Lthrnck03 0 Report post Posted February 7, 2012 What size hooks do you find that you use most often when tying: 1. Nymphs/Wets 2. Dries 3. Scuds Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Frozennole 0 Report post Posted February 7, 2012 I have found that for nymphs I tend to use #16's and #18's. And for Dries I use #16 through #22. For scuds it seems to typically be #18s. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JSzymczyk 0 Report post Posted February 7, 2012 you're going to get the whole wide range of responses. It's totally dependent on how/where/when somebody fishes. I almost never have the need to go very small with anything. I rarely go as small as 16 with nymphs, and I catch trout and bass on #4 4xl helgrammite patterns too. Late summer I start fishing big #4 and #2 woolly buggers and crawdads for bass and whatever else. Scuds usually 12-16, with a few 18s. Traditional dry flies I catch fish from "big" #8 green drakes down to about 16s. #12 and 14 Stimulators and 12-16 CDC/Elk caddis do me pretty well most of the time for trout. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lthrnck03 0 Report post Posted February 7, 2012 you're going to get the whole wide range of responses. It's totally dependent on how/where/when somebody fishes. I almost never have the need to go very small with anything. I rarely go as small as 16 with nymphs, and I catch trout and bass on #4 4xl helgrammite patterns too. Late summer I start fishing big #4 and #2 woolly buggers and crawdads for bass and whatever else. Scuds usually 12-16, with a few 18s. Traditional dry flies I catch fish from "big" #8 green drakes down to about 16s. #12 and 14 Stimulators and 12-16 CDC/Elk caddis do me pretty well most of the time for trout. I kind of figured that answers would vary considerably. My question is a little too generalized. To be more specific.... If I were to pick up 2X Nymph Hooks(sizes 10-16 or 12-18 maybe) and Dry Fly hooks (sizes 12-16)....would this be a good start to build up inventory? Would it give me enough hook variety to tie a healthy range of patterns? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sandflyx 0 Report post Posted February 7, 2012 yes it would Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
whatfly 0 Report post Posted February 7, 2012 I almost never have the need to go very small with anything. I kind of figured that answers would vary considerably. My question is a little too generalized. To be more specific.... If I were to pick up 2X Nymph Hooks(sizes 10-16 or 12-18 maybe) and Dry Fly hooks (sizes 12-16)....would this be a good start to build up inventory? Would it give me enough hook variety to tie a healthy range of patterns? Perfectly reasonable if you are trout fishing in the West, although to cover the year in my neck of the woods, I would go with 1XL 2XH nymph hooks like the TMC3761 in #10-18 (a large 1XL can be used to substitue a smaller 2XL), and dry fly hooks #14-18 and would skip the scud hooks and instead get 3XL 2XH hooks in #8-10 for streamers. If you really do fish scud patterns a lot, you can use a straight hook for those patterns and you will need streamer hooks for woolly buggers and the like. My usual recommendations for beginning fly tiers in my area would just be 1XL 2XH #14-16, 1XF #14-16, and 3XL 2XH #8. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites