Small streamers

[paparise]

I feel like the #10 wooly buggers I tie are too big for smaller wild fish. How small can I realistically go on a WB? Is there another streamer that ties better small that I should consider.

 

[just_jon]

I have tied them down to size 16. I fish them less like a streamer and more like a nymph dead drifting.

 

[troutpoop]

I fish 10's and 12's a lot. I've had good luck, especially with 10's.

 

[flyfishermanj]

Not sure if a clouser is considered a streamer or not, but I've had success with them in sizes 12-16. I use bead chain eyes instead of dumbells. Also to address your bugger question, here is a thread from a few months back, Mirco Buggers. Hope this helps you out some.

JH

 

[jayL]

I don't often go smaller than ten and have caught plenty of minuscule wild brooks and browns with them. I really wouldn't see the point in catering to even smaller fish. Any catchable trout can easily eat a ten.

 

[JackM]

I think if you are down below #14, you may as well be using a nymph. That said, I tie some in #14 for the smaller waters or clear conditions. I do find the larger #10 and larger are overkill on brookie waters and you do risk doing more damage with the large hook. So, 12-14 for small water, #10 and bigger for "normal trouts."

 

[pete41]

12 white or black marabous with silver bodies can drive trout crazy at times-other times it's not so hot but when it is,it doesn't get any better.Maybe PCray can explain what hatch they match..lol
Good on ponds and lazy streams.
If you fish for crappies during their spawning runs-they are deadly.
Also very good on early season stocked fish.
Sometimes simple is better.

 

[wgmiller]

Tie up some #14 micro buggers using ostrich herl. Very easy to tie and very effective. Much below that size, I wouldn't bother. No need to palmer hackle onto the #14's. Just lash on half a dozen pieces for the tail, tie in some flash (optional), and wrap two pieces of herl forward. Voila! I tie mine with lead and a bead head, but the choice is yours depending on how you want them to fish.

 

[WildTigerTrout]

I have tied woolybuggers and streamers down as small as 12 and 14. They work really well on smaller streams and on ultralight flyrods.

 

[wgmiller]

I added some brown and olive #14 micro buggers to my arsenal. Again, very simple to tie with just ostrich herl for the tail, some flash, then two strands of herl palmered to the front.

(ignore the date stamp...:lol

 

[Swattie87]

14 is my go to size for Buggers for small wild trout. If you're on a small wild stream, you can pretty much expect that MOST of the catchable fish are under 10" or so, and I do think that a smaller fly will help with your hookup rate. And it's always been my theory that bigger fish will still hit a smaller streamer. I would agree with the guys above that on smaller streams I tend to drift the fly more as opposed to actively working it.

With smaller Buggers I also find that a shorter tail section will help with the "short strikes" and lead to more hooked fish.

For normal sized stockies, or bigger wild trout I like size 10-12.

 

[ryguyfi]

I tie a sz 14 bugger in dark olive for small wild streams (brookie/brown) and for fresh stockies in small streams. I feel fresh stockies tend to short strike, so if you give them something small enough to inhale, then the hook rate increases. This is only something I've been doing for maybe 2 years or so, but I feel my hookups in this area have increased drastically.

 

[JakesLeakyWaders]

I tied a bunch of clousers this winter with small beadchain eyes in size 14 and 16. I used to use them for bass only because before I started tying I bought them and they are usually pretty big.

Then one day I was fishing and it was murky conditions. I couldn't seem to catch anything. I ended up trimming some extra hair off a clouser thinning it out and caught about a half dozen trout in one section of stream.

I use as little material as possible on mine a few strands of black or brown for the back then another color in the middle usually olive with flashabou or crystal flash or whatever its called and then a few strands of white on the bottom.

 

[sandfly]

I tie standard streamers in 10's and 12's

 

[ryguyfi]

Those look like 4xl hooks or even longer Sandfly. I bet my standard 14 streamer hooks are half that length.

 

[sandfly]

just mustad 9575 hooks, the larger one is a size 6 for comparison.