:?: Hi All. It is one of my favorite times of the year, terrestrial time! I have been working on some different foam hopper patterns, and I had a question concerning hook wire fineness. I am kind of partial to Mustad, and use them whenever I can. I saw that the Mustad 94831 would be nice for a hopper, and is in 2X fine wire. I also checked out the TMC 5212, which is 1X fine. I think I will lay a base a’la Craven’s Charlie Boy hopper on the shank, which will give me a nice base to work with. Is the 2X fine too fine for a foam application like that? If possible I was looking for a lighter hook to really help the floatation, and I have some other flies I would like to try as well.
Thanks, everyone, any ideas or your experience is appreciated.
Bob,
I think the wire thickness of the hook you’re using depends on the fish you’re after and the fishing conditions (i.e. stumps etc.) If your tying for trout, bream or crappie, the 1X or 2X hooks should hold up fine. If you’re fishing for larger fish or fish with tough mouths like bass, then you would want to use a heavier wire hook. I have found that the 3/0 Uni-Stretch makes an excellent thread base since it builds up quickly if you need that and it absorbs super glue very well and makes a nice base to stick the foam to.
Jim Smith
Bob C,
Echoing what Jim said. 94831 for trout works for me. 79580 if I am out of those.
Allan
Hi Guys! I should have been a little more specific on fish - it will be a warmwater application and smallies are definitely on the agenda. Pans and Rocks as well. Other than the usual streamside brush and so forth, not an extremely woody area for my primary fishing. 8)
I many times use a 9671 or 72 for many of my bass flies and have no problem. I had on a fine wire hook a couple weeks ago and a large fish on the run straightened out my hook. Oh well so is life and fishing.
I really like the Daiichi 1280 for hoppers, haven’t had any problems with it yet with bass or trout
Bob,
Okay, since you mention warmwater species, I’d opt for the Mustad 9671 or Daiichi 1280(both are 2xl) or Mustad 9672(3xl). These are all fine wire hooks.
Allan
Interesting,
Two side by side threads… one looking for fine wire on hoppers and one mostly recommending heavier ones…so why don’t yours on this thread roll over?..and don’t give me the Australian thing… 
:lol:
I don’t really know why mine don’t roll over with the 1280 hook:lol: They just don’t :lol: :?
duckster,
Don’t know why mine don’t. Maybe the question should be, ‘Why does his’? I don’t have the answer.
Allan
First off, I don’t think flotation is an issue w/ foam flies. You can float just about any hook made on most patterns w/o any problem. I generally use streamer type hooks w/ heavy wire on my foam patterns. I think it helps them to dig right into the surface film which is the way an actual hopper sits in the water. This to me is a better imitation than something that rides high and dry.
Hi All! Thanks for all the replies. Looks like the consensus leans towards a “regular” weight wire for foam flies. Ron, I think you may be right about getting down in the film, because I took one of the EZ Foam FOTW patterns and modified it a little to imitate a cricket. Black foam, and I tied it on a 3XL TMC200R, which was the only hook I had in stock in a 6. Caught 3 smallies (and others) with it today, two of the smallies on consecutive casts. A lot of fun and I learned a couple of more things as well.
Thanks again!