Mustad

[flytire 0]

 

even mustad sends along an ugly duckling every now and then 😁

not enough to worry about.

it happens from time to time with all hook manufacturers

[DarrellP 0]

Yep.  I have never received a bad hook from Tiemco, though.

[upnorthtier 0]

It happens with all hook brands even TMC. i recall having 2 bad hooks in a box of 100 of tmc 7999. You just see it less on brand name hooks vs house brands.

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

If you buy your hooks by the thousand per size - you'll see many more oops in each box from one manufacturer or other.... I've never seen a mistake in box after box of Tiemco hooks - but one model of their hooks had to be withdrawn - the Tiemco 800s in sizes 1/0 and above - after they were found to be brittle enough to break on the strike with big  tarpon (and I lost a bunch of royalties that year as flies done on those hooks had to be withdrawn from the shops that had ordered and paid for them -- years ago..). 

The good news for all of us is that the supply and variety of hooks available each year continues to grow... Of course, back when I was filling orders - too many times an order involved a hook style or size - that I didn't have on hand... 

[Jaydub 0]

Looks like you got a rare short-shank, blind eye, 'V' bend hook.

[flyflinger 0]

On 4/25/2023 at 8:35 AM, Jaydub said:

Looks like you got a rare short-shank, blind eye, 'V' bend hook.

Concur!!!!  🤪

[flytire 0]

[cphubert 0]

4 hours ago, flytire said:

Nice wide gap custom hook looks to scarify the bottom for the big ones! Mustad should be ecstatic.

[robow7 0]

I just recently got my first box of poorly tempered Daiichi hooks.  I've had several of the 1150's just break off within the curve of the hook just by placing in my vise.       

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

Tempering hooks is a is literally a "make or break" proposition... Too much and the hook is brittle (and some of them will break - as noted- right in the vice...}. Not enough tempering and the hook is soft,  won't break at all - but you can bend one out with your fingers... 

I was taught, all those years ago, by a premier jig and lure maker (Bob White was the daddy of them all in his era, down here in south Florida) a teacher by day and a lure maker nights and weekends for many, many years.  I was taught to take a sample from a new box of hooks place it in a small bench vise (not much differently than you'd do with a tying vise - then try to bend it, using the hook's shank as leverage, to see if it would bend out using only your fingers (too soft) and if it passed that test then use a pair of pliers on the shank to see if it would snap as you tried to bend it with the tool.  Most premium hooks (the ones from the Orient that you pay all that extra money for...) will almost always break before bending - but they're very strong - unless they're too brittle... 

My best advice to new anglers is to get in the habit of checking your gear every few casts to verify that your fly is still effective (still actually has a point... and not broken off) since a fly will look and fish the same with or without the bitter end.  This is something I had to learn the hard way after an angler or two was missing the hookset on the strike - and when we looked - he was fishing with a teaser that would never hook anything once that point was gone.  I have a few examples on my tying bench and will take a pic or two - then add it to this thread when I can.

 

By the way a soft hook that opens up will still hold a fish - until it opens up enough to let go.  Since I work with other gear as well as fly - we do see a lot of hooks that big fish have seriously mis-treated - but are still holding the fish... 

[johnnyquahog 0]

The hook that still haunts me is the turned up eye Mustad 94842 in size 16.  This was close to 40 years ago when I was determined to catch a real sea run brown trout on one of Cape Cod’s estuaries.  This was called the fish of a thousand casts.   I’d caught dozens of the recently stocked trout but until they spend a couple seasons feeding on minnows, grass shrimp, mumichogs and whatever the tide brings in they are not sea runs.  I spot this 20+” brown feeding on the opposite bank along with a few smaller trout.  In order to get below this fish without spooking him i needed to get out of the river, climb the bank, walk down to rt. 28, cross the bridge, go behind a condo complex, hike below the fish and find an opening where I can quietly approach the fish and hope he is still around.  Twenty minutes later I am in position and the fish is still working in a foot of clear water.  I tied on a #16 black fur ant.  I would wait until the sea run was looking upstream before casting.  I took a couple dozen casts over the course of thirty minutes and got a few close looks but no joy other than I succeeded in not spooking them.  Another cast and the ant is drowning in front of my fish and I see his mouth open and take my fly.  I lift my rod and feel the weight.  Two seconds later I see the fish swim off to the protection of deeper water.  Maybe gobsmacked is the right word to use here.  When I recover I look at the fly and see that it is missing from the middle of the bend.  I had a long two and a half hour ride home to process what happened.  I put a few 94842 hooks in my old vise and after clamping it the hooks were definitely brittle.  The sea run program was discontinued a long time ago. Sorry for the ramble.

oh, I can relate to Captain Bob’s issue with the Tiemco 800s.  It was my go to saltwater deceiver fly until it wasn’t.  I was debarbing a 2/0 or 4/0 800s and it just snapped at the bend with very little pressure.   I realize why those one expensive hooks were discounted so much.

now sorry for the double ramble.

[niveker 0]

Good ramble.  

[DFoster 0]

17 hours ago, johnnyquahog said:

The hook that still haunts me is the turned up eye Mustad 94842 in size 16.  This was close to 40 years ago when I was determined to catch a real sea run brown trout on one of Cape Cod’s estuaries.  This was called the fish of a thousand casts.   I’d caught dozens of the recently stocked trout but until they spend a couple seasons feeding on minnows, grass shrimp, mumichogs and whatever the tide brings in they are not sea runs.  I spot this 20+” brown feeding on the opposite bank along with a few smaller trout.  In order to get below this fish without spooking him i needed to get out of the river, climb the bank, walk down to rt. 28, cross the bridge, go behind a condo complex, hike below the fish and find an opening where I can quietly approach the fish and hope he is still around.  Twenty minutes later I am in position and the fish is still working in a foot of clear water.  I tied on a #16 black fur ant.  I would wait until the sea run was looking upstream before casting.  I took a couple dozen casts over the course of thirty minutes and got a few close looks but no joy other than I succeeded in not spooking them.  Another cast and the ant is drowning in front of my fish and I see his mouth open and take my fly.  I lift my rod and feel the weight.  Two seconds later I see the fish swim off to the protection of deeper water.  Maybe gobsmacked is the right word to use here.  When I recover I look at the fly and see that it is missing from the middle of the bend.  I had a long two and a half hour ride home to process what happened.  I put a few 94842 hooks in my old vise and after clamping it the hooks were definitely brittle.  The sea run program was discontinued a long time ago. Sorry for the ramble.

oh, I can relate to Captain Bob’s issue with the Tiemco 800s.  It was my go to saltwater deceiver fly until it wasn’t.  I was debarbing a 2/0 or 4/0 800s and it just snapped at the bend with very little pressure.   I realize why those one expensive hooks were discounted so much.

now sorry for the double ramble.

Of the fish that haunt me all except one have been lost due to a clear error on my part.  Poorly tied knots or using to much force on a light tippet in fast water have resulted several long car rides home.    Loosing a great fish is frustrating but at least I can review what I did or didn't do and put them in the "Lesson learned" category.   Doing every thing right and still losing a trophy fish because of equipment failure is much harder to live with.  

[fishfrnzy2 0]

Agree that some Mustad hooks seem very brittle.  94840 and 94838 short shank 94842, and I think the ring eye was 94841 as well as the 3906 and 3906B were really bad and was very easy to break the point off or mid bend.  Area right behind the barb is cut very deep and easy to break trying too pinch the barb down. Some of that was likely ticking a rock or branch on a back cast, lol.  Mostly Mustad was about the only thing available across a whole bunch of sizes as well as some eagle claw fly tying hooks unless you could afford Partridge at about 3X the price.  That was out of my budget in mid seventies for a 14 year old.  Started seeing some VMC in the late 70's and the trout models were also pretty easy to break the points.   Got a hold of some TMC(Tiemco) around 79 and those were nice.  For prospective in 1980 while working in a fly shop the pricing for Mustads were about $2.50-3.50 per hundred and TMC were 6.25 for the dry fly and nymph hooks and they only sod them by the hundred.  TMC wants $26.00 per hundred now.  Hooks are sooooo much better today with so many choices.  FWIW, the Mustad streamer/nymph hooks 9671, 9672, 9674(ring eye) and I can't remember the 4XL down eye are all really good and tough.  Points may need a touch up on the file though but a good value.

[mtntroll 0]

Just got a batch of Mustad nymph hooks. Wasn't lucky enough to get a wide gapped v bender- maybe next time....