Having reached my goal of 100 U.S. Freshwater Fish on Fly, I've considered changing my stance on micro-fishing. It wasn't something I was particularly interested in, although I DO like seeing some of the cool micro species folks catch, such as the beautiful darter species. Most Micro-anglers use bait, often a tiny chunk of worm or even a piece of a grain of rice. I'm going to try it with micro "flies" on a fly rod. Something artificial (not bait) tied on a very small hook. Trout anglers have been using very small hooks for some midge dry flies and midge larva nymph flies for many years.
Anyway... So I looked into micro-fishing a bit. Many micro & minnow species have TINY mouths. Gotta have a tiny hook they can get in their mouth. For my first go at this, I bought some Tanago hooks that are pre-snelled on a length of line/thread. I tied some material to 3 of the hooks (so far), each one a bit different material and different color.
I took them fishing to a new-to-me creek. I fished for at least a couple couple hours, caught at least a dozen fish. Lost 2 of the 3 tanago flies to overhead trees after missed hooksets. Might be a little too aggressive... hey, I'm just learning! :)
One of the reasons micro fishing didn't previously appeal to me, was that minnow species can be pretty hard to distinguish from each other. Today was a good example. There were 4 species I recognized (3 I'd caught before on larger flies), and then there were some I was not sure about... and still am not sure about.
These 2 are Creek Chubs. Much smaller than I'm used to catching:
Mottled Sculpins:
Southern Redbelly Dace (just one):
Striped Shiner:
Some or all of the following may also be Striped Shiners, or not...I really don't know.
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