Hook Quality

[SilverDoctor]

Certainly the price of hooks has climbed. I do tie quite a bit and hooks arn't cheap. I have noticed that some manufactures hook quality seems to suffer.

 

I have always been curious about a variety of manufactures, always looking at quality verses price. My brother in law in BC sent me some samples of some very attractively priced hooks. He bought packages of dry and wet and sent me a few samples. The quality was disappointing.

 

I tied a couple of dries and one hook actually snapped in the vice as I tied. I decided to take small pliers to them and found them to be terribly brittle snapping at the upper bend quite easily but not consistently. Tested out the wet fly hooks and actually found the reverse. They don't seem to have proper tempering. It was not hard to pull the bend out. More than I would trust in my brand of fishing. A few in the packages where miss shaped, that is, not quite the right shape by about a sixteenth.. Not sure If i just got a bad batch but it didn't look good.

 

Basically the hooks looked good but there are tempering problems. They are not overly sharp. These hooks would be great if you where running fly tying classes and needed a bulk buy but they are not to my particular taste. Generally a number of different companies product has not overly impressed me.

 

There are a number of others that are great quality including some great truly great UK producers who I purchase display quality hooks from.In other posts i have mentioned manufactures that I respect. Now you have noticed that I have intentionally not mentioned company names. I don't intend to. I would also ask other posters to kindly respect my thread and do the same please. I dont' want to dice any manufacturer as what I don't care for may be just the ticket for another tier. I just want to open a discussion about hooks and their quality.

 

In the past I have bought other brands that I have thrown away because of temper problems. Do you feel the quality of some products out there suffer as I do? Do you like to tie on a quality product and are willing to pay for it. Or do you like to buy a more modestly priced product.

[bigbrown]

the price of hooks has climbed, due to metal shortages and the exchange rate (you're looking at a 1.20-1.25 exchange at most places)..a certain hook company could not make a bunch of their hooks for weeks due to this..supply and demand...

 

The cheaper the hooks, the less quality control, not 'sticky' sharp, and seem to break a lot more often

 

I think the best hooks you will find are the chemically sharpened ones from Japan...i've never had a problem with them, but you pay for this quality (you have to pay an 18% duty on non-north american made hooks, retailer or not)

[admin]

I've noticed a few brands of hooks that just don't cut it I won't mention which brands, but they are on the less expensive end of the scale. A lot of hooks all come from the same few factories and are simply branded under different names. I think that there has been a decline in the quality coming from these places it would seem. I recently bought a batch of 1000 hooks and ended up sending them back after a couple broke in the vise. Luckily they didn't get sent out to customers, a steelhead or salmon would snap it in no time. That being said, I have broken and bent out pretty much any brand of hook, but it should take some effort. Side pressure from thread shouldn't break a hook.

 

I tend to stick to more expensive hooks. I tie a lot of flies for customers every year and it the hooks break, my reputation goes with it. Some more specialized hook models are only available in specific brands and it isn't an issue, but for the most common types, buyer beware, you get what you pay for.

[sirocco]

My philosophy is simply that if I'm going to put as much time as I do into tying flies, then I don't want to end up having that time go to waste by using bad hooks. I like the chemically sharpened ones as well. That being said, I haven't tried all the brands, I just started with the "good" stuff and stuck to it.

[monger]

I've found similar results...cheap hooks are brittle, and the bend opens up on heavier fish. It is a little frustrating if you actually want to touch your fish.

[Guest RedWiggler]

I use about 4 differant brand names when I tie and honestly have not had a problem with any of them breaking or bending, mind you small flies on big fish have resulted in a couple of bent hooks but I dont think its the hooks fault.

[rhuseby]

It's interesting that most of the tiers here seem to prefer the higher end hooks. For over 95% of my tying I use good old Mustads. I do have some break while pinching barbs, and they need to be sharpened, but I find they are almost no breaks or bends while fishing. Also considering the way I go through flies, expense counts for me. I am not denying that the expensive hooks are wondeful products for the most part, but I will stick to the tried and true.

[monger]

Mustads are fine. I just wish they didn't rust

[Flytyer]

FYI most of the Mustad line is being replaced to Signature series.......unfortunately several of my favourite hooks are being replaced or discontinued altogether

[SilverDoctor]

FYI most of the Mustad line is being replaced to Signature series.......unfortunately several of my favourite hooks are being replaced or discontinued altogether

 

Unfortunately there are a few specialty hooks being phased out or already gone. Some of my favorite salmon blind eye display hooks have already disappeared. Along with a few of my fav wet fly series. Back to rejigging and reshapping display hooks I guess.

[maxwell]

its a biatch taht is forsure! i try too stick with dai-riki!!!! if i cant get em at teh time i take teh hit and buy daichii.. still tye a bunch with partridge too and some of teh msutad signatures...

[Flytyer]

Has anyone seen a more updated hook equivalent chart that includes VMC, Eagle River and some other less common hooks? I use VMC for a lot of my soft hackles, quality is great on these. At the show I had a chance to try some Eagle River hooks and am thinking of checking them out further.

[Keith]

It's interesting that most of the tiers here seem to prefer the higher end hooks. For over 95% of my tying I use good old Mustads. I do have some break while pinching barbs, and they need to be sharpened, but I find they are almost no breaks or bends while fishing. Also considering the way I go through flies, expense counts for me. I am not denying that the expensive hooks are wondeful products for the most part, but I will stick to the tried and true.

 

With all the money I spent on FF gear and gas, hooks barely make a dent. That's why I go for the higher end. Losing even one trophy fish would not be worth it to me.

[SilverDoctor]

The chart I have is only Daiichi, Avalon, Mustad, Orvis, Eagle Claw, Partridge and Tiemco. its' here

[Garlicmarshmellow]

Thanks for bringing this up silverdoctor. Just got a batch I order online never thought to test them till I read your post. To make a long story short they are being sent back. They don't nearly compared to Mustad and Tiemco hooks when I bend them with a small pair of pliers. They snap easily. You get what you pay for I guess

[Guest 420FLYFISHIN]

its true for most everything. I am still going through the collection i got off a guy from the trader thread. They are all Mustads and i have not had one break on me yet. I have tied upwards of 200+ flys on them and they only bend when i really give them the boots on a fish.

[magpie]

I have to say I am a big fan of the Mustad as well, very disappointed that they don't make some of my favorites any more. Having said that I must say I have been trying the Daiichi and I am very impressed. I also stumbled upon some Eagle River actually in a bargain bin and so far so good. Tiemco have also been good for me. I also have to say and this is with no offence to the amazing fly fishing stores we have in Calgary, every once in a while Wal-mart has Mustad in stock and at a great price.