Originally Posted by
Sonoman
I am very frustrated with commercial flies straightening. Doesn't matter whether it is steelhead, big trout, or shad on small bugs but it happens too often. Jig flies are particularly prone to straightening. And I am talking about quality flies from Kiene's or The Fly Shop...I assume supplied by Umqua on Tiemco hooks
I typically run 6lb or 4lb Seaguar tippet on a 6 wt or 7wt rod with small bugs, like #16 jigged PMDs or PTs or #14 copper johns. I want to get the fish to the net quickly to increase survival and we rarely break tippets, but a lot of our LDRs are due to hooks straightening out.
Are others having the same problem? Am I doing something wrong here when I play fish? I use extra heavy wire hooks when I tie bugs but I can't always use my own flies and have to buy commercial ties. What are other guys seeing? What are the guides doing?
I was out on the Lower Sac recently with a guide and I bugged him until he put on one of my flies. Of course we hook into a monster. 10 minutes later its gone...guide says "I bet that size 18 Firehole hook you used straightened out." Nope. Clean break of his 6lb Seaguar! Biggest trout I've ever tangled with.
You can't buy happiness, but you can buy new fly fishing gear and that usually does the trick.
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