Hook strength vs penetrating ability

I have been fishing an egg pattern and a caddis pupa both tied on a size 12 Daiichi 1130. Thanks to West Va's october stocking of some large fish and coinciding with deer season which has greatly reduced fishing pressure, I have had the opportunity to hook up with several sizable (several 16"+ and one big hook jaw 18"+) bows. I have been really pleased with how well this hook gives solid sets, and I have yet to have one bend. The hook has generally stayed set dispite lots of jumps and head shaking by these fish. I do keep a file handy and keep them sharp. This hook is listed as 1x fine. I had some store brand scuds that did bend that resulted in lost fish so I have been buying Daiichi to try to get better quality.


So here is the question: does 1x fine hooks give better sets since they penetrate so well? This alone would seem to justify the higher costs of these hooks since I dont seem to be giving up anything on the strength side. Or maybe its the wide gap or super sharp or some other property of this hook that makes the sets so strong.

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Originally Posted by pillcaster

I have been fishing an egg pattern and a caddis pupa both tied on a size 12 Daiichi 1130. Thanks to West Va's october stocking of some large fish and coinciding with deer season which has greatly reduced fishing pressure, I have had the opportunity to hook up with several sizable (several 16"+ and one big hook jaw 18"+) bows. I have been really pleased with how well this hook gives solid sets, and I have yet to have one bend. The hook has generally stayed set dispite lots of jumps and head shaking by these fish. I do keep a file handy and keep them sharp. This hook is listed as 1x fine. I had some store brand scuds that did bend that resulted in lost fish so I have been buying Daiichi to try to get better quality.




So here is the question: does 1x fine hooks give better sets since they penetrate so well? This alone would seem to justify the higher costs of these hooks since I dont seem to be giving up anything on the strength side. Or maybe its the wide gap or super sharp or some other property of this hook that makes the sets so strong.

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I use the 1130 on a wide array of patterns and it's one of the best out there. The 1x fine wire penetrates really well, but the key factors of that hook are that they didn't eat up all of the hook gap with the down eye, and it's slightly offset. If a fish eats a fly on that hook, you will most likely land it.

Personally I think the 'holding' power of that hook has more to do with the 2XS length and large gape than the weight of the wire. Stocked fish in a smallish stream are not likely to really test the quality of the hook, but having lost fish on 1XF hooks inadvertently used in nymphs patterns, I keep to standard weight or heavier myself. Plenty of "superpoint" hooks in this style on the market if you think penetration & sharpness are critical, but I'd rather have heavy wire on a nymph hook to get the fly down that much faster, and to give me a bit of an edge when fighting larger fish. YMMV.