Mustad is discontinuing their standard lines of fly tying hooks, including such models as: 9672, 9671 3906b, 94840, 79580, etc.
This is not a rumor. I contacted both Cabelas and Hook and Hackle when I realized that none of the Standard Models of Mustad fly tying hooks were in this years H&H catalog.
Cabelas is selling their current stock of them, and when they are out they are out. They are already out of a number of the sizes of the models.
Mustad had advised the retailers earlier that they would discontinue them this year, and sent out a letter explaining that this was due to problems with specifications in hook size changes from model to model. They have replacement models which incorporate the old model numbers with the new product model numbers so we will know which new models have the same hook shape as the old ones.
To find out more, and what I think we should do, read the longer version of this post in the fly tying bulletin board on FAOL.
I edited the title and information in this post to reflect the current understanding on this item. (1/13/09 Gandolf)
Who said the new prices are double?? Is there a Mustad press release somewhere??? My 2 local fly shops both claim that the prices will be the same only new numbers and a few minor if any machining changes that will be barely noticeable.
As long as I can get them in packs of 50 or 100s and the price is close and the hook is similar…I don’t care too much. …but most of the Signature / Ultra hooks I see around here are in packs of 25 and they cost a fair chunk more when you break down the price pr hook. I can see where folks who tie up a few dozen flies a year don’t think it matters much…but those who tie a couple boxes worth at a sitting… 25 dozen flies in a week or more…that starts to add up to a big chunk of change.
I guess that they are trying to streamline their operations due to the economy. I myself try to buy Eagle Claw hooks that are made in the USA, and the smallest size I use is 12, not the real small ones ya’ll use for trout.
I tie more saltwater flies than anything, and have been real happy with the Eagle Claw products.
I am beginning to cool down. I still don’t like it, but agree with some of the posts that I have read, that Mustad has the right to change their hooks how ever they like. It is called capitalizm.
I will have to think long and hard about which hooks to use if Mustad carries through with this. The new hooks do match the profile of the old, and that is important to me, but they do cost a lot more.
The first thing that I’m going to do, now that I am thinking rationally again (I think), is to chase down a good supply of the type of standard Mustad’s that are used the most in my tying, while a few of them can still be found. I recommend the same to all of you who like them as much as I do.
Go to the fly tying bulletin board, and read Dr. Fish’s explanation of what happened. I did not have the whole story, and foolishly repeated what I had been told, and only checked out part of the story, not the “why.”
The new hooks are priced somewhat like the old, it looks like they may be a little bit more than the old, but they are reasonable.
By not doing do diligence in finding out all the fact I have done considerable damage.
I apologize to Mustad, Dr. Fish, and all of you for my foolish action.
[b]Gandolf, I have a helluva time accepting change too.<sigh> I’ll admit I’m not happy with the change. Now I have to readjust my feeble old mind to a new set of numbers in order to get what I need.
Sure hope I can find a conversion chart for the new mustads to other hooks and such. I need all the help I can get converting tying recipes to something similar I might have on hand.
A suggestion: Since you have apologized for your posts about Mustad and you’ve made it clear that you regret your original posts, have you considered editing these post titles? If you go into to edit your original post, there is an “Go Advanced” button–click on it and you’ll be able to edit the title of the thread to something different. I only suggest this since the post heading appear in several of the forums and I’m not sure that everyone who reads the titles will then read the replies and realize that you feel you were in error. In other words, the titles could still be doing damage…
That is a good idea. It’s late enough in the evening that I don’t want to try to figure out how to do it tonight, but tomorrow, Lord Willing, I will try to figure out how to do that from the instructions that you have provided.