Hook Inventory Recommendations

All about flies Fly Tying
1

Hello Everyone! I’m new to FAOL and I think this is a great resource!

I’m in Lincoln, Nebraska and we have no fly shops that I know of around here (None in Omaha either). All we have is the big chains: Scheels (Lincoln & Omaha), BassPro (Council Bluffs, Iowa) and Cabela’s (Omaha only) . But their fly tying dept’s have been steadily shrinking. The Lincoln Scheels has a pitiful selection that wouldn’t even fill my travel kit! It’s run by a 30 something from PA who is a wannabe purist who never fishes anywhere in Nebraska even though he owns thousands of dollars in equipment. Several members of the local club have tried over the years to convince him to care about his tying dept. and fly fishing in general, to no avail.

So, I got a retail license this past April and I’ve taken it upon myself to start up my own humble online fly shop to provide a local resource for the clubs and tyers (tiers?) in Eastern Nebraska. (hopefully it will lead to a brick-and-mortar shop someday).

Everyone I run into while fishing wants hooks primarily (don’t we all), and since I don’t have enough money to just load up on everything at once, I’d like to know where I should start.

Right now I carry Montana Fly Company’s hooks They produce millions of flies each year and they’ve made their hooks available to the public. They’re great for the money, strong and sticky sharp. MSRP is $2.75 to $3.65 per 25. and $9.20 to $12.00 per 100. (But they aren’t well known yet.)

I’m thinking of getting Mustad Signature Hooks - maybe standard dries and nymph hooks first, say R50’s (94840) and S82’s (3906B). Since I get them in bulk, I can sell them in packs of 100 for maybe around $10 (but they don’t come in those nice little boxes, just a big ball of 1000 hooks that I have to separate, count out and package myself) Streamer hooks would sell for more though, of course. (Possibly $13 per 100 or so.)

But before I do this, I was wondering if this is a good place to start?

ALSO: If you could only choose one brand of hooks, what would it be?

I guess what I’d like to know is, do most tyers prefer cheap hooks, moderately priced hooks or expensive hooks (like TMC, DAIICHI, etc.) ?

Sorry for the long post.

Thanks
Bill

2

Bill,

First, I love your signature line. Still chuckling over the image it conjours up.

Now to your question. When I first started tying some 40+ years ago I used Mustads. They were inexpensive, they were available, and they worked.

Now I tie on Mustads for the same reasons as before, but also include Daiichi, TMC, Grip and others because they have a hook in a size that suits my purposes and desired outcome.

If your going to be serving the local guys, for the most part, why not ask them what they need/want in the way of hooks and materials?

Good luck in your venture.

REE

3

Thanks for your response to my first post!

I plan to talk to the guys at the club’s meeting in January. The water is frozen up here, so I won’t be running into anyone at the lakes for a few months. So I figured I’d ask here.

I miss the classic Mustads, but as Dr. Fish pointed out, business required an upgrade, and the Signature series isn’t all that much more. I do buy TMC’s and Daiichi’s myself for special purposes, but mainly Mustads.

My aim is to serve beginners and casual fishermen who are intimidated by high-dollar fly fishing supplies and equipment. I was that way years ago when I started. (And I still am) I want to provide a service to the local guys as well as anyone anywhere else too. (So I can pay a few bills)

I’ve also wanted a shop I could order from that wouldn’t charge $6.95 and up for shipping when all I needed was a few things.

So far my U.S. shipping is $2.50 (free over $25) to allow for smaller purchases.

I guess I’ll just have to be patient until I find out more.

Thanks again for your input.

Bill

4

To answer your one question, I tye on Mustads exclusively. I have enough of the old style Mustads to last me a very long time. When I do find the older ones, I buy them. Now for tying my Salmon flies I have been using Harrison Bartle or Gaelics. One day my Grandson will inherit all the hooks and materials and should never have to buy hooks or vist a fly shop unless it’s for new materials that are coming out.

5

Mustands here. I have about 100 of some Gama’s…but 99.9 % I tie Mustands

6

I tie almost exclusively on TMC hooks, with only streamer hooks bought from Dai Riki. I have tried almost every other hook out there, and had problems with all of them.

But hook choice is personal, and my experience with hooks isn’t anyone else’s, so you will get a variety of answers.

I do recommend that you strive for good customer service, not just good product lines, since you can get product ANYWHERE these days for pretty much the same price. The two easiest access fly shops to me here in western Colorado get none of my business for customer service reasons. I buy hooks in Durango (~200 miles) or in Ennis (~700 miles) when I go through.

Good luck with the shop.

7

Hi Lepomac,

I tie exclusively on classic Mustads, and like Fontinalis have enough to last a very long time. I am currently filling in holes in the inventory I want to have on hand when they become virtually completely unavailable. Again like him, I hope to be able to leave lots of hooks to grandsons, if any of them end up tiers.

One thought on being a supplier for casual and beginning fly fishermen. The causal and beginners are not likely to be enthusiastic tiers if they tie at all. Based on a survey I did several years ago, the vast majority of enthusiastic tiers are avid fly fishermen, and fish quite a bit…lthey are typically not beginners. Sure some are, but most are not.

Regards,

Gandolf

8

Also consider Eagle Claw hooks. They are strong,sharp, less expensive and made in the U.S.A.

9

Hi Lepomac,

Ray has a good point. One thing you will want to do, if you handle that brand is to have hook comparison chart on your web site, so folks can compare the hook model numbers on the more popular brands such as Tiemco, Mustad Signiture hooks, Mustad classic hooks, etc. to the Eagle Claw brand.

This is needed because so many tying books and sites call for a specific (or more than one) specific hook model, and many folks will not know what Eagle Claw hook is equivalent to the hook specified by the pattern.

For what it’s worth, I know of an extremely good tier that believes that Eagle Claw makes very good hooks. I have not tied with them, but would not hesitate to do so. However, having settled on Mustad Classic hooks many years ago, I do not want to switch now.

Regards,

Gandolf

10

heres a few hook charts that cover some eagle claw hook

http://www.landbigfish.com/flyfishing/hookcharts.cfm

http://www.whti.net/~jmcjunkins/Hooks.php

http://www.magiclink.com/web/wesn/hooks.htm

11

I’m a fairly new tier and would echo my choice for Mustad’s as that’s what I’ve pretty much settled on.

12

I tied up a couple dozen flies last night and was going through my hook inventory. Right now, the majority of my hooks are Mustad. I have several sizes of TMC and a few Cabela’s Brand (not sure who makes their hooks but they seem to be pretty good).

So, to answer your question, if you could only stock one, I think the majority opinion here is Mustad.

In Nebraska, I would think you’d want to stock some of the Mustad Popper hooks (the ones with the kink in the shank), several streamer size hooks (2X & 3X long), and some with a fairly wide gape for bass bugs.

I would assume your area is mainly warm water. In addition to hooks, you may want to stock some foam popper bodies and maybe even some sheets of craft foam (as a service to the guys buying hooks).

Good luck with your venture. One thing to keep in mind, even though you’re focusing on local area fishermen (determining your prime-prospect target market is the first step in a business plan), the Internet is a global media and your web based business will have a reach far beyone Nebraska.

Jeff

13

I use a lot of Montana Fly Co. hooks. Great hook. Somewhat limited in styles, although, I see they have added some new hooks last month.
If you end up an online store, I would have a diversity of brands, models. Maybe even some of the hard to find euro-Czech styles. Good luck.

14

Here’s a little secret: if you own some TMC hooks and some Cabela’s hooks, compare the UPC codes.
See how the first half of the codes match? This means they are by the same manufacturer!
Don’t let them know we’re onto them though. :wink: