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Piker20

Jig hooks, Overlooked?

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I noticed Ebrant mentioned he only ties on jig hooks now and stumbled onto this article http://midcurrent.com/flies/hooks-the-jig-is-up/

Here in the UK I think its fair to say jig hooks are vastly underused and my only real experience of them has been on tackle aimed at the cheaper end of the market.

Who uses them for their flies, why and what benefits are there to them over J hooks.

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I like that article. I'm going to have to take the time to read it thoroughly.

 

I do use jig hooks on some of my larger flies. If you slid a largish bead, large hole first, onto a 30 degree or 60 degree jig hook, it gives you a nicely weighted hook that rides hook up. I tie a variety of streamers and boogers this way. They work very well for warm water fish. I've never tried tying a fly as illustrated in the article.

 

I also tie a few size 12 jigs for trout. These have a small weight molded into the head. It's no more than a bead head, but, again, it will ride point up. Mini-boogers and squirrel leaches work well.

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Hey man,

Jig hooks...where to begin, just remember if you are using a wing cased nymph tie it on the underside, they ride point up and you dont get snagged as much. Flies that look the same top and bottom work great. I really like allen's jig hooks, barbless and sharp. They are fairly new in the flytying world but they are being used more and more.

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Hi group,

 

We use them on many of our streamers and buggers (especially bead head buggers). On the BH Bugger we like to slip the bead on heavy mono, melt one end to keep the bead from coming off then tying it to the shank so the bead is forward of the turned up hook eye. This set up makes a great fly that seldom gets tangled. Take care & ...

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I'll try that trick with the off hook bead. I was concerned about the hook gape if I added a bead to a 60* hook. Your method will keep the gape clear. Have you tried setting the distance of the bead at different lengths from the eye?

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Cheers for that Norman. I've yet to buy any jig hooks but a lot of the pics I've seen look as though the eye comes up to nearly the hook point. Must be the angle of the pics. Which hook is that one? I've been looking at one hends do.

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that is a hends brand hook

 

tunghead_hot_spot_pt_jig_fly.jpg

 

some photos seem to show the point closer to the bead. i too think its the angle of the photo or too big of a bead

 

(photo from the internet)

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Two alternatives to try before splashing the cash.

A fly style that is very popular for grayling. The bead originally was mounted onto a seamstresses pin which is bent about 30 degrees 1 bead width behind the head then tied in to the hook shank under the dressing. (Didn't have any pins to hand so used melted mono just to be able to show the style.

post-43582-0-96360400-1371986505_thumb.jpg

Soft hackle fibres for a tail 2 different body colours usually darker at the thorax, and a partridge hackle wound around the base of the bead.

 

The other idea uses any bead head fly you like. Tie it on with a turle knot with the line through the eye the "wrong way" (From below) and seat the knot behind the bead. (I've used wire here to make it easier to photograph). Then the fly will fish in the same attitude as a jig hook. Make sure there are no sharp edges left on the bead.

post-43582-0-07389800-1371986497_thumb.jpg

 

(These are both here is you want them you can collect when you come round)

 

Should, at least, give you an idea if it is a style you want to pursue, even if it doesn't replace the need for special hooks.

 

Cheers,

C.

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^Norman yeah athough that photo from the net has the beak point and looks a bit more curved shank which closes the gape a little more. I will be looking at the longer straight shank streamer type jigs for my seatrout patterns. Like the BL120 or dohiku jig.

 

^Alan I guess that first one is similar to the idea Gretchen & Al posted with the mono link. The second one will be good to try with my existing patterns to see if the jig think will work with the kelp and weeds before buying actual hooks.

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In his book, Dynamic Nymphing, George Daniel writes that he uses jig hooks to help keep him from hanging up on the river bottom.

 

(BTW, his book is wonderful, even for those of us who don't nymph Czech style.)

 

Randy

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Not so much on small size flies, but on larger flies intended for bass or some saltwater species I'll tie on jig hooks. Like Crotalus said, they're ideal for a fly where you want the hook point up, which reduces snagging on the bottom. There are many styles that work well for larger size flies.

 

However, I also mold jigs so they can serve duel purpose for me.

 

One thing not mentioned I don't believe, is that some jig hooks also work great for poppers. Quite a few years ago, I was tying Peacock Bass flies for a guide & used 7/0 Gamakatsu 90 degree bend jig hooks for large poppers. These were made with 1" diameter foam cylinders, and dressed heavily with bucktail & saddles hackle. The jig hook placed the hook eye under the popper head, which did not interfere with the popping action or hooking ability but did aid in lifting the fly off the water for casting.

 

By adjusting the sizes, jig hooks could be used for other surface flies as well.

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I'll try that trick with the off hook bead. I was concerned about the hook gape if I added a bead to a 60* hook. Your method will keep the gape clear. Have you tried setting the distance of the bead at different lengths from the eye?

Hi,

 

Yes, we usually set the bead slightly forward of the hook eye so we can get at least one turn of body material and hackle in front of the turned up eye. Also, we bought our jig hooks a bunch of years ago when a supplier closed out his inventory ( I think we got about 20,000 at the time). All of the hooks have the eye so it is 90 degrees to the hook shank which allows us to also tie up-hook parachutes by wrapping the hackle on the 90 degree part of the hook and put the body on the rest. A poly wing tied to the up-part of the hook make the pattern land correct on the water's surface. We wrote about the jig parachute in one of the magazines a few years ago but I can't remember which one.Take care & ...

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