What brand, styles & sizes did you select? I've only been tying for about one year and wish to avoid the large inventories documented in the preceding posts.
Hook Organization
- Thread starter salmo
- Start date
WWKimba
Active member
Be a Josephine Sedlecky-Borsum fan! She and her husband had a shop in Michigan from 1945 to 1992 she was the fly designer, tyer and proprietor of Ed's Sport Shop. She had a simple business model as far as her tying went as she was quite frugal. She tied ALL of her patterns on Mustad 94840 hooks, used mostly material gathered from her and other local hunters and chicken ranchers, and (to borrow an old phrase from the Model T days) would tie her flies with any color thread as long as it was black!
FUN FACT: In 1987 she became the first and to this day, the ONLY fly tyer recognized by the Smithsonian for her work as a fly tyer. Now I said first PERSON and NOT first woman! She's quite the person to study more about as this only scratches the surface of what this fine lady accomplished in her life.
Kim
Did I mention that she is in the Michigan Fly Fisher's Hall of Fame.
FUN FACT: In 1987 she became the first and to this day, the ONLY fly tyer recognized by the Smithsonian for her work as a fly tyer. Now I said first PERSON and NOT first woman! She's quite the person to study more about as this only scratches the surface of what this fine lady accomplished in her life.
Kim
Did I mention that she is in the Michigan Fly Fisher's Hall of Fame.
Skeet6
Member
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2013
- Messages
- 186
I have used these for many years as well. Good stuff!
Mike B
Bamboozle
Well-known member
a23fish:
I have a preference for certain eye types or wire heaviness for certain patterns which is the reason not every hook I use is from the same manufacturer.
I also tie flies down to 32 so in some cases I have to use two different hook models from the same manufacturer to cover the size range I tie.
IF you don't want to spend the $$$ on the top brands, I'm sure you can find less expensive equivalents, I included descriptions in parenthesis for that reason.
Excluding the tiny stuff and some special hooks for bass or classic patterns, below is a list of what I use for the regular stuff no matter what the recipe says:
Regular dry flies - Daiichi 1180: (down eye, straight shank, standard length, regular wire, perfect bend, bronzed)
Curved shank dry flies - Tiemco (TMC) 2488: (straight eye, curved shank, 1XF wire, 2X short shank. perfect bend, bronzed)
Regular nymphs - Daiichi 1560: (down eye, straight shank, 1XL length, 1XH wire, sproat bend, bronzed)
Bigger nymphs - Tiemco (TMC) 5262: (down eye, straight shank, 2XL length, 2XH wire, perfect bend, bronzed)
Curved shank nymphs - Tiemco (TMC) 2457: (down eye, curved shank, 2XS length, 2XH wire, perfect bend, bronzed)
(FWIW - There was a time when I wanted a curved shank hook I just put a little kink in a straight shanked hook with a pair of smooth jaw pliers which worked just fine... 😉)
Streamers (excluding Clousers & some crayfish patterns) - Tiemco (TMC) 300: (down eye, straight shank, 6XL length, 1XH wire, sproat bend, bronzed) & Tiemco (TMC) 5263: (down eye, straight shank, 3XL length, 2XH wire, perfect bend, bronzed)
Like I said there are some exceptions for midges and other stuff but these are the ONLY hooks I use for 99% of the fishing flies I tie. I resist the urge to try or buy anything different or cheaper to keep my inventory down and so I don't have to make new labels for my Umpqua hook boxes. 😉
Bottom line, unless you are tying classic or special flies that look better on a certain hook, the fish don't give a rat's a$$ what you use. Your only requirement should be that the hook is the right size, the right length, it is sharp, strong and the right wire type for fly you are tying.
In other words light wire hooks for dry flies and heavier wire for flies that sink and heavier wire for flies that sink; not just because a heavier hook sinks easier, but because you are more likely to get snagged on underwater obstructions and a lighter wire hook is more likely to straighten out or break in those situations.
Like I said earlier there are a lot of hooks out there so it doesn't have to be Daiichi & TMC. Good luck and feel free to PM if you want to know about the odd ball hooks I use for midges and bass flies.
Bamboozle - Thank you, that was helpful. I fell victim to getting the exact hook someone in a fly tying video said they used for a specific fly, and quickly realized I have 2 or 3 different brands of the same style & size hook for a particular type of fly, just for starters. I want to avoid that. I'm still in the eggs, Woolly Buggers/streamers, small nymphs & midges phase of fly tying and don't need 20 different packages of hooks.
