Point up or down?

[fishyfranky 0]

I've been tying for a year and still some things are not quite clear:

 

It seems to me that a fly tied to ride hook point up would be better because it would snag bottom less, be better positioned for a hook set, and the material in some patterns would hide the bite/point.

 

So are most flys tied the way they are simply because its easier to tie and store them?

 

[Steeldrifter 0]

I like using inverted flies but tying them has always given me fits. One thing I have noticed with them though is you need to wait just a fraction of a second longer on the hookset or you will pull the fly out of the fishes mouth, at least thats been my experiance.

 

Hopefully Roy Christie will see this post and reply, he sent me some inverted tied flies in the mail last week and they are awesome ties so i'm sure he could add some good info here to this post.

 

SD

[Guest]

fishyfranky,

 

Well the problem is you have to add some weight to the top of the shank to get the hook to ride "hook up". There are also some material more boyant than others that could achieve the same effect. What I'm trying to say is not all flies could be tied in this fashion without adding weight or substituting materials.

[Guest]

Depends on where I'm fishing and what I'm fishing for. If the river is starting to stack up with fish, I prefer point up. So will tie on a downturned eyed hook and add small bead chain eyed to the hook to help keep it rolled over. This stops snagging alot. Well, unless you strip the fly in. I only use the standard upturned eye hook on areas without high fish numbers. I'm not really worried about snagging bottom, since I don't weight my hooks with lead or heavy barbell type eyes.

[Steeldrifter 0]

Just to clearify I was talking about dries tied hook up in my reply

 

Streameres i havent really done much tied hook up.

[Rob Knisely 0]

Inverted hooks have their place, but...

 

It's much easier to get a fly to ride/swim right when the hook point is down, and is conducive to traditional flies without weight.

 

You have to keep the fish in mind. For trout, there's more of chance of penetrating the eyes and vital head area on the hook set; bass and panfish this is less of a problem, but may occassionally happen. This can be minimized by keeping the hook point up flies small or with a narrower hook gap. I have a pattern that is tied on that Mustad curved hook with the offset point (I forget the number) that rides hook point up. When a fish strikes, (I'm guessing) the fly must turn to the side because they're always hooked in the corner or lower lip.

 

Hook point up is good for bass and bottom-crawling flies. First of all, the bass inhale their prey (or fly) like a vacuum, rather than just picking it up or biting it, so the fly's position (unless it's moving pretty fast) doesn't matter much. Secondly, there is more upper lip area to hook without danger of hitting vital organs.

 

Whether one way is better than the other... just depends on the circumstances.

 

[fishyfranky 0]

Oh, I never thought about the dries. But now that I think about it, I'm thinking on the lines of how the Klinkhammer is such a great pattern. All it took was a change in hook position/orientation.

 

[Fly1 0]

I have tyed dries the hook point up. You have to make sure your wing pattern doesn't interfere with the point of your hook or the fly will just slide out of the fish's mouth when you go to set the hook.

 

Ken

[Guest]

Hi folks, sorry it took so long to get here.

I'm off again in a min.. gotta catch another aeroplane.

Anyways, some good points above worth note.

Rob, I'd say trout inhale their food too.

 

To make a fly ride upside down, make sure the centre of gravity is toward the outside of the hook bend.

This is achieved in dries by taking the tailing fibres round the bend, building the wing 'within the gape' and hackling it so as not to interfere with the aerodynamics, be it palmered or parachuted.

How it lands is how it sticks.

 

In a wet fly the same principles apply, as the centre of gravity is what dictates how the fly will sink. That is why all scuds, weighted most heavily midway along the hook shank swim upside down. This can be improved on by adding a shell back to ensure the aqua-dynamic properties work to best effect.

This can be further emphasised by leading the outside of the shank, further improved by adding foam within the bend.

Stiff broad tails tied around the bend will ensure the hook prefers to be USD when it is sinking, which a wet always does! (keep them short so as not to interfere with hooking)

 

Dries tied upside down are a hook-setters nightmare if they are poorly constructed.

I have never hooked a fish in the eye with an upside down dry.

They are almost always hooked in the scissors at the back of the jaw, if at all.

 

Later, chaps, gotta go to work

Roy