Author Topic: A huh moment (Read 612 times)

Brandon Matthews · « **on:** June 25, 2011, 11:19:53 AM »

I was fishing a run that I fish all the time. Was catching fish right and left on a size 16 hare's ear with a dark brown thorax. I ended up striking and losing the fly in a tree. Now I tied on another fly that was tied almost exactly the same....didn't catch any more fish....I ended up finding a exact copy of the first fly...tied it on and started catching fish again.

So I've been thinking about what the difference was. The two flies were exactly the same.
1. both size 16
2. both tungsten bead
3. both had 10 wraps of 0.010 lead
4. both were tied and fish using 6x tippet

Now in my mind they should be exactly the same....but here is the kick...the first one was tied on one of the TL hooks....I caught a ton of fish with it. The second one was....I didn't catch anything on was tied on a TMC hook....So could the hook really make that kind of a difference. In my mind everything about the two flies were exactly the same...they were being fished in the same manor and the exact same run.

Does anyone know what those barbless hooks are made from...are they heavier than "standard" hooks? Anyone have any thoughts?

Dejon Hamann · « **Reply #1 on:** June 25, 2011, 11:24:03 AM »

That's really weird man. If absolutely everything else was the same I can't imagine the hook it was tied on made the difference. I guess a slight weight difference or more so the color (the tl hooks have the least reflective black finish we have found yet) might have been a difference, but more than anything I bet it was just coincidence. I'll bet you just happened to not be catching fish while using the other fly. Or the age old "confidence" scenario where for some reason you were concentrating more when using the other hook.

Now if it was a hookup or dropped fish difference then I'd be more comfortable attributing that definitively to the TL hook.

Todd Oishi · « **Reply #2 on:** June 25, 2011, 11:51:08 AM »

I've gotta agree with Dejon. If you had still caught fish, but a lesser extent, then perhaps it could have had something to do with the characteristic of the hook. But since you caught absolutely nothing, I'd say that the water that you were fishing was the deciding factor or the fish were simply not quite as willing.

Brandon Matthews · « **Reply #3 on:** June 25, 2011, 03:17:57 PM »

i mean what i can't get over was that this moment all happened in about 20 ft of stream....I don't understand it....I know it wasn't a confidence thing i have great confidence in this pattern no matter what hook it was tied on....and I will continue to fish the pattern on a TMC i've caught a ton of fish using this hook...it was just at this moment I couldn't catch any with TMC and the barbless cleaned house.....don't know...probably just coincidence.

Jim Frazier · « **Reply #4 on:** June 25, 2011, 06:15:32 PM »

congratulations on making the team . You are now in charge of hook sales also !

Brandon Matthews · « **Reply #5 on:** June 25, 2011, 07:54:46 PM »

Hey are you saying I'm "fishing" for customers?!?

JK....but the story is true and it just makes me scratch my head! and thanks I'm lucky to be on such a great team!

Jim Frazier · « **Reply #6 on:** June 25, 2011, 08:29:21 PM »

while we are on the subject of "huh moments " a friend and i went to fishing creek on fathers day. started off with the first cast a 16-17 brown , fish were taking nymphs quite well at most of the runs. spanked trout pretty hard in the narrows then went to other waters to hopefully keep up the pace. we worked our way up a section of the stream and came to a really heavy run. my friend nymphed it first as i was following him. After 15 minutes he said i am going back down stream so i stepped up as close to the head as i could but there was a big undercut bank on my side and water way to deep and fast to wade to the other side and other obstacles in the way also. Tossed the tandem rig (iso nymph - caddis larva ) into the head as far up as i could get it. Nothing hit ! second cast wham - Fish On ! He dug on me in the fast water till finally i kept reaching out to my left and literally yanking on him to turn em cause i definitley couldn't get to him , he turn and burned my line for 50 yds down stream past my buddy and he said with a few explicits u beter get him mounted ! He was about 24-28 ! Totally red ontop !!!! He B lined for the opposite shore and wedge himself between 2 rocks and started rolling like the bog boys do !! Shit he cut my line. Instinct to over and i dove on him , scuffed my rod pretty good and didn't land em ! after shaking for a few minutes i re tied same pair of nymphs that had been working all day. made my way back up to the fast water. Second cast and i hooked a smaller brown about 15" brought him to hand relatively quickly both identical tandems were hanging out of the corner of that fishes mouth . NOW U FIGURE IT OUT. Buddy witnessed the whole thing !!! Like Freddy Kruger I'LL BE BACK !!!!!!

Kenny Dean · « **Reply #7 on:** June 25, 2011, 09:48:18 PM »

if im reading this correctly u said the nymph that was workin so well u lost in a tree,then u tied on something that was similar but not exact to the first nymph with no luck. then u found an xact copy of the first nymph that u were successful with and started hooking up again..that slight difference in nymph pattern was probably the issue..dont you think?

Brandon Matthews · « **Reply #8 on:** June 25, 2011, 10:13:00 PM »

well the only thing that was different, hence the "almost" was the TMC hook....that is the only difference....I normally tie all my patterns on a TMC 3761 with a smashed barb and the other two patterns were tied on the TL200...both a size 16, both tungsten bead, both 10 wraps of 0.010 lead......so the only variance in the pattern were the hook they were tied on...but you know...maybe I didn't give the TMC enough time in the water or maybe it was just coincidence....don't know...just made me wonder.