Any complaints about them? I need to pull some supplies together, and these things seem to be the cheapest out there. I’m well aware that cheaper rarely means better, but also doesn’t necessarily mean worse. Would that be the case here?
GB:
While I don’t use them; I know quite a few folks including a professional tyer who swear by them.
I try REAL hard to keep my hook inventory down to a few styles and manufacturers and I started with Daiichi & Tiemco so I stuck with them which is the ONLY reason I don’t use Dai Riki.
I also heard a story which may be just that, a story; that Dai Riki and Daiichi are made in the same factory in Japan.
Well, I am cheaper than cheap and for my own tying I use Mustad and purchase them by the 100’s. I have used and still have some Dai Riki hooks and find no problem with them, but, the price of 50 Dai Riki is pretty close to the price of 100 Mustad. I think the Mustad hooks hold their sharp points better than the Dai Riki, but, that is my own opinion only.
I really like the Mustad hooks and will continue to purchase them for my use. You purchase and use whatever works for you.
Now let’s go fishing!!
For the price I find Mustad hard to beat. Also I have no complaints about their quality.
Tim
Have you checked The Fly Shop (Redding, CA)? They have their own brand and I hear from some of my tying friends they are very good for nearly 1/2 the price.
Got a bunch on ebay last year at a really cheap price and have not had any problems with them except I wish they were a darker bronze color.
Fatman
I spoke to soon. Panman pointed out to me that Hook and Hackle, a sponsor, has Mustad 100 paks that are less expensive than The Fly Shop brand for the most part.
GBurgFisher:
I like Dai Riki hooks, especially because of their price. They are sharper than Mustads, without their brittleness, more consistent eyes, and their barbs are smaller and easier to smash down. They do not have the same fit and finish as the Tiemco’s, but they are much more affordable and Dai Riki makes certain styles that are not available from Tiemco. Biggest downside is they do not appear to make any barbless styles.
Thanks all for the assistance. I also typically buy Mustad, but recently found myself needing a specific amount (more than 25, but not nearly 100) of hooks in sizes that I don’t need for my home waters. I’ve been attracted to the deals I’ve seen on the Riki’s. Also the next time I need these hook sizes/types, I will not need them all at once and will just get the 100 packs at a financially responsible pace. Thanks again for the 2c’s.
Also, as an aside… I think I stumbled onto that CA shops page one time. They were selling 50 packs of hooks for something like 3 bucks…man do I ever wish I bookmarked it. I think at the time it seemed too good to be true.
A few months ago I did a quick test of hooks, I took 5 size 14 dry hooks from Dai riki Daiichi and Mustad, Using a micrometer I wanted to find out which was “best”, what I came up with is Dai riki’s are a little thiner and a little more consistant than Mustad. (you get what you pay for in consistancy) I didnt find that the Daiichi was enough better to make up for there higher prices. My local fly shop caries Dai Riki and Daiichi,so I primarily tie with Dai Riki, if they carried Mustad I would probably use them as I don’t need the extra consistancy for my tying/fishing abilities.
Eric
There is nothiing wrong w/ Dai Riki hooks. They are sized a littler different than other brands in the that the hook shanks are slightly shorter than Mustad of the same size. This can be an advantage because sometimes you can for example, tie a size 16 fly on a size 14 hook. You gain the extra hooking power of the larger gape.
I LOVE THE DAI RIKI HOOKS!
i have been tying on them for a while and have never had problmes with them!
i like also how easythe barbs are to smash down!
i dont care about the price of tiemcos and i could buy them if i wish infact i still do buy most of my hooks as tiemcos
but dai riki are second best 
chris
i do! I just bought a pack of them (100) and about 25% of them were badly made, with kinks and een a couple didn’t have bends or an eye 
. but is still use them becasue they are soooo cheap
Sounds like you found a bad batch, keep the bad ones write a letter to the company with the batch number if there is one on the package, perhap they will send you replacements. No company wants a dissatisfied customer. especialy a company who relies on repeat sales like mustad.
Eric
[quote=“JZ1”]
i do! I just bought a pack of them (100) and about 25% of them were badly made, with kinks and een a couple didn’t have bends or an eye . but is still use them becasue they are soooo cheap[/quote]
exactly why i always spend the money for tiemcos lol
expensive yes…worth it= to me yes :lol:
[quote=“flyandtie”]
[quote=JZ]
i do! I just bought a pack of them (100) and about 25% of them were badly made, with kinks and een a couple didn’t have bends or an eye . but is still use them becasue they are soooo cheap[/quote]
exactly why i always spend the money for tiemcos lol
expensive yes…worth it= to me yes :lol:[/quote]
Yikes, i am not sure how some people manage to find so many bad hooks in a package. I go through about 20,000 or so Mustad hooks a year tying for the shop and i don’t think i would find any more than 100 bad hooks in a year.
The newer production runs of Mustad and Partridge hooks are far superior to what was on the market a few years ago. I suggest looking at the label andseeing what it says on the side, maybe you have an older box of hooks than you realize.
I agree with Jamie. I broke a fair number of Mustad hooks back in the '70’s and '80’s. I didn’t tye in the '90’s. And I haven’t had any problems this century. I think that things have improved with Mustads. I have no complaints, although I do wish that the barbs were a bit smaller on their standard series of fly hooks.
Ed
Bad hooks happen to every manufacturer.
I once had a batch of Tiemco 5263’s (400 hooks) that would snap off at the bend if I attempted to get un-snagged and pulled a little hard. Tiemco happily replaced them as I’m sure Mustad would if you found an issue with their hooks.
I’ve also had no-eyed and different down eye angles in the same 100 box of Daiichi 1560’s.
I used Mustad Classics exclusively when I first started tying many moons ago and I don’t recall that many issues; even back then. When you consider cost; (between $.06-$.16 a hook depending on brand), and the low number of rejects from ALL manufacturers; it’s hardly worth losing sleep over.
I mean…
I estimate my fly tying thread waste at 5 yards per 100 yard spool; loss to me: about $.10 per spool.
Chenille attrition at 12" per card or a loss of about $.25-$.59 depending on the type.
Head cement evaporation at about 4% per bottle and a loss of $.12
I estimate my Fluorocarbon tippet material waste at about 2 meters per 30 meter spool; a WHOPPING $.98 a spool.
I buy a neck at $60-$80 and use 40% of it based on the size flies I tie most often.
Now THAT’S something to lose sleep over. :shock:
I have never used Dia Riki hooks so I can’t comment on them. However I’d like to comment on Mustad and Tiemco hooks.
When I started tying, I used Mustad hooks exclusively. Mostly because they were the only hooks stocked at the local fly shop, but they were cheap, too. I had never had a problem with them, never a bad hook, and never broke a hook.
As I got better at tying and I started reading more about tying, I decided to upgrade. Most of the authors swore by Tiemco, so I spent the extra change and bought various sizes and styles of hooks. The first thing I noticed with the Tiemco hooks was that they seemed a bit thicker than the mustads. Not a bad thing, especially for subsurface patterns and they should be stronger too. But then I noticed they didn’t penatrate as well into my skin. So I started to get a bit disapointed. Everyone says these hooks are sharper than mustads. That is a point I can’t argue because I don’t know how to measure sharpness. But I can measure penatrating power, and the mustads won because they were thinner. Then I tried to pinch the barbs, and nearly every one broke on the tiemco’s. I only have a mustad barb break when mashing them once in a while. Severly disappointed in my new hooks, I started fishing with them. Saw no difference in fish catching, hooking, or holding power. Then, while fishing for larger fish, I would break a hook occasionally. I have never had a mustad hook break in a large fish.
Now I didn’t take a completely scientific approach to this, and I may be biased, but I know I will not buy another tiemco hook in the near future (never say never, they may be the only ones available, at some point, some time, some place). I can say that I wish Owner and Gamagatsu (I know I spelt that wrong) made hooks in styles and sizes useful to me. For the money, those are the only two brands that I would buy more expensive than Mustad.
Just my $.02 but I believe in Mustad. So use whatever you believe in and you will catch more fish, too.
I ordered Dai Riki hooks from ebay a year or 2 ago. I got some excellent deals at the time, but the guy offering them had some issues and got some really nasty reviews from other folks. I don’t see the same great deals on Ebay that I used to, but we recently got a sportsmans warehouse, and they have Mustads in stock, so I’ve switched. I’ve seen exactly the opposite as others have noted. My dai riki barbs have a tendency to break when I mash them, but the Mustads don’t. I don’t mind either way, as long as they are barbless when I’m done. I’ve caught lots of trout, bluegills and bass on both.