With spinning gear i am used to using larger hooks on jigs or worm hooks… 1/0 or 2/0 …that have very wide gaps. Switching to fly patterns though, there are not as many choices for wide gap hooks. Streamer hooks in general seem to have skinny gaps no matter the size. As of now, i have been using generic (eagle claw) baitholder hooks in sizes 4 or 2 and bending hook eyes up and straightening the offset. I would like to find some decent hooks that are SHARP out of the box and no modifications needed.
I want to tie up some over-sized leeches, double bunnies, divers and a few other odd-ball sub surface patterns. Would like to hear what sizes of hooks you use to go after BIG bass using these (or similar) patterns. Thanks - Russ
Check out the Mustad 3366; pretty wide gap and cheap. My favorite for freshwater Clousers. For articulated trout flies like Sculpzillas and Circus Peanuts, I’ll use an Octopus hook as a stinger a 3366 for the front/body and cut the front hook off after I’ve tied the fly, leaving the shank.
For short shank wide gape I use Gamakatsu SC15 fly hook (sizes 8 to 2/0) . This is one of my favorite hooks for Clouser minnows and shad imitations. WIth the short shank hook I mount the eyes half way down the hook shank for clousers. I use the SP11-3L3H for bass bugs and poppers and large streamers. I also use Gamakatsu straight shank worm hooks (sizes 2 - 5/0) and spinnerbait hooks. Same hooks I use for fishing plastic worms. Need to be careful when tying on these because if you draw your thread against the point you can cut it. You can stick your finger pretty good too. I put a piece of plastic tubing over the point when tying to protect my thread and fingers. Bass Pro Shops XPS straight shank round bend worm hook is another good one. Eagle Claw and Mustad also have very sharp straight shank worm hooks. that work will for flies. Another hook I have used is the Eagle Claw 449W weedless worm hook.
Browse any decent fly tying supply website and you should find several options. even the years I lived in the deep south, I rarely felt the urge to use giant hooks for LMB like my hardware chucking friends. I did fine and caught quite a few big fish and didn’t usually tie on anything over size 2. Sometimes bigger, but no real reason for it. Remember you’re not driving a hook through a big gnarly rubber worm and then into the fish, when you’re using a fly.
Do search for Tiemco 8089 hook for bugs and such. They are numbered weird, a size 2 is more like a 3/0 of most other hooks. Also the Mustad C52S is a superb deer hair bug and streamer hook, available up to 2/0 I think.
I use the Mustad C52S Stinger hooks for some hair bugs. They have a nice wide gape, but I wish they would make them in longer lengths (2XL, 4XLetc.). I ve seen the 37187 on Mustad’s site, but never in stores. looks like the same gape in a a longer shank, but maybe a thinner wire?
The Mustad 3366 is close to the C52S, only in bronze where the 52 is nickle.
Mustad CK74SS is 2X heavy 4Xlong kink shank. If you can work around the kink shank, it has a nice big gape for the length.
And last, I use Wapsi Perfect Popper hooks (now under the Lightening Strike label), These are also a kink shank but around 6Xlong. These are only available in 4 sizes that I’m aware of and those are Pencil #1 & #4, and Saltwater #2 & #2/0. I use these a lot for foam body poppers,
I tie a few bass flies and also some larger stuff intended for pike or muskie in a couple of local lakes that have them. I am a really big fan of the bass pro shops xps straight shank round bend worm hook. They make them in sizes up to 5/0 and they are a great hook for tying bass flies. They have a decent wide gap, and are what we would call a 2x long if not slightly longer than that. This gives you room to build that nice wide body that bass find attractive without interfering with the hooking ability. The flies in the pics below were all tied on those hooks.
Another good hook is the gamakatsu B10S. It has a nice gap and is slightly shorter shanked than the xps hook, and is light enough that I use it on deer hair bugs. I’ll post a pic but the one i have on photobucket doesn’t show the hook very well. sorry
Finally, I tie some EP type streamers. For those I use the eagle claw 254.
I have 2 packs of the c52s sitting on my desk, and some of the 37187s in my hook box. the 37187 has a much more pronounced “stinger” style bend, a slightly longer shank, and much thinner wire than the c52s. My main complaint about the 37187 is that I would be tying hair on them and the wire was thin enough that I would bend it when flairing the hair. I even had a couple snap off at the start of the bend when tying bass bugs.
Thanks for the advise everyone, i have some researching to do on the hooks mentioned. I normaly only order online from a couple of places and could not find what i wanted - was starting to think that i was going to have to move over to saltwater hooks.
Hugefish - Nice bunch of ties. Really like the 1st pic - bunny baitfish!
Best 2 hooks I have found for most is TMC 600SP and Gamas SL12S and for longer shanked Orvis 13KE. You can go bigger by going to a tube style fly though.
I was just going to suggest saltwater hooks. There are no rules that say you must only use saltwater for saltwater. You might also google “Pike fly patterns” and get the names and hook sizes they are using.
Here is my 2 cents! I’ve tried them all and for the price and styles you can’t beat Togen from the far north. They take extremly good care of the customer!
take a look! http://www.togenenterprises.com/home.html
