Confused By Hook Size!

[jacobin]

I am brand new to fly tying and thought I could figure things out, however, I went out this weekend to buy dry fly hooks to tie a stimulator pattern. I bought hooks in sizes 10-14, the size 12 pack was barbless but the other two were not. When I got home and opened them up the size 12 seems to be about the size of the 10's and the 14's look really small comparatively.

 

So my question is, is this normal or did I do something wrong?

I see patterns in books and online and they just say size 10 dry fly without any additional info. But looking at the hooks I bought there seems to be a big difference in the hooks.

 

 

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

Thanks,

 

 

Jac

[Flytyer]

Exactly what hooks did you get? Sizes vary between styles and manufacturers, unfortunately there is no uniform standard between hook manufacturers

[jacobin]

Sorry, forgot about that.

 

They were all Mustad hooks.

I remember reading about hook size variance between companies that's why I only bought Mustad hooks.

 

 

 

 

 

Exactly what hooks did you get? Sizes vary between styles and manufacturers, unfortunately there is no uniform standard between hook manufacturers

 

[Flytyer]

Which mustad hooks did you get? They make several dry hook styles

[trailhead]

Yes there are various types, biggest difference is the length of the hook shank, for stimulators you want a longer shank 2 XL 94831. The hook size refers to the size of the gap, the space between the shank and the point of the hook.

[jacobin]

Trailhead and Flytyer,

 

Thank you both. I realized after getting your responses how foolish I had been . I went back to look at the hooks I had bought and then made another trip to the Fishing Hole to pick up the proper size range for the various hooks I had bought.

 

I know have Mustad

3399 in 10+12+16

94845 in 10+14

 

Thanks again for your responses and helping a newbie out. Much appreciated

 

 

 

[Flytyer]

Trailhead and Flytyer,

 

Thank you both. I realized after getting your responses how foolish I had been . I went back to look at the hooks I had bought and then made another trip to the Fishing Hole to pick up the proper size range for the various hooks I had bought.

 

I know have Mustad

3399 in 10+12+16

94845 in 10+14

 

Thanks again for your responses and helping a newbie out. Much appreciated

 

 

 

 

Your most welcome

 

The 3399 is a wet fly hook and is a favourite of mine for tying classsic winged wet flies

 

[daxlarsen]

The best part is that you can never have too many different hooks of all sizes on hand....I assure you none of them will go to waste lol