I need to buy some #20 scud hooks for midge nymphs for 16+ inch trout. I’d like to find a cheaper alternative to Tiemco and Gamakatsu. Eagle Claw Laser Sharps have proven to be too flimsy. How do the Dai-Rikis hold up?
i like dai-riki hooks.
check out the 135 and 125.
,
aquabone
As many already know I tie almost exclusively on DaiRiki’s. I prefer the 125 emerger hook over the 135 because it has a straight eye and is lighter wire for the smaller sized imitations, but they are both great hooks and almost half the price of other name brand hooks.
I had a size #14 scud tied on the 125 this past Fall and landed several good fish, but lost some real bruisers to the lighter wire 125. Went and bought some 135’s for future use on stillwaters with larger fish.
Kelly.
Many years ago I used to use Dai Riki 135 hooks, but they consistently had 3 bad hooks per package, and I got tired of having to sort through and toss those out. I stick with the TMCs now for scud hooks. TMCs get cheaper if you buy them by the hundred, too.
Just my experience.
Dennis
I have been tying on Dai-Riki hooks for over 6 years and have had no problems. I rarely find a bad hook. Maybe one out of every 400 has a deformed eye, I get a similar rate of bad hooks in the TMC hooks I use. I like the price and I like the handy plastic boxes they come in. The scud hooks with the offset shank seem to help my hook up rate. I would recommend them to anyone.
Dai-Riki’s work well enough. Like DG, I’ve had some quality control issues (mostly open eyes or sharp burrs at the eye) but I’ve never lost a fish because of their hook. Stay with the heavier wire hook (135) if expecting bigger game. Personally prefer the TMC2488H, but as you say that is a more expensive hook.
… Dai-Riki 135 hooks, in size 16 for a midge larva, and 16" trout ( almost, anyway ). Taken today on the Bitterroot.
John
P.S. I tie about 95% of my flies on Dai-Riki’s, from size 20 2X short 125’s up to size 6 4XL 700 streamer hooks. Very seldom have ANY kind of problem with them, and can only remember losing a couple fish because of a problem with the hook.
I use some hooks styles cheaper than Tiemco. Dai Riki isn’t one of them. Too many deformed hooks, weak hooks, and I don’t like the brightness. A guide on the San Juan did an unscientific test on spooky fish and found more refusals with Dai Rikis. Probably because of the shine. There are some other brands that aren’t much better.
I have been using Montana Fly Co. hooks. Slightly more than half of what TMC cost. Good quality. Limited styles, but growing.
I fish premium gear and can’t justify losing a fish to a hook breakage to save ten cents.
Just an opinion based on the voices in my head.
I got quite a few Dai-Riki hooks to try…so far I like them very much. I have not fished them enough to give you the okay on that though. I have not noticed any deformed hooks yet. The streamer hooks are not as sharp as Daiichi or Gamakatsu. The smaller hooks are quite sharp though that I purchased. So far I am pleased, and the price is good.
Love their hooks. You can find good deals for them on EBay.
Regards,
Scott
I use the 135’s for caddis pupa and hooked some nice fish on the Deschutes this year without any hook problems. So, far, I haven’t found any defects.
Just for the counterpoint - I’ve caught something over 10,000 fish on Dai-Riki hooks over the past five years.
As indicated above, I’ve lost a couple fish due to hooks breaking, and with one of those the hook probably broke before fish ate the fly. The other one, I’m sure the hook broke when the fish ( a 17" cutthroat on the South Fork of the Snake ) hit it, wearing a Clark’s salmonfly dressing. I suspect that I weakened the hook when I flattened the barb.
Just something to keep in mind - that “weak hooks” are more likely the result of the fly tier’s work with the hook than with the manufacture of the hook.
I do believe that the San Juan guide’s test was unscientific. Wonder what brand he generally touts ?? I suspect his scientific tests of that brand show outstanding results !!
John
I’ve used them very often to tie nymph patterns. I do find at least 1-2 deformed hooks in each package. Usually it’s open eyes or a missing point. They are good for the price but I like TMC hooks better.
TB
Interesting arguments both pro and con. I’ve been tying on DaiRiki hooks for quite a few years. I’ve never lost a fish to a broken hook before, nor have I noticed more refusals due to ‘flash’ of the hook. Fished the ‘spooky’ fish of the San Juan a few years ago and caught the heck out of them with my DaiRiki tied micro-midges. I fish a local spring creek and the Phd. Brown trout in those waters still fall to my imitations tied on DaiRiki’s. My ‘gut’ tells me that in this economy I need to get the best bang for my buck. I’m not discounting the excellent brands of hooks out there, they are all fine, but when you can get almost twice as many hooks for the price from DaiRiki; why would you spend more? Yes, I’ve seen some deformed hooks (very few - less than 1 in 50), but I’ve also seen them when I tied on Mustad and Tiemco. I can live with a few bad apples and still save a bundle, and that makes sense to me. Just my 2-cents.
Kelly.
I have used DR hooks and still use / have several hundred. I have had more DR hooks break than any other hook manufacturers product. Love TMC but you pay for them. Been buying more Mustad Signatures on sale & in quanity lately than anything else. When done this way price & Performace hit a sweet spot for me.
I buy Dai riki’s by the 1000 for 3XL hooks. There are anywhere from none to as many as 3 defects in a hundred hooks, and I throw those away. I don’t think I have ever lost a fish due to the hook.
Bob
They are not acceptable salmon hooks… They lack the sharpness to get into fish and they bend and break regularly. IIRC the 710 and 750 were the styles I tried.
But I am a Gamikatsu slut…
Like 'em and use 'em for many patterns.
Try bluequillangler.com for really good prices.
Bob, I use the Dai Riki 700 religiously for buggers, and in the thousands I have used, have only found a couple defective ones. Obviously the 135 machine hates me and the 700 machine likes me.
I am now collecting all the defective hooks I find. Got em on this magnet here…somewhere…hmmmm.
I use a combination of Dai-riki and Mustad hooks for 95% of my tying. Every now and then I’ll get a different brand, but it’s usually because im only buying a 25 pack to try tying something specific that I dont have the hook for.
In MY experience:
I’ve had roughly 500-750 Dai-rikis through my vise this year. I got a total of about 5 defective hooks, all in one box of #135. Methinks it was just an isolated incident, as all the hooks would have probably still worked on trout (the eye just wasnt completely closed), but I was tying steelhead eggs at the time, and wasn’t about to risk a 10-12lb steely on a slightly opened eye.
Yes, I HAVE had a few of my D-r hooks break. Of the breakages (less than 5), all but one were on glo-bugs (a pattern that puts a higher degree of stress on the hook while tying) that were snagged in rocks. The other one was a caddis pupa that had become lodged in the fabric lining of my car’s trunk. I was holding the hook and twisting hard to wrench it free without pulling up the entire piece of fabric.
It’s important to not that with many of these hooks, you’re dealing with high-carbon steel, which is harder, but more brittle, than say, the steel used in wire cable. It is going to break before it bends many times. Also, this is what makes them so darn sharp out of the box. It is also what allows the tip to dull out after banging them against a few rocks.
I have used a few packs of Tiemco hooks as well, and while they are indeed a nice hook, I didn’t feel they were any nicer than a comparable Dai-riki…certainly not enough to justify the price increase. I found many of the Tiemcos to have a rougher finish than the Dai-riki’s as well.
As far as the bright finish…I’d have to take a look at this guide’s fly box and see how many flies he has in there that have beadheads, or added synthetic flash… 