Suggestions for #6 Kink Shank Hooks

[Clint KY 0]

Through some swaps with my nephew I ended up with a lot of Mustad 33903 Kink Shank Hooks in #6.

While I use a lot of #8s, #10s and even an occasional #12 I really don't have a favorite pattern for the #6s.

I use the smaller ones for foam spiders (mostly) and foam poppers and gurglers.

Does anyone have any suggestions for using these hooks?

[flytire 0]

poppers poppers poppers

[cjsnyder1234 0]

Poppers or sliders turn a T.C.S. Body around and use it like a walk the dog style top water lure. Bass love them. Pretty sure I have seen a many people post that style on here before.

[Rocco 0]

You can also use the kink to hold dumbbell eyes on Clousers etc... The wing hair ties in at an upward tilt that gives a lot of pulsing action on a fast retrieve or in faster flows.

 

Rocco

[Gene L 0]

I think they're usually too long for a Clouser, but I guess they'd work just fine...just a bit longer than the pattern calls for. I don't know what the length of most kink-shank hooks is, got some but can't remember the length.

 

I used them for poppers, but CA glue kinda made them redundant.

[Clint KY 0]

poppers poppers poppers

Poppers or sliders turn a T.C.S. Body around and use it like a walk the dog style top water lure. Bass love them. Pretty sure I have seen a many people post that style on here before.

 

Poppers and sliders were my first idea. Then I started looking at what they charge for the preformed hard foam heads, which has been my norm and I decided not. With the price at about $1.00 a piece and shipping as the closest shop that has any fly tying material is two hours away in Nashville (BPS) that is too pricey for me. With the rate at which I feed squirrels with my flys I have to consider costs. I have been going through my old copies of Fly Tyer Magazine and have come up with some other ideas for the heads. I am going to look at Backer Rod which is used to fill joints before sealing to see if it can be used.

 

I appreciate the input.

[flytire 0]

if the price for bodies are too high, try making poppers from flip flop sandals, balsa wood and corks

 

a lot of tying materials at your local big box hobby store

[FlaFly 0]

For something different, why not try a Confederate General?

[Gene L 0]

if the price for bodies are too high, try making poppers from flip flop sandals, balsa wood and corks

 

a lot of tying materials at your local big box hobby store

 

Yeah, this. A $1.00 pair of flip flops will make a LOT of poppers. Not Camera Ready poppers, but cheap poppers that catch a lot of fish. I pretty much abandoned hard foam poppers after flip flops.

[mikechell 0]

One of the first flies I came up with was an attempt to mimic a grass shrimp. I used some old kinked shank hooks because shrimp do not have "straight" bodies and I thought the kinked shanks looked much more like shrimp bodies.

Anyway ... they have caught many panfish here in Florida waters.

 

 

[Goose77 0]

Hey Flafly and Mikechell, nice work. Clint, you can try the backer foam, but in my experience it's a little soft. I believe the flipflop foam is better. Also sheets of craft foam can be glued together to give neat stripes on the bodies. A sheet of 2 or 3 mm foam is cheap...about 2 bucks. I use pipe sharpened on the end and chuck it in a drill to cut the foam. Type 77 adhesives work well to glue the foam sheets/pieces. Good luck. Ed

[tidewaterfly 0]

That's not a bad hook for spinning deer hair bugs on either. It's only slightly longer than the Mustad 3366, which is used by many folks for bugs.

 

I'm not a big fan of it, but there's also the "Block Head" style poppers that can be made with foam or even other cheap materials. Not a lot of shaping involved either.

 

I used to make most topwater flies on that 33903 hook, but have since gone to the Signature Series, which I like better. I still have some untied bodies I found in a box recently that I had made on the 33903. I think they're size 4, but the bodies are cork bottle stoppers as flytire suggested. I'll try to get a picture of them & post them here tomorrow so you can get some ideas.

[Stippled Popper 0]

 

poppers poppers poppers

Poppers or sliders turn a T.C.S. Body around and use it like a walk the dog style top water lure. Bass love them. Pretty sure I have seen a many people post that style on here before.

 

Poppers and sliders were my first idea. Then I started looking at what they charge for the preformed hard foam heads, which has been my norm and I decided not. With the price at about $1.00 a piece and shipping as the closest shop that has any fly tying material is two hours away in Nashville (BPS) that is too pricey for me. With the rate at which I feed squirrels with my flys I have to consider costs. I have been going through my old copies of Fly Tyer Magazine and have come up with some other ideas for the heads. I am going to look at Backer Rod which is used to fill joints before sealing to see if it can be used.

 

I appreciate the input.

 

 

Wow! $1.00 for a popper body? Cabela's current online catalog lists them for $.43 per and J Stockard is about $.365 per. $1.00 would be a lot even with the hook included in the package

 

But if you want #6 hard foam bodies you would probably have to get your retailer to place a custom order with someone like Wapsi. At least I've never found a shop, local or online that carried #6 hard foam bodies. I've had no problem getting a custom order completed, though I've had to wait for the shop to make a regular order.

[Clint KY 0]

Stippled Popper says:

 

Wow! $1.00 for a popper body? Cabela's current online catalog lists them for $.43 per and J Stockard is about $.365 per. $1.00 would be a lot even with the hook included in the package

 

But if you want #6 hard foam bodies you would probably have to get your retailer to place a custom order with someone like Wapsi. At least I've never found a shop, local or online that carried #6 hard foam bodies. I've had no problem getting a custom order completed, though I've had to wait for the shop to make a regular order.

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The $1 guess may be a bit on high side - BUT - your suggestion of going to my local retailer does not work, as I have NO local retailer. The closest shop that carries any fly tying material is 2 hours away in Nashville and that is the BPS. There is one small independent fly fishing shop in Nashville also. So I am stuck with the internet. And finding bodies that fit the #6 hooks is difficult at best. MudHole has a small cupped shaped popper body that works out to about 75¢ a piece after shipping if I buy in quantity (100) - BUT - they are out of all colors.

 

I was hoping to get more ideas such as the flip-flop which I have done and is very messy in the sanding of the pieces to get a smooth surface with which to glue. I was hoping to get more information on different materials that I might try such as the Backer Rod (which I will look at today).

 

 

[Gene L 0]

I don't sand down flip flop poppers at all. I just cut them to size with a single-edged razor blade and cut a groove down the belly to hold the hook. I have never tried to cup the end, my idea of a popper is something cheap and quick. You can add a feather tail if you like and rubber legs, but I doubt they catch any more fish.

 

Basically, my flopper-poppers are rectangles with legs.