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BigBrownTrout

Hook point up or down?

Hook point up or down?  

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When fishing streamers you will have less snags on the bottom with the hook pointed up, but does that affect hook setting capabilities of the fly? Some nymphs especially when heavily weighted will naturally roll over making a fly appear as if upside down in the water, so would rotating the fly 180 degrees on the hook shank help? Dry flies can have a more natural appearance from below without the hook point hanging below the fly, so would that be an advantage?

 

There are pros and cons to every situation, but what do you think? In each situation, do you prefer the hook point up or down and why?

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As you can see from my avitar photo, I do tie flies so the hook rides up. In my experience, many nymphs tumble (expecially in fast water.) For that reason, I tie a lot of my nymphs "in the round," so the hook may be up, down, or sideways, but the nymph always looks the same to the fish.

 

Many popular streamers are tied hook point up, including the Clouser minnows. I tie a lot of my weighted streamers to ride hook up. Still water streamers and leaches, I don't think it matters much, and use patterns tied both ways.

 

I have been tying drys (like my avitar) for a couple of years now. Mainly, I like the way they look. They mimic the natural curve of a mayfly without going to an exteded body. I tie some caddis patterns so the hook rides up as well. Tied that way, they are easier for me to make them hop and skitter. The fish seem to like them, but I have experienced problems with hookups on the caddis patterns.

 

I tie emergers mostly with the hook point down, and again, I think it better mimics the hanging nymph body.

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I do not think it matters on any of them. But it does matter for things like weedless and problems with snagging. In other words if you tie a craw hook point down you cant fish it on the bottom like a real craw. It will snag up. But for hooking fish to me it doesn't matter

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Had a question about this regarding a material, day5 you would know...Those 'fish heads/ fish skulls', say you just made a streamer with them does the fly swim hook up or down? I mean without adding any weight, or extra hardware?

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Had a question about this regarding a material, day5 you would know...Those 'fish heads/ fish skulls', say you just made a streamer with them does the fly swim hook up or down? I mean without adding any weight, or extra hardware?

 

 

The head has a thick side and a thin side (top and bottom) So the thick side is placed on the belly side of the fly. The thin side is the dorsal side. Now that said Fish Skulls are made of a metal alloy. So they are light weight in comparison to Brass. I'm not sure they can flip every hook. If the wire is to thick (heavy) or the hook is to big they may struggle to flip it. Long answer short..... Hook up, Hook down is about how you place the head on.

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Sorry guys. This should have been posted in the Coldwater Species forum.

 

I agree!!! I have Guided fly anglers for Musky for over 25 years and believe me there is not much of a chance of hooking a Musky with an upturned hook point. This is the reason I chose "Hook Point Down" in my voting - this is the "warm water" discussion isn't it?

 

For my trout streamers I tie mostly hook point down for most baitfish imitations, but I do tie hook point up for my sculpin patterns. Soft mouthed fishes like trout are easily hooked in the roof of the mouth, whereas bony hard mouthed fish like Musky and Pike have mostly just bone and teeth on the roofs of their mouths with little room for good hook penetration. I have also found a smaller diameter wire penetrates deeper and more securely in these types of fish. I prefer the Daiichi 2461 Aberdeen hooks in 4/0 to 6/0 for my Musky flies.

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In regards to streamers, I prefer classic styling (as with a fly like the Grey Ghost) with a downward hook for trout. The reason for this is that often when stripping streamers through deep pools fish will shoot up from the bottom and swipe the fly, thus a downward angle means that the trout will inevitably reach the hook point first and often be hooked regardless of whether they actually take the fly or not. However, if I'm planning to fish the streamer slowly and bottom bounce then I set it hook side up. Furthermore, with streamers tied for more aggressive strikers such as largemouths, snook, or seatrout then I don't generally think it matters unless you are trying to keep the fly weedless.

 

On nymphs, if possible I prefer to have the hook point upward, particularly if there is any type of vegetation. Although I've rarely encountered any issues with hooksets from downward facing hooks, as with anyone who has spent much time on the water these flies inevitably get snagged even on freestone bottoms.

 

For dries, I always fish hook down, period. Downward hooks on top insure that the hook point is the first thing the fish reaches and often a topwater bite comes more in a swipe than a swallow. This is particularly true of fish that have inferior (on the bottom) mouths such as redfish and carp.

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I been tying classics on tubes where you turn the hook or just using smaller hooks. Results have been excellent without losing them.

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In regards to streamers, I prefer classic styling (as with a fly like the Grey Ghost) with a downward hook for trout. The reason for this is that often when stripping streamers through deep pools fish will shoot up from the bottom and swipe the fly, thus a downward angle means that the trout will inevitably reach the hook point first and often be hooked regardless of whether they actually take the fly or not. However, if I'm planning to fish the streamer slowly and bottom bounce then I set it hook side up. Furthermore, with streamers tied for more aggressive strikers such as largemouths, snook, or seatrout then I don't generally think it matters unless you are trying to keep the fly weedless.

 

On nymphs, if possible I prefer to have the hook point upward, particularly if there is any type of vegetation. Although I've rarely encountered any issues with hooksets from downward facing hooks, as with anyone who has spent much time on the water these flies inevitably get snagged even on freestone bottoms.

 

For dries, I always fish hook down, period. Downward hooks on top insure that the hook point is the first thing the fish reaches and often a topwater bite comes more in a swipe than a swallow. This is particularly true of fish that have inferior (on the bottom) mouths such as redfish and carp.

 

I totally agree, and FEF's logic is sound. That's the way I tie my flies.

 

Also, I've been experimenting with "reverse" tied flies for nymphs, emergers, & dries. The logic is that a fly will drift downstream head first.

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Also, I've been experimenting with "reverse" tied flies for nymphs, emergers, & dries. The logic is that a fly will drift downstream head first.

 

 

I agree any dead floaters will drift like this but most surface insects I've seen struggle against the flow while still kicking so go butt first. Don't think the trout have an ability to be that picky or they would forever see the hook and we'd never hook anything.

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