I wanna be a Hooker!
I wanna be a Hooker!
I wanna be a hooker but I am confused on how to start. I look at patterns that recommend purchase of say a Mustad XXXX or TMC ZZZ-C. I rush to any number of fly tying equipment suppliers only to find No, Zip, Zero, Nada reference nor hook for sale by that manufacturer by that number.
I use the Hook cross reference I found through Google. Most times, there is no direct correlation of one hook to the other.
How did you guys get to be hookers if ya cannot find the hooks?
Mark,
Don't sweat the small stuff.
This is just fly tying. It's not medical science or something where it 'matters'.
Just look at the general size/shape/length of the hook and get something close.
You can tie most patterns on three 'styles' of hook, if you don't mind 'bending' a few. A light wire hook for Dries. A standard wire hook for wets/nymphs. A long shank hook for streamers.
That's all you 'need' and in a pinch you can do without the light wire hooks (standard wire hooks do work for dry flies). If you want, for some weird reason, a hook with an 'odd' shape to it, then just bend the closest of the above into that shape.
Good Luck!
Buddy
It Just Doesn't Matter....
What Buddy said...
But...wouldn't it be nice if recipes said....
Standard dry fly..
Standard nymph...or Heavy nymph...etc.
2x long..etc etc 4x...
You know all the specs...
Why do we talk in numbers and then try to compare brands??????
Yeah, what they said!
It ain't rocket science.
Simplify,simplify, simplify!
I bend hooks all the time. I've even been told to get bent!!!
Charlie
Glad to see that question, I have had the same problem and had finally resolved myself to the notion that I would never be able to remember which hook I was supposed to use... so I just started buying whatever I could find that looked like the picture. It has worked fine for me (with some exceptions).
As Buddy shows, in order to be a good hooker, you have to have a few tricks.
I ignore the hook specification in pattern listings and use what I figure is better for hooking. Generally, that means a shorter shank or switching to a wider gape.
I also generally ignore pattern listings altogether and just do what I feel the pattern should be like. Sometimes, it ends up totally different!
Mark,
It is as everyone has said...
I will only look at the pattern hook size to see what size the person who created the fly uses and then I use the size I think will work for my area and style of fishing. I do think that you should look at the size hook requested by the pattern because if you do not, you might tie a fly that is suppose to be a midge and you tie it on a #8!!
Warren
Fly fishing and fly tying are two things that I do, and when I am doing them, they are the only 2 things I think about. They clear my mind.
I usually [besides size] pretty much want to know the length...helps with proportions.
I live by the KISS (keep it simple silly) why complicate things, i dont get why people feel the need to tie super realistic complicated patterns (they look awesome and take talent to tie) when a simpler one works just as good if not better some times. Its more enjoyable, and you can tie a few more flies a day.
Nick
Have you tried this reference?
http://www.killroys.com/hooks/
Even if you cant find an exact match you can use the Attribute columns ot find a close match between the manufacturers.
Joe
uhh...nevermind
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