In his book, Professtional Fly Tying and Tackle Making,George Herter relates this oddity: “The world’s smallest fishing fly was tied by Miss Helene E. Shaw, of Sheboygon, Wisconsin on January 21, 1939. It was tied on a specially made English hook size forty. The pattern was Royal Coachman.” (pg. 23)
Does the record still stand?
Anybody seen a picture of Helen’s fly or current attempts at the record?
There are some folks working in miniature stuff to blow a 40 out of the water… Pun may be intended…
Besides the obvious fact Herter’s books are dated, there is also the Herter Fudge Factor. He often made truly ordinary claims because he simply knew no better.
I would not know about a size 40 hook but I have seen a dressed size 32 by Hans Weilenmann that at first I took for a speck of dust in the packet. He told me that he had to split 12/0 thread to a single strand to tie it!
Size 40 sounds like fantasy. tbo.
Besides Herter’s notoriety for making extraordinary claims, it should be noted that hook sizes back then may not have coincided with the hook sizes we have today.
Heck, hook sizes from today’s major manufacturer’s don’t even really coincide.
I remember a few years back that Mustad hooks were the closest to
being the real size while competitor’s hooks in the same size were larger.
Cheers,
MontanaMoose
My local Gander Mountain has hooks down to size 22. 100 of then in the standard box (about 2" square) look like drill shavings. And the static electricity in the box makes them stick to the sides. No, I didn’t buy them.:???:
The smallest I’ve managed are size 18 dry fly hooks. I’ve only fished one of the flies I tied on them. Just too small for bream. If they would hit one, I’d be afraid of the fish swallowing it.
Kirk
I tie on #22’s quite regularly. I tie and fish a fair number of flies down to #26. I tie the 28’s and 32s mostly for fun…but I have fished a couple 28s with some success. I have hooks down to #32 but I’ve never seen a #40 …not that I could see it if I did see it. :? I recall seeing some photos a very long time ago of some guy who did miniture wood carvings on the end of match sticks. I’m guessing someone like that could create a #40 fly.
I can see someone with a stereo microscope taking that task on…and if I had one, I’d be trying it myself. I like that stuff.