I’ve always used Mustad hooks in 30 years of tying and I expect to continue to do so. When I heard they were discontinuing the classics, I stocked up on some of my favorites. I am set for awhile and I will search on ebay or wherever to restock when the need arises. I might have to switch to the newer Mustads at some point but I hope to push that time off as long as possible.
What a friendly and helpful bunch of people!
I am very grateful to all of you for your detailed responses.
Thank you!
Bill
I use Togen hooks. From Togenenterprises.com? forget website.
He is in BC.
Look for the “Combo Pack” specifically. There will be a chart of what is available in combo packs. You can buy 1,000 flies for $68. That sounds like a lot of hooks. But…in the combo pack…of 1,000 he will break them into 10 different packs of 100. So you can pick ten different hooks. Once you see the chart…you will realize that you can get to a selection of ten quite easily. I think he some times offers online discounts. I talked to him personally and he gave me a code to put in that got me a 20% discount. I can’t say that he would always do this but a friend turned me onto these hooks and I have no problem with them. And my friend is a top notch fly fisherman, rod builder, and fly tyer. He says he has been using them a long time and has no trouble with them.
Just fyi
I bought some dry fly hooks and some nymph hooks from him on eBay.
The dries were OK, but the nymph hooks snapped when I flattened the barbs both in the vise and on the water (on more than HALF the hooks!) I don’t use pliers to smash the barbs when on the water though, I use the ‘crotch’ of my forceps (opposite the normal jaw side) because the metal is smooth. The only other hook to behave this way for me were Dai-Riki nymph hooks. I got some of those out, and they looked identical to the Togens in every way (they both even snapped the same way).:x
But like I said, the dries didn’t do this, I don’t know about any of the other hook styles by Togen.
It was enough for me to swear them off (as I have done with D-R hooks) Any hook that breaks when you smash the barb shouldn’t call itself a ‘fly hook’ (In my opinion)
I used to open the hook gap slightly on my hooks too. Same thing on the Togens and D-R’s - SNAP! But never on Mustads or Daiichi’s. I don’t do this anymore though.
So if you like D-R’s then You’ll probably like Togen’s and vice versa. (And if you’re happy with them, that’s what matters)
Mustads are my hook of choice like so many others who have written here.
They don’t cost as much as TMC or Daiichi, and since even the priciest hooks need to be sharpened after you fish them, Mustads are what I consider the best. (I carry a Dr. Slick diamond sharpener and it does the trick in seconds)
The new signature hooks are quite strong and impressive.
bill
MUSTAD, either their Classic Hooks, or their new Signiture!
~Parnelli 
(Charted Member of “Friends of FAOL”)
Member of FAOL since October, 1997
I’ve not had one break yet when I smash down the barb. My friend has probably ordered over 4,000 hooks from him. I am sure he hasn’t used them all yet. But he goes through a LOT of flies and he still orders them.
One man’s feast is another man’s fodder I guess.
I din’t think till too late…but forgot they are not a sponsor…goofed up. I wouldn’t have made the post had I thought of that.
OH well. Too late now.
Maybe I got a bad batch of hooks. This might explain why I had no problems with togen’s dry fly hooks.
But now I’m reluctant to spend more money on them.
Bill
what do you mean when you say the “hook snapped”?? do you mean the “barb snapped” or the “shank snapped”??
your not going to like tiemco or mustad because the “barbs snap” on these hooks also!
maybe the new mustad signature hooks are better made. time will tell
What I meant was that when I flatten the barb, the whole point and barb broke off just behind the barb, leaving the hook useless.
When I tried to bend the gap open by gripping the hook well behind the barb, the hook snapped at the bend or where it meets the hook shank.
I would be happy if just the barb snapped off leaving the point intact. (like 8089’s do)
I only tried to open the gap a few degrees. Nothing major. If. You wanted to tie a bend back, you’d get frustrated.
bill
Mustad 3366. Work well enough for most applications.
Go catch a fish,
Gary
hooks from ebay. 789fly is the guys name and “the flyworks” is his ebay shop. 200 hooks for $12.50 I catch steelies and everything on them. kind of remind me of mustads.
Speaking as someone who is forever searching for quality hooks for many types of flies tied for any number of fish types, I would recommend that you at least carry tiemco, daicchi and mustads. Don’t bother with kamasan, IMO they are garbage, I used them a couple years ago for some great lakes steelhead flies and they failed miserably, I threw every last one away because they were that bad. The toughest hooks to find, for me, in the brick and mortor fly shops in my area are any kind of wet/nymph hooks in 2x strong. I don’t know why, but these stores carry too many light wire hooks and don’t seem to realize that some flyfishers target fish species other than trout. I like to buy supplies from a fly shop rather than any other supplier but, if they refuse to stock say a good supply of 3906 or 1120 heavy wire hooks, then I do what I have to do. Hope this offers some insight.
In an earlier post I saw that someone apologized for suggesting a product from someone who is not a Sponsor of this site. I hope this is not a suggested limitation on our individual experiences or comments. I do not believe so.