Does anyone know where I can get some size 32 hooks, I know Mustad made some at one time but it is hard to find them since I do not know the model. Any help would be great.
Joe Fox
Joe,
The model is Mustad 277
Here is a visual:
Cheers,
Hans W
=== You have a friend in Low Places ===
http://www.danica.com/flytier
ashbourn:
I use the Tiemco 518 which is available down to 32. It is described as: wide gap, STRAIGHT eye, light wire,(duh); with a short straight shank. I use them and find them excellent although they could be improved with a larger eye.
Also the Tiemco 2488 curved shank hook is available down to size 30. I also use these and they are excellent as well.
Joe,
I have found the TMC 518’s to be great for the larvae, pupae, & some emerger stages of the Diptera. The Mustad 277’s size 32’s seem
to have a longer shank a better used for adult Diptera patterns. Certainly for some reason I have a harder time when ordering the 277’s. Ed Engle, Jeremy Barrella & some of the others that split the fly tying atom
might be able to shed even more light on this subject !!!
One reason the Mustad 277’s are tough to find is Mustad discontinued them; (I double checked with them today).
One thing I do like about the TMC518’s is that due to the shorter shank you can tie a size 32 body on a size 30 hook and gain the hooking advantage of a wider gape for the same length shank.
Needless to say that when you use the size 32 hook you have an even shorter body. My size 32 glass bead head midges have a body that is about as long as the bead is wide; it’s nuts but I catch fish on them.
Thanks alot for the information.
Joe Fox
I was afraid of that Bam !!!
Well, I guess the 518’s are the last icon.
You’re right about those 518’s though.
Just love that hook gap !!! Won’t use a bead on the 32’s though !!!
MR.JML:
Try a size 32 Mercury Brassie with a micro or midge size silver lined glass bead; and for the body use the new Ultra Wire Extra Small size or better yet see if you can find Lagartun X-Fine or XX-Fine non-tarnishing coated wire; (available at many fly shops).
I fish them anywhere from 2"-12" under a minisule Strike Putty indicator and they kick butt, (when you can hook a fish that is) 
.
Bamboozl,
Mustad only did one run of the 277 hook in the early eighties. They have been ‘discontinued’ ever since.
The Tiemco 518 #32 I call the “Big Iron”. It has twice the shank length of the Mustad, and three time the gape. It is simply said in essence a somewhat short shank #28 hook, while the Mustad 277 is just off the chart. No comparison
Cheers,
Hans W
=== You have a friend in Low Places ===
http://www.danica.com/flytier
The 518s are huge. A Mustad 28 is smaller. I’ve only seen the Mustad 32 once, and barely at that. Hans showed me one he had in a small baggie and it was several minutes before I could even find it. It was barely visible. I once heard a bag of 32 Mustad hooks described as looking like a bag of sand.
Eric
A TMC 518 is ?Big Iron??
All I know is the TMC 518 size 32 is smaller than the 30 which is smaller than the 28 which is smaller than the size 26 Daiichi 1110?s I use up to size 20. It?s like tippet material: 7X is .004, 8X is .003 but the 11X that?s available out there can?t be .000 or it wouldn?t be practical, (or exist for that matter), so they fudge the true proportional size; call it the size they want as long as it?s smaller than the size in front of it; and make something that works.
I did measure a TMC 518 size 32 and came up with the following dimensions:
Total shank length including eye - .141?
Hook gape, (gap) - .072?
I?d be interested in the measurements of the Mustad 277?s in 32 if you had any. If they are considerably smaller I guess that?s why in an article I read in Fly Tyer by Ed Engle he stated that there are now PRACTICAL size 32 hooks available. I used to use a Mustad straight eye hook for my midges long ago but I can?t recall the number, maybe 101? In any case it was only available down to size 28 and the gap on that puppy was just about non-existent. If the 277 followed these proportions downward I would imagine the 277 has a gap that might be best suited for mosquitoes .
[This message has been edited by Bamboozle (edited 31 August 2005).]
Bamboozl,
Please review the Mustad 277 picture above. It shows the comparison to a Partridge Vince Marinaro midge hook, #28.
The Tiemco 518 #32 has the same gape as that Partridge hook, with a slightly shorter snank.
Or, put another way, one can fit a 277 into the gap of the “Big Iron” Tiemco. Lengthways!
Is the 277 a practical fishing hook? Not in my mind. It is, however, a very effective hook to catch flytiers… ! 
Cheers,
Hans W
who dislikes the propostions of the TMC 518, and much prefers to tie and fish with TMC 2488 #30 patterns
=== You have a friend in Low Places ===
http://www.danica.com/flytier
I started this just to get the smallest hook and it seems I started a small battle. Down boys both are small hooks.
ashbourn:
Not to worry except this may be the first time two guys argued about who’s got the smallest…
…anything 
.
Hans:
Do you recall that small gold colored size 32 I seem to remember with no eye? I recall it being around many moons ago like the late 70’s early 80’s. Does the 277 have an eye?
Cheers,
Bamboozle
Who even complained, (in vain), to a Tiemco big cheese about the 518 porportions but still uses them AND the 2488 size 30’s.
Bamboozl,
The 277 = the tiny spade end gold hook (is in actual fact 14 karat gold plating)
Mustad also did a gold colored eyed hook in #30. The model number escapes me at the moment.
Cheers,
Hans W
=== You have a friend in Low Places ===
http://www.danica.com/flytier
Hans:
Thanks, Mystery solved!
Dumb question but how are/were you supposed to attach a leader to a spade end hook; Turle knot or something?
I guess that’s what kept me from buying any of them “skeeter” hooks when they first came out. They would have gone great with that 15X Pezon et Michelle tippet material I used to carry around in those days.
Cheers
Bamboozl,
Generally the approach would be to snell a section of tippet to the hook ahead of tying the fly. It does not take a genius to realize:
1 - added bulk is not exactly what you need on a hook this size
2 - tying the fly becomes even more of a challenge, eh… opportunity
Cheers,
Hans W
=== You have a friend in Low Places ===
http://www.danica.com/flytier
Snelled sized 32 flies!!!
Did they make a postage stamp sized fleece lined leather wallet to keep those snelled flies in?
Thanks for the enlightenment!
Nice debate on 32’s !!! Now I expect y’all
to sign up for the Sno-Fly III midge swap
come November. lol !!!
Thanks for the added info Bam !!!
I will definetely try it on the Juan (San Juan River). Haven’t created any beadhead 32
midges. My Midge X is on a 28 & is killer.
The Margarita Midge & the Blue Lightening
are both 32’s without beads. Anyone who has been in my previous midge swaps have received a sample. Always keep a steady supply of 32’s (my friend Eric at Orvis must think I’m nuts, as does Rod at Tight Lines here in Tucson). Damn, I’m bifocally impaired anyway. I & others are amazed I can tie that small let alone get an 8x through the danged hook eye !!!
[This message has been edited by MR.JML (edited 01 September 2005).]
WOW, those are really small hooks. What kinds of flys are tied to them?