Hook eye preferences and why

[J55tyger88]

What are your preferences for hook eyes, and why? I'm assuming down eye hooks have a sort of jig effect when stripped. But what about straight eye and up eye applications?

 

[sandfly]

any and all, depends what I am tying.

 

[J55tyger88]

Ok let's start with streamers...does hook eye orientation "matter", with regards to action of the fly? I'm assuming it does, but have no experience to back it up...

 

[dryflyguy]

I use mostly down eye. Except for midge hooks, where I usually try to use ring eye. Reason being that on tiny hooks, a ring eye gives you just a little bit more hook gap - or bite.
I never use up eye - but I'm sure there must be some reason for their use on certain flies

 

[melvinp]

I think not only does it make a difference on how a fly would travel in the water but also what type of knot that you tie.Some knots tie to the shank of the hook and only go through the eye as a guide.

 

[pabrookie94]

I tie a lot of my larger streamers on the Daiichi 2461 which is a straight eye hook. Other than some dry flies I would say that most of the rest of my flies are on down-eye hooks.

If you use the non-slip loop knot I wouldn't really think it would make a difference in orientation in the water column.

 

[NJTroutbum]

For streamers, I tie everything except bigger style patterns on Daiichi 2070 hooks. I prefer straight loop eye limerick bend for bucktail and feathering patterns.

 

[J55tyger88]

Pabrook, I see your point about the loop knot. Which dries do you tie with a straight eye?

 

[GenCon]

J55tyger88 wrote:
Pabrook, I see your point about the loop knot. Which dries do you tie with a straight eye?

Tyger IMHO the only dry flies tied with straight eyes would be very small flys and maybe some spinners. Never use straight eyes on parachutes. But yes on streamers and all salt water hooks.

GenCon

 

[vanorvis]

I think you could go crazy and broke buying all the different hooks there are available. This is just my opinion but if you are tying to fish and not for art, what I use is Daiichi 1100 for larger dries and Daiichi 1110 for smaller dries. (When you get to be my age the "big eye" helps a lot.) Until you get into the specialty dries such as the Klinkhamer.
Also if you are going to be doing this for a while I suggest buying in packs of 100, it's some what cheaper.

 

[J55tyger88]

I bought one of those orvis dry fly hook assortments, that come with a bunch of straight eye hooks, so im trying to find some flied to tie with them. parachutes and straight eye hooks, seem frustrating.

Thanks for the input!

 

[pabrookie94]

As gencon said, I tie most of the straight eyes as smaller dries. Also, I think I tie stimulators on an Allen n201? I believe that is a straight eye.

 

[vanorvis]

I'm not saying anyone is right or wrong. But I don't understand why not tie parachutes on straight eye hooks. I have tied many on straight eye hooks and have caught plenty of fish with them. Just curious, maybe you guys can teach an old man something. I actually think they make a better silhouette on the water for parachute flies, and I have always liked tying with them. Maybe it's just because I have gotten use to using them. JMO

 

[JerryC]

I use straight eyed hooks for all my patterns, even when I'm tying on a shrimp/caddis pupae hook. Like vanorvis, I've not had any problems using them for parachute patterns. I'm curious if anyone knows the history of why down eyed hooks dominate fly tying, particularly for trout patterns. I spent the first 45 years of my fishing life using spinning/bait casting gear, and I associate down-eyed hooks with snelled hooks. So is it tradition or something else?

 

[dc410]

As I remember, after 35+ years of fly tying, a large percentage of the hooks available to buy for tying were of the down eye design. Back in the day, one bought what was available at the shop and was good with it. There was no Internet for shopping and much less in the area of choices for hook design. I also tie many of my small patterns (Tricos and midges) on straight eye hooks but again it seems like that design of hook eye is just more prevalent in the smaller size hooks. As far as down eye hooks go, I guess old habits are hard to break. I'm still really not sure of any major advantages/disadvantages of one over the other.

 

[afishinado]

JerryC wrote:
I use straight eyed hooks for all my patterns, even when I'm tying on a shrimp/caddis pupae hook. Like vanorvis, I've not had any problems using them for parachute patterns. I'm curious if anyone knows the history of why down eyed hooks dominate fly tying, particularly for trout patterns. I spent the first 45 years of my fishing life using spinning/bait casting gear, and I associate down-eyed hooks with snelled hooks. So is it tradition or something else?

I believe, for the most part, the use of down-eye hooks for fly tying was/is a throwback from hooks being snelled for bait fishing. I really do not see any difference in performance between straight and down-eyed hooks.

As far as parachutes, I never really thought of it, but can see where threading a tippet through the eye could be more difficult with a straight-eye hook since the hackle extends over the eye, covering it.

 

[GenCon]

afishinado wrote:

As far as parachutes, I never really thought of it, but can see where threading a tippet through the eye could be more difficult with a straight-eye hook since the hackle extends over the eye, covering it.

Yes that is exactly the reason for me. Also I do not like the idea of my tippet going through the hackle. That part may not really matter to the fish. But it does for me. I do not think there are too many right or wrong ways in tying. But what I think really does matter is you being happy with the fly you are using.

GenCon

 

[Chaz]

Anything I tie on a hook smaller than a #18 is straight eye, everything else is down eye, though I think at some point I bought some straight eye streamer hooks.