Twenty-Twenty Club
by John Berry

Yesterday I was fishing with my wife and fishing buddy, Lori. The going had been a bit slow and I decided to try a Dan's turkey quill emerger. This has been one of my go-to flies for over a decade. Dan had recently begun tying them in smaller sizes and he had given me a half dozen in size twenty two. I took my seven and a half foot 4X leader and tied on five feet of 6X tippet. I tied on the fly and cast at a forty five degree angle from straight down stream. I stripped the line as soon as it hit the water to sink the fly into the film. I let it swing in the current until it was straight below me. Then I cast again. I made no effort to mend the line figuring that the additional pressure from the drag on the line would help me set the hook.

I started working my way down stream. Three casts to the right, three casts to the left, and then I took one step. I picked up a thirteen inch Brookie and stopped for a while to admire it. It was brilliantly colored and full finned. It looked like a wild trout. I continued down stream and then it happened. I felt a strong tug on the line and I instinctively set the hook. I saw a big splash and quickly identified it as a large cutthroat. He took off quickly putting me in the backing with one run. I stood my ground. The TFO rod was bent nearly double but miraculously the soft tip protected the small tippet and the tiny hook held. I was able to slowly work him in. He took several more runs but finally ran out of gas. I coaxed him into quiet water and slipped him into my net.

I called Lori over and asked her to take a photo. It was a beautifully colored male. He was fat and sassy and measured a righteous twenty two inches. I gave Lori the camera and we quickly discussed the best way to photograph him. I gently lifted him from the net and posed. While Lori was focusing the camera he flounced out of my hands and took off taking the Dan's turkey quill emerger with him. At first I was heart broken. But upon a bit of reflection, I realized how lucky I was to catch such a great fish on light tackle.

I had caught a twenty two inch fish on a size twenty two hook. I had heard of the twenty twenty club. This is where you catch a twenty inch or larger fish on a size twenty or smaller hook. I have done this before as has my brother Dan and my wife Lori. I find it to be a rewarding challenge. If you are going to attempt this yourself there are a few things to keep in mind.

The first thing is that small hooks require small tippets. The weakest link in your tackle is not the small tippet but the knots in the tippet. Carefully form your knots and lubricate them with water before pulling them tight. Test them to ensure that they will hold. This would be a good time to use fluorocarbon which is a bit stronger and more abrasion resistant.

Second sharpen your hooks. Even small hooks need to be sharp to penetrate deep. There is not much metal in a size twenty hook and you are going to need all of the help you can get to land a big fish on it. On my smaller flies, I try to tie them on wide gap hooks. A wider gap hook is going to result in a better hook up.

Third use a softer rod. A stiff rod will not protect the smaller tippets required for this challenge. Save the meat sticks for fishing woollies and other streamers. I like a rod that has a full flex. You can easily test your rod to see if it is soft enough. Rig up a leader on your rod with a 6X tippet. Tie the tippet to a fixed object. Pull the rod back and put tension on the tippet. Does the rod easily bend or does it break the tippet before flexing. This is also a great way to learn how much pressure you can put on a tippet before it breaks.

Finally carry a big net. In my fifteen years of guiding I have observed that a large number of fish are lost within ten feet of the angler when he is attempting to land it. A small net is useless on a big fish and unnecessary on a small one. I carry the biggest net I can find and have found that it allows me to land a higher percentage of trophy trout and to do it quickly. Beaching fish is an iffy proposition. If done carelessly, it can injure the fish. They can be easily lost in the process particularly if you are using small tippets.

Keep this in mind and let me know when you join the twenty twenty club. 

John Berry is a fly fishing guide in Cotter, Arkansas and can be contacted at http://www.berrybrothersguides.com/ .