Has there ever been a thread asking comments on the advantages of using kirbed hooks.
I once heard that kirbing a hook imoroved hook-ups.
Ray,
I can’t offer any scientifically quantified answers, but I know that for me, I have noticed more hook-ups with a kirbed hook. Mind you, I still use spinning gear and ice fish and am not 100% fly fishing. I don’t know if that makes a difference. I have noticed that if I keep my hook points sharp and slightly kirbed the hook point touches flesh more often and gives me the chance to force the hook into the fish either through constant pressure or a solid hook set. I’m sure that there is some thought on weakening the wire of the hook by kirbing it, but I don’t think it is enough to not try it.
Ray,
That’s always been the theory behind the practice. Seems to work as advertised.
I buy a lot of kirbed hooks for tying, but I tend to straighten out the kirb before I tie on them. Otherwise they stick out of the vise at a funny angle.
I have seen some fly recipes that advise offsetting the hook after you tie to enhance hook ups. Usually this is on a particularly bulky dressing.
In any event, if you are having hook up issues, it’s one thing to try.
Good Luck!
Buddy
Thanks guys. The replies are what I expected and “no” I’m not trying to improve on hook sets. I’m just trying to get an idea about the thoughts of others.
I forgot to add that I particularly like them on things like streamers as well as nymphs tied on odd hook shapes. My thought behind the streamers is that alot of times you’re fly will get slammed and you still miss the fish. With a kirbed hook it’s one more thing that can go the anglers way. I generally look at the hook point and where it points to. If it looks like the fly/lure will impede a hookup, then I kirb it.
I picked up some scud hooks a couple of weeks ago that happened to be offset. I didn’t realize it until it was in the vice, but they just look so…off that I straighten them before I tie and will likely make certain I don’t get any offset hooks again. I have enough things going against me when I’m tying, I don’t need the hook to be bent too. 
That said, I’ve fished these types of hooks with bait and such back in the day, even tried the so-called “Tru-Turn” hooks and never noticed any real difference in hookup rate as compared to a regular Eagle Claw snelled hook with the ol’ bait keepers. Far from scientific and of limited use to the fly fisher, but that experience taught me to just stick to the basics.
I have some nice 2/0 trot line hooks that have a nice straight eye. I use them to tie clousers with but I straight them in the vise and don’t leave them with the heavy offset. No observations of but I always wonder how that hook tracks in the water. Interesting question.
If you’re worried about strength when you kirb your own hooks you can buy them made that way. Try the following link.
Tony P
I use Daiichi 1640 when tying North Country Spiders. They have a nice reverse hook point (Kirbed-left, reverse-right). The shaft doesn’t turn true in a rotary vise, but when your tying on a 2 x-short shank size 14, that’s really not an issue. Once a fisih takes the fly, I haven’t lost one due to the hook, just my own stupidity.
REE
Ray,
Kirbed hooks offer a wider gape than traditional straight pointed hooks, most are Kirbed at an angle of 5-6%.
If you think about geometry the wider gape falls out of triangle theory where the longest side of a right triangle is the hypotenus.
A straight point would be one side of the right triangle, 5-6 degrees would be the angle at the top - and the square root of the line between shank and kirbed point would be the hypotenus.
Most would argue that a larger gape (even incrementally) would assist hooking to some degree. The fact that all the Skalka, Knapek, Grip, and Hanak competition hooks used in Fips Mouche are kirbed - would suggest there’s an awful lot of believers in the Kirbed hook.
Where I find them most useful is on nymphs that require a large bead. That bead can consume a large amount of gape (especially if oversized) and the kirbed hook allows me to reclaim that lost hooking ability without changing any attribute of the shank, hook, or bead,
Has anybody noticed if they track funny ?
51BC,
I’ve never noticed that they don’t run true in the water. Don’t know if htey don’t, just haven’t noticed it.
Buddy