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Sockeye guy

Terra Rotating Spring Action Vise.

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I got kind of scared off of Terra vises. I was looking for a second vise for travel, sharing, etc and didn't want to spend a lot. I thought it would be a good way to go but after looking closely at them I decided not to spend the money. When it comes to vises, there are a LOT of personal choices to make, and what is great for one person is frequently not adequate for another. No doubt the Terra vises will hold hooks and you can tie on them.

 

 

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The Terra vise will work BUT it will not last. I've had a couple of friends with Terra's and their vises wore out within a couple of years (i.e. jaws spread and vises would no longer hold a hook). These were not production tiers, and they were mostly tying trout flies. The biggest virtue of the Terra vises are that they are cheap. If it is all you can afford, it should serve, but there are better vises out there.

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I would go with the lower end griffin's. I can attest to the hook holding ability. I still have my original and has served me well. I will even from time to time and blow the dust off of it and use it.

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I would agree with flyfyshn. Griffin makes good products.

 

Here's some quality vises:

 

http://www.griffinenterprisesinc.com/vises.html

 

I would look at the Montana Pro Vise II, Superior 1A and 2A vises, the Oddeysy Spider, or if you're feeling daaring, the Superior 3ARP vise.

 

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I use the Anvil vise and find it works well and is well priced. Another good quality vise is the Jvice: http://jvice.com/

 

I've used the vice a time or 2 and it's an exceptionally well made product. It comes out of South Africa, so large hooks aren't an issue. jay Smits is the maker.

Marc

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There are a TON of better vises out there its just that i cant justify spending that much. All i am going to do is tie a few sockeye flies for Alaska. Nothing fancy. I have zero desire to tie all the fancy flies here as i dont fish trout. While some of the atlantic salmon flies are a work of art i am not tyting those. Just tying simple bucktails and such. Thanks for all your opinions though!!

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No critique, but one thing you should do is shop for the best price. I have seen that vise for as little as $30.00 on some web sites, and as much as $50.00 the less you spend the better the value, no matter how long it lasts. At the lower end of the price range, you won't find much thats any better so go with it.

 

 

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Sockeye, I said the same thing. Now, I'm not trying to be a "converter" but I found myself tying soley estaz worms for bass. And now look at me... I'm tying streamers, poppers, sliders, nymphs and dries. The worst thing you can do is limit yourself.

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As some have said , don't limit yourself. Besides, your fishing alaska dpn't those gorgeous bows there deserve a big fat mouse pattern? :headbang: The jvice isn't inexpensive, but it may the last vice as it's really versatile. The anvil is very good, but that being said, you can't go wrong with griffin as they do make a good product. Out of curiosity, do they use 20 ft leaders for the sockeye up there and then drift it thru them? curious that's all.

marc

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Just a suggestion..... if you're tying simple flies on hooks that big, and already have everything else- bobbin materials etc. you might want to just try regular vise grip pliers if you have them.

 

I have a Regal vise i ordinarily use, but had to tie up some 5/0 4x heavy Siwash hooks for tail hooks on surf plugs that wouldn't fit in the jaws. Normally the same jaws accept 20's up to standard wire 7/0, but the 4x heavy hooks wouldn't fit. I just was dressing them with bucktail, so nothing fancy, but was actually surprised at how well it worked.

 

I piled up a stack of books to get the height i wanted at the table, put the hook in the vise grips, and put something heavy on top to sort of hold it in place, steadied it with my off hand, and went at it with no problems.

 

With any less expensive vise I think you're going to have a hard time holding 4/0 hooks. Usually the jaws are pretty soft. For trout sized stuff a Griffin 1A, 2A for 40-60 dollars or an old used Thompson model A if you can find one for 25 bucks would be good if you're on a budget.

 

Good luck.

 

mark

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