My dads mate was in today and was talking about some size 24 midges he had tied up and used on a stillwater for some blues recently.

He was using a 10' 6wt rod with a mid to tip action and he found that the fish would straighten the hooks very easily or bounce off.
Are there any techniques that can be used to help in a situation like this?

Thanks
AL

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There are a lot of people that will argue that the smaller hook, if well set, is actually stronger than larger sizes. Are the fish being played correctly ? Or are the hooks cr@p ?

As far as missing takes, if you are matching what is on the water then can't have it both ways i suppose.

C.

Use a lighter/softer actioned rod. With small hooks and light tippets you really need to cushion the fight as much as possible so need the buffering of a softer rod (in my opinion). A tip actioned 6 weight does not sound the ideal rod for such small flies. Also fishing closer in may help, I have had hooks straighten as fish surge off with a lot of line under/on the water. I guess this is because the huge amount of resistance the line exerts on the hook as it is forced through water.

Just my twopence worth and look forward to hearing other peoples views.

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http://eclecticangler.blogspot.com/

IMHO the rod/line combo is far to heavy for a sz 24 hook.

Jim

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The Fishermans Friend is the Flirty Fly,Fickle Food for Fleeting Fish.

It was sort of a look in the box and pick what looked good, he had planned to use them on a river but just seen them and tried them

so lighteer rod and softer

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Ahm, sledgehammer to crack a nut springs to mind

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Eddie
"We look to Scotland for all our ideas of civilisation."
Voltaire

He did manage to land a couple, good job he wasn't using the 15 weight then

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How much lighter of a rod would you need? Sounds like my 5 weight might also be overgunned for this kind of application.

If you look at this chart by allaistair gowans you should find out

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Thats a great chart, and I guess that most things follow from the size of hook you use,,,,,,,, most people are unlikley to use 10lb breaking strain mono with a size 28 hook!!