoy playing and landing fish. That’s cool, and the way it should be. On the other hand, maybe some folks will try it and find that it enhances their fly angling experience in a way that they never thought to try or imagined it would ???
To each their own… although I’m not sure your still fishing, technically … since fishing is the act of “trying to catch” a fish.
Hmmmm… interesting debate topic, since your just trying to fool the fish, not that I want to go there. Anyway, whatever you call it, tag or fishing sounds like your having fun… but it’s not for me.
A few days ago, I was rereading some of the interviews in Paul Arnold’s Wisdom of the Guides, a collection of interviews with a dozen highly regarded Rocky Mountain guides in the late '90s. Paul Roos is not only a highly regarded angler and guide, but also a leading conservationist in Montana, leading a number of battles to keep Montana streams and rivers safe for fishies and accessible by anglers.
Yesterday, while I was fishing a pointless FEB Salmonfly, about 25 fishies hit it, most of them in such a way that they would have hooked up with a full pointed hook. Out of the 25, I landed three. This one was the most colorful.
I did have a PM from one BB member who has a close friend who also fishes pointless flies and who is considering taking it up.
I can honestly say, I have never given this a moments thought, but it does sound like fun. Although, I will have to admit, it’s really hard for some of my family to understand catch and release fishing, this will blow their minds. Their idea of fishing is a worm and a float. And a bucket to carry them home in.
Still, if you are having fun and its legal, more power to you.
They have a lot in common with some fly anglers I know - except the fly anglers use pink worms decorated with a brass bead around the center.
It is a lot of fun - for me. One of the interesting things is how firmly some trout will hold a fly in their mouth if the fly doesn’t have a hook. When fishing flies tied on straight pins or with the hook cut off at the very top of the bend, a lot of fish that eat the fly will “dive” several feet down with the fly in their mouth and won’t give it up until you give it a good tug or two.
As to the legality, I’ve wondered a time or two if you could “fish” with the straight pin version without a fishing licencse. But some of the regs I’ve read refer to “harassing” and an enforcement officer might decide to harass you for harassing the fishies ??
You obviously have a different point for fishing than I do, Zac.
I can see why you think it would be a crappie idea - kind of like paying the tab at the grocery store and leaving the groceries on the counter when you walked out.
So - if you were required to release all those guys, would you consider pointless fishing or just stop fishing ??
I’ve seen enough trouts that seeing more close up is not a priority. If I decide that I’d like to see and hold one, I can tie up some flies on pointed hooks or work a bit harder at landing them with pointless hooks.
If I fish a crick that I haven’t fished before, I’ll likely use some regular hooks long enough that I can get a few pix to document my experience on that particular stream or river.
once had the pleasure of fishing with a guide for 3 days out of 4. the day in between, he went out to a good spot and fished it with the point cut off the hook. the next day we went there with “real” hooks and had a great day because he could tell us definitively what would work, and the trout had not been too bothered.
want to try this with bluegills 'cause i’m tired of trying to get my #12 hooks out of their little bitty mouths.
