The 'bedspread fly' thread brought this to mind.

How many of you tie flies on jig hooks?

I know you can buy 'fly tying jig heads' that already have a bit of lead molded to them. What I'm wondering is how many of you buy the unmolded jig hooks themselves for your tying.

I keep seeing more and more flies tied using these hooks. Many bass flies, but more and more trout and panfish flies too. I see lots of applications for these hooks.

Some thoughts about this...The bent up shank means that any fly fished under a float (indicator) remains horizontal in the water. I use a fly very similar to last weeks fly of the week (Myakka Minnow) tied on these hooks and fished under an indicator for smallies and panfish.

If you slide a bead onto the hook, it does the same thing as molding the lead 'head' on it, as far as application goes. Without the bother of having a mold and melting lead (tiny heads are tough to do well).

You can get the hooks down to a size 12. Because of the bend in the shank, a fly tied on these is about the same size as a #14 regular sized tie. Plenty small enough for most trout fishing.

I'm wondering if the angle advantages of the bent shank might be helpful for nymphs and wet flies. Less hang ups and such with the hook point up, etc..

The hooks are inexpensive. Around $5/100 or so.

Anyone else use these?

Buddy