Question about hooks
Since neither appears to be a sponsor here, for tying, how are the Saber Brand hooks sold by Flyshack, and the hooks sold by Allen flyfishing as far as quality? I know the old adage about "getting what you paid for" but the Name Brands are nearly $20 per 100, and these are both around $7. I'd like to find good hooks for under $10 per 100. I am just starting out and could use some guidance before I sink a couple hundred bucks in hooks.
Dave
Allen Fly Fishing has made a great name for themselves in a short time. There quality is good and the customer service is second to none. You should have no problem from their stock. Good luck
Wizard,
You can find good deals on hooks all over the internet. Allen is good. I get hooks from both Togen (www.togenenterprises.com ) and Hagens (www.hagensfish.com ). Both have excellent prices on hooks, $30-$90/1000 depending on style (you can buy less than 1,000s, but that's the base price I work from).
I keep hearing all that 'you get what you pay for' stuff too, but it is only a fish hook. They've been making them for a couple of hundred years now, and it's a pretty simple object. If I was counting on the fish I catch for sustenance, then a high dollar hook would make sense. So would bait. But I fish for fun. If the fish gets away, I'll just try to catch another one.
Good Luck!
Buddy
I have been using some of the Allen hooks that I got on a deal from Allen that they reneged on the remainder of the deal but that is another story.
The quality seems OK, that being said I haven't really had a chance to have a big fish on to see if it would straighten the hook.
The eyes seem to be well formed but like any manufacturer you may get the odd one that is less than perfect.
The coding is similar to Tiemco.
The only other thing is getting them in a timely manner, I ordered some in Jan. last year and got the final portion of the order of hooks in July.
They have hired a new person, and Gavin seems to get things out on time now.
Mostly I use Dai-Riki hooks, which I consider a reasonably good quality hook. Follow the link for some information.
http://www.feather-craft.com/wecs.ph...se_page&page=1
If you can find them in 100 packs, they will be a bit less per hook. As of a couple years ago, Jimmy's All Season Angler ( www.JimmysFlyShop.com ) in Idaho Falls had them at $9.95 per 100, probably more now, and, as with Feather-Craft, there would be some S&H cost.
John
The fish are always right.
Dave;
I'll probably get beat up over this but, as a begining tyer, you can save a lot by only buying Dry Fly hooks as you can add weight to the hooks for wet flys. My go to hooks are Mustad and I can count on one hand the number of failures!!
Also, it's the time of year for "Fishing Shows" and you can get some good deals on hooks and materials (at the Warren,MI show last March 100 packs of Mustad hooks were buy one get one free!!).
gmac209 just killed any thought of my buying Allen Hooks because I usually need them yesterday!!
Hey Dave,
For Trout I have used Tiemco almost exclusively for around twenty years. Over the past few years we've tried to find suitable barbless models from other vendors to fill in the gaps that Tiemco didn't have a barbless models for. Since then we've delved into some of the cross over hook models from Saber also.
So it's to the Saber Black Finish Barbless Models where my experience is..
Straight across comparisons amongst products from various hook companies is sometimes difficult due to varying standards in hook length and gap, styles, wire diameters, etc. from one company to the next.
Some will say that Saber hooks bend out more readily than Tiemco's but you have to keep in mind what your comparing.
For Instance Tiemco's 5262 is there 2 XL - 2 X heavy wire, forged, bronze, perfect bend, nymph hook.
The nearest Saber in a Barbless hook is a 7231, 2 XL - 1X strong, perfect bend, nymph hook.
In the case of these hooks, for a given size, the Saber hook's wire is lighter in diameter. So under my very unscientific test, yes the Saber bent out with a little less pressure than it took to bend then break the same sized Tiemco. But again, the ( Saber ) wires only 1 X Strong vs. ( Tiemco ) 2 X heavy as stated by both manufacturers.
The Saber's are seriously sharp hooks, every bit as sharp as either the BL series ( Barbless ) or the SP ( Super Point ) Tiemco's.
Currently I only use the Sabers in sizes 10, 12 & 14. Anything less than those in size, I still use TMC's exclusively. The only Sabers I'm currently using are models 7251 ( Barbless Shrimp & Caddis Pupa hook, similar to the TMC 2487 ). The Saber 7231 ( Perfect Bend, Barbless Nymph, 2 XL - 1 HS ) and Saber 7230 ( Sproat Bend, 1 XL, 1 X Strong - Light version of the TMC 3761 ).
I fish mostly Western Freestone & Tailwater Trout waters with the flies tied on these hooks and our idea of big fish is in 4 to 10 pound range. Since I don't have any qualms about taking those fish on traditional dry flies utilizing standard wire hooks, I haven't had any concerns with these 1 X heavy wire hooks.
Funny thing is, I never sourced these hooks with price in mind, I was just looking for another vendor of barbless hooks. So far so good.
Hope that helps, Dave
Last edited by Dave E; 01-08-2012 at 03:13 PM.
I agree with Jack. I bought one pack of nymph hooks years ago. Since then I realized the difference between them and dries of the same configuration was minimal. Saves a lot of storing issues also as I don't need to have a place for nymph hooks as apposed to dry hooks. I started out with Mustad and have not been able to improve on the quality although I will buy specialty hooks from time to time that I can't find in a Mustad hook.
Bought some streamer hooks from Allen and they came in the wrong size. I contacted them and explained the error; they shipped the right hooks to me before I had a chance to send back the other ones. Quality of the hooks is fine. Having said that, I mostly use Dai-Riki. I get them on EBay and, like John said, they're usually about $9.00/100. I like their variety and quality.
Regards,
Scott
Dave,
When I started tying two years ago, the gentleman who taught me recommended Saber. He's been tying well over fifty years, and he said that spending more just didn't make sense. Since then I have tied (and fished!) with these flies and dealt with Flyshack many times and never been disappointed. Another nice part of Flyshack is that they have free shipping for orders over $35. I highly recommend them, along with Saber hooks.
Hugh
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