Fighting big fish on small hooks doesn’t have to be so dramatic – it can be – but if you are careful and take it easy, the fish will often be compliant and finally come to you. You will need to prepare a bit for this kind of fishing, and here are some things you can do to make things work.

Use a fly reel that has a light ratchet or an adjustable brake that will allow you to control a decisive run where you have to admit line out quickly.

Use (as we do) a soft tippet material on your leader…We prefer soft nylon-like: Maxima Chameleon or Original Streen. These nylon brands will stretch when under strain…something quite valuable when the fish jumps or shakes its head.

To read much more about bugs…go to this blog page.

Local insight

Spending each day by the river throughout the fishing season grants a depth of understanding regarding the varied moods and subtle shifts in behavior of Atlantic salmon and trout that few anglers ever attain. Advice from a seasoned local angler or ghillie can often provide invaluable insights to visiting day ticket anglers.

Micro flies … the  essential requirement

During periods of low water and warm temperatures, or when the fish seem unresponsive, you’ll frequently discover that the flies required to entice such wary fish are among the smallest in your fly box. In slow-moving water, a sparsely dressed fly might be necessary to ensure precise presentation at the rear of a pool. Alternatively, the daily emergence of local insects like stoneflies, caddisflies, or mayflies may have conditioned the fish to respond only to patterns that closely resemble these familiar sights.

A sneak peek into Ron´s box of micro flies – The tiny Micro treble hook flies # 16 – 20 are seen in the top part of the box.

See small outpoint silver trebles # 16 for your micro fly tying here 

Keep it simple

Trailing flies – what is it all about?

The material quickly became immensely popular among big-game and commercial fishermen mainly because of the light refractive index of fluorocarbon line so close to that of water making it less visible underwater, something quite significant, e.g. fishing for giant bluefin tuna with 200 lb mono – The fluorocarbon line also has other noteworthy features a.o lack of water absorbency, abrasion resistance and knot strength last but not least the speed fluorocarbon sinks through the water (it sinks faster than nylon) * something Ron Gray benefits from in his fishing with trailing micro flies.

Fluorocarbon is becoming more and more popular among fly fishermen.

Fluorocarbon has become distinctly popular over the last couple of decades. Many anglers I know do not think twice when buying a spool of fluorocarbon tippet material  6 – 7 times more expensive than a spool of quality nylon tippet material.

Fluorocarbon for trout and Atlantic salmon

As an avid trout and salmon angler, I would say no… save your money and buy nylon for your fly attachment – doing so, I will probably have fellow anglers raising their eyebrows – but my experience with fluorocarbon has shown me that the material has few properties that would help me get more bites, saying so I acknowledge that fluorocarbon has so many abilities that could aid anglers in specific and special ways not know to me, making my advise a bit bias.

Fluorocarbon is stiffer than conventional nylon.

Generally speaking, fluorocarbon is stiffer than conventional tippet material, and it is also a lesser elastic material than nylon, which is not something I would benefit greatly from in my fishing for trout and salmon; on the contrary, I try to avoid stiff tippet material as I find that rigid leaders take away some of the life that small and medium fly patterns need to perform well.

I do also prefer a cushy and elastic nylon tippet to a stiff and less so flexible tippet material. Since I often fish for bigger fish with small hooks and light tackle in a sport where elastic tippet material comes in handy ….Read more on this hard fighting topic on our blog at Fishmadman (You have to lose salmon and steelhead on small flies)