Sorry for another newbie question, but this one is about fly size for winter steelhead in Great Lakes tributaries. I started by reading Great Lakes Steelhead, Salmon & Trout by Karl Weixlmann, then went on Big Y and ordered an assortment of the flies recommended in the book. Now I have said flies in my hand and I find it hard to believe some of these could bring in a steelhead. Below I've linked an excerpt from the book and a picture of the flies in question (size 18) with a quarter for reference. I haven't caught any salmon or steelhead on a fly rod yet, but have caught plenty on conventional equipment and having felt their power it seems crazy to me that you could land one with a hook this size. Is it a matter of very delicately playing the fish, or have I just horribly misunderstood fly sizes?
Excerpt: https://imgur.com/o0VxCVC
Flies: https://imgur.com/XEHZKNJ
Posted by futility_jp