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steelie

For those who tie articulated streamers, a better solution

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Good Day,

 

Hey all! I posted in another thread about a better solution to cutting the back off of expensive hooks for articulated streamers. While packing my stuff up for an impending move, I came across a pack of eye pins that are used in jewelry making. I use them for the rear extension for articulated streamers instead of wasting expensive hooks. You can find them at craft stores like Micheal's and Hobby Lobby. They are found in the jewelry making section where the "foundation" supplies are like these pins, earing blanks and wire (Stop it, my wife makes jewelry as a hobby). Certainly they are not as strong as a hook, but can easily be bent back into shape, or you can double them up for more strength. Or bend them ever so slightly for more motion/action with a barrel swivel between the main hook and the extension so as to not have your leader become all twisted up. They come in brass and nickle and different lengths. The shorter length you get more pins per package for the same price pretty much. Furthermore, if you want to tie a really long streamer, you can bend the straight end into an eye with round jewelry pliers and connect them just before closing the eye. You can also customize youre flies on the water by tying different "tails". Instead of tying directly onto the main hook (heavy mono loop) but instead install a Barrel swivel snap lock. Then, instead of carrying 100 flies, you can get away with a few fronts and various tails to customize your flies on the water. I most likely will go into more written and photo detail in my book.

 

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Considering that I only use articulated patterns for larger game, I'm not sure I'd trust a bent piece of craft wire in my steelhead flies. Along the same lines, an interesting alternative I came across recently is Partridge's Wadington Shanks which come in sizes from 15-45mm. Not sure how long these have been around, but they appear to originally been designed to take treble hooks for Atlantic Salmon in the U.K.

 

There is no reason why you need to use an expensive hook in the front of your articulated patterns. Literally any brand will serve, so use as cheap as you can find, and make sure the rear hook is sharp and strong. Of course IMHO, this continuous worry about the price of hooks is a bit misplaced considering the number of flies one actually uses, but to each their own.

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I like the idea. Never thought about it before, but if you want another option, probably with a little more strength, in most tacklecraft sections you can buy pre-made wires for building spinner baits. They have the straight shaft with either an open or closed loop at one end. Maybe a little cheaper than a streamer hook, but the ones I found are stainless.

 

Deeky

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Good Day,

 

Cool, a fun discusion! whatfly, I like the suggestion of Wadington shanks, but are they still in production? The way I am using these has little if any effect on the ability to hook a fish, just there to hold material. :) Deeky, I have tried that too with the "spinner wire". Actually I do use it for a few unique patterns, for example single hook streamers where I place the hook at the rear of the fly and use the wire for the front portion of the fly, in case the fish are hitting "short". It is just a little more stiff than the jewelry wire, but still prone to bending, but no problem, just bend it back. The idea here is to look for solutions to having to cut hooks up as they are getting more expensive by the day. Upwards now of $5 for 25 hooks that was half that price not all that long ago (and in some cases even more). Sure, one could use a cheaper hook to cut up like an Eagle Claw or something, but wire is still less expensive. Maybe it is just me, but I like the more expensive chemically sharpened hooks as they are simply sharper, with the exception of the Mustad Signature series (predominatly stainless steel circle hooks for me) for streamers and salt water flies. How I like circle hooks... :help: hehe.

 

Steelie

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i use 30 pound mono to attach the hooks.....i make artisulated bass bugs and clouser styled minnows articulated....i tie the mono down on the front hook, loop it through the eyelet on the back hook.....apply a liberal amount of cement, and tie the tag end back down to the front hook shank....seems to be working well.....although the options above seem like great solutions as well....

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I've seen them tied on cotter pins. Home depot here I come.

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As for waddington shanks, the only company I can think of that might make them is Gaelic Supreme, and even then those are probably more for show, and wouldn't be too cost effective. This is a cool idea!

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I'll use a heavy deep sea trolling leader material. Not the real flexible kind but the kind that is stainless wire with a little memory to it. Using needle nose pliers I bend it into a paper clip shape (cut to any length you want). Twist the loops so they are 90 degrees to each other. This gives me an eye at the front to tie on the leader and a loop at the back to slip a hook on. The with three strands making the shaft it is stout enough to put into the vise wrap a base of thread, superglue, and start your fly. Basically a poor man's Waddington shank but very easy to do.

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