As I’ve written before, I’m a huge fan of Ed Engle. He is the king of fishing small flies. He regularly fishes, and used to guide at, highly-pressured Colorado tailwaters.
Why does he fish small flies? “Because that’s what trout want,” he says.
I took Ed’s seminar at last year’s Fly Fishing Show and have read all of his books. Tying Small Flies is a must-have. So, before yesterday’s outing to fish the Trico hatch and spinner fall at the Farmington, I re-read his comments about Tricos and tied one of his flies.
I’ve tied a bunch of his flies. They all work. His sunken Trico spinner helped land fish to what led to a morning with 21 brown trout landed.
If you’re interested, take a look at the above video. He’s a master fly tier.
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I don't think it's so much a matter of what the fish "want" as it is what's available. If there's an abundance of hoppers or green drakes or sculpins that's what they'll eat. In the case of these last couple weeks, Tricos are abundant so that's what they are eating. If it was advantageous I don't think trout would ever bother with such small bugs but sometimes they have no choice.
Great point. He mostly fishes tailwaters, where small bugs tend to be the norm.
I'm also a big fan of Ed. I was at his tying session last year and also have his tying small flies book which is great. Thanks for posting this..