The local fly shop carries, among other things, Targus hooks. I normally buy Mustads, but the shop doesn’t carry them. Are these Targus hooks any good? 6 bucks for 50, so I picked up a pack to try.
Kid,
Decent hooks at a fair price. They’ve been around for a few years, and I’ve used them quite a bit during the summer when I need a hook that I don’t want to wait to ‘order’. The fly shop I use in Durango carries them, and I like them MUCH better than Tiemco (and they don’t carry many of the Mustad hooks).
Eventually you’ll find that buying hooks in large lots is an easier and cheaper way to feed your tying habit…let me know when you get to the point you want to buy in 1,000s, and I’ll turn you on to my source ;).
Buddy
Hey buddy, I would love to know your source. I tie all the time and also for some of my fishing partners who don’t tie. Needless to say I need a good supplier…Thanks.
This is a very curious statement. Why do you like Targus so much better than Tiemco?
IMHO, Targus hooks are cheap knocks off of Teimco hooks, in every meaning of the phrase. Heck, the company even uses the same model number for their hooks as Tiemco. I’ve always considered this a cheesy marketting move, indicating a belief that their hooks could not stand on their own merits, but had to ride on the reputation of the better product.
Having played with Targus hooks, I’ve always found them inferior to Tiemco in everything but price. Targus quality is not as high as Tiemco, there are not as many models, and they have no barbless styles. If you need a cheap hook, they’ll work, but they are pretty much indistinguishable from all the other bargain hook brands out there.
mustad, tmc, targus, dakiki& etc…
i’ve only used CHEAP so called PREMIUM hooks from ebay so i wouldnt know much~ (also not having fly fished yet so i cant tell you the results…)
In my readings, people tend to go through this route when choosing hooks.
- Price (Like me! :P)
- Availability
- Style/what it can do.
(it seems like these 3 are describing my personality! hehe)
Buddy Sanders, can you tell me your source? 
thanks~
in what regards?? please explain??
is the chemistry of the wire different?
is the finish noticeably different?
are the eyes closed
are the points not as sharp?
are the barbs micro or macro?
not every manufacturer has as many models or barbless styles, but that’s not a problem of quality.
Whatfly,
I need a fly hook to do only a very few simple things:
Hook/hold a fish.
Not break.
Fish hooks are not very high tech items. They have been around for years. They need to be sharp, or sharpenable. The wire has to be properly tempered so that it will hold and flex, but not bend too easily and it should NEVER break.
In my opinion, Tiemco hooks are way over engineered. In order for them to hold that tiny point, they temper them to the point of, at least for me, being too brittle. I’ve had these hooks break on me, and that is something I won’t tolerate in a hook (again, pretty simple item…lots of folks, Mustad, Eagle Claw, VMC, Targus, plus some others, get this right).
Other folks have different ideas of what they require in a hook. Fine for them. These are mine, and Tiemco just doesn’t meet those requirements.
Buddy
A little thread drift, but still applicable, I have to get on my soap box and speak to the multiple references to “sharp” hooks here. For the very smallest trout hooks they are fine enough to penetrate based on size of the wire alone, but for many hooks that are chemically sharpened they are sharp out of the box and for the first few casts into the rocks then they NEED to be SHARPENED with a stone or file.
I often ask other fisherman who are always looking for the next big garget, "If you could increase you landing rate (make up a number - 25%) by spending $15 or less on a fly tying tool would you do it? They all say yes, then I tell them to buy a diamond impregnated hook file.
So when buying chemically sharpened hooks remember they save you from filing the hook on the first cast, but many of those hooks need to be touched up sooner than many realize.
OK, off soap box now. 
Hook and Hackle, a sponsor here has some very good pricing on hooks. Something to consider.
Clay I will continue by borrowing your soap box. I have been carrying sharp objects in my pocket for 40 years. In this time I have learned something about sharpening steel. The only thing I can think of that would “chemically sharpen” steel is to use acid to take the burr off from the manufacturing process. While I can see the advantage of this, the 5 seconds with a file that it takes me to take the burr off a hook isn’t worth the extra money for the acid bath. To me its just another marketing gimmick. Oh and I use a 4/$1 nail file from the dollar store for this.
Any one else want the soap box?
Eric
For those looking for the barbless TMC hooks, ran across this sale and thought that you should know about it: http://www.mrfc.com/MadisonRiverShopping/SearchResult.aspx?CategoryID=4
Very limited sizes and styles but they are on closeout with a good price to match.
Agreed, although I would add aestetics as a requirement as well. Regardless, your 2nd reason is why I do not use Mustad nor Targus hooks. They are the only ones who have ever broken on me…some of them have even broken during debarbing. Now the odds are this will eventually happen with every hook manufacturer, but I’ve had more problem with these than any other manufacturer. YMMV.
Whatfly,
As I said, others have different requirements for their hooks. I’d not list aesthetics for mine.
I’ve also had breakage problems with Gamagatsu hooks back when I was a ‘mainstream’ bass fisherman, so I quit using those too. Even though they were supposed to be the ‘best’ at the time.
As far as breaking when debarbing, I ‘debarb’ with my vice jaws when that’s appropriate to do (I don’t automaticaly debarb, I do it only for flies intended for certain applications). I’ve not broken but a very few hooks doing this. That being said, it’s a matter of physics. When you ‘debarb’ a hook by putting pressure onto the protruding barb, some hooks are going to break there, it’s the weakest part of the wire, and you are stressing it, so a breakage rate around a bit less than 1% is aceptable for me. Since I debarb BEFORE tying the fly, I don’t worry about that.
When I say I don’t want a hook to break, I mean while I’m fishing with it. No hook should break while pulling on the eye with normal sized tippet…either the tippet should break or the hook should bend. THAT’s where I’ve had more than just a few Tiemcos (and Daiichis too) break on me. A couple of times, they cost me fish.
Clay and Eric,
I agree with you about being able to sharpen a hook. I know how to do that, and I trust my own abilities in that regard more than some chemical process. I know that if I sharpen a hook, it’s sharper than ANY comercially available point. I carry and use a hook file religiously.
Same reason I don’t use a mechanical drag while fighting a fish.
Buddy