Quote Originally Posted by SweetStreamS
In a recent issue of Fly-fishing and Fly-tying there was an article on the "Waterwisp" type upside down fly and how to tye it. The Author, Giulano Masetti, mentioned that a hook developed by Partridge for tying this fly had been discontinued. (It had a straight eye which was vertical. He said that "Grub hooks with the eye turned 90 degrees make a good substitute". Although I have bent hooks slightly when I tie Klinkhamer flies, I haven't had any success "bending the eye 90 degrees without breaking the hook". Any ideas on how to do this??
Thanks,
SweetStreamS
Buy cheaper hooks if you want to bend them. I tie a lot of jigs and have found that Eagle Claw 570 hooks are the most bendable. They are also the cheapest - and already have a 90 degree bend.
http://staminainc.com/hooks/eagleclaw/ec570hook.html
High carbon hooks like VMC do not bend easily, and will break at a little less than 90 degrees.
Not sure how small you want to go, but the "light wire" aberdeen goes down to size 10.
http://staminainc.com/hooks/eagleclaw/ec202_214.html