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Markbob

Hook Brand

Hook Brand  

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Daiichi all the way (I guess it helps if youre on the Pro Staff :blink:)

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I've migrated primarily to MFC because of the right mix between quality and price. But I also have a few Mustad, TMC and even some Gamakatsu for 1/0 and larger flies.

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Mustad for me, though I always check out the bargain bins at Cabela's & Sportsmans Warehouse for good deals. :rolleyes: Us Old Pensioners got to watch our money!! :D

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new to the forum...thought I'd weigh in

 

trout hooks.....doesn't matter. I use some korean hooks I bulk order. Same styles as tiemco, lesser quality control, 1/5th the price. Also use Dai-riki and maruto a lot for trout. TMC/daiichi cost too much.

 

Big hooks is a different story. There are some generic korean hooks I use for steelhead flies, but mostly stick with major manufacturers, i.e. daiichi/tmc. A few years back I was tying a particular steelhead pattern on a dai-riki hook and had a number of upset customers because the hooks were breaking in fish's mouths. Lesson learned.

 

Salt hooks I use a mix. Maruto makes great hooks for the price. Way better than mustad, and a fraction of the price of daiichi or gamakatsu. I also use a lot of dai-riki's. I do use some mustads for muskie flies, but I have to file sharpen them all.

 

Overall, I have no hook loyalties. The hooks I use the most do have some quality issues, but I don't use the duds, and they fish fine.

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Yeah i like gamakatsu, also had the pleasure of using some of those new xpoint hooks this season, after many a snag the point was still intact, good stuff. No real loyalty but if i find a good hook i will stick to it for whatever purpose.

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There have been good advancements in hook technology, nobody can deny it. I think the small niche-market for current fly hooks has exploded beyond what it should be. I guess we're still not to the pinnacle of gullibility the rubber worm bass fishermen have reached.... I saw a pack of "trokar" worm hooks which were $10 for a 5 pack! But oh boy, they have a "surgical 3 sided cutting edge" point style--- just like Lefty Kreh and Mark Sosin taught us to do to our hooks thirty years ago!!!

 

I grew up tying on Mustad, what we now call "Classic" Mustad. They were and still are perfectly good fly hooks. On the ones which needed it, 5 or 6 swipes with a diamond hone produced a sticky-sharp point. I don't recall having one of them break, and I still use them a lot. Their Signature hooks seem very high quality to me, and I've used a ton of them too. They are more expensive than they should be, but still not as expensive as most others. I'm certainly using "modern" expensive hooks from every maker, except perhaps Partridge, and don't deny they look good and are sharp. I also know without any doubt I don't catch more fish with the new-style hooks than I did with the old. I probably have enough hooks stashed away that I could tie the rest of my life without buying another one, but sometimes I see a certain hook or size that I think I need, when I really don't, so I figure I'll buy quite a few more hooks before I'm done.

 

At some point, I think late 90's or early 00's, we (fly fishermen) as a whole let ourselves get totally fleeced into believing we NEED to use jewelry store boutique brand (and priced) hooks to catch fish, and what we used to know were great hooks all of a sudden were not good enough any more. It's a load of crap. Today fly fishermen somehow believe that a hook point NEEDS to be so sharp out of the package it would pierce through the femur of a cow with the pressure of a 7x tippet, and should never become dull or bent-- if it's not chemically-lazer sharpened, it's no good. How many folks buy a knife with the expectation they will never need to examine the edge or sharpen it?

 

I think this was driven more by the high-dollar magazine cover wanna-be fly FISHERMEN more than by real world fly tiers; the big influx of folks who just knew that the more something costs, the "better" it is... Add to that sponsored guides pushing brand-names on their sports, sports who wanna-be just like the "professionals".

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I like Kamasan hooks, but have to get them from overseas. I used these hooks when i started fly tying and the little boxes the come in are pretty cool too.

For large streamers i use the Gamakatsu, for regular flies i've started using Allen Hooks, based mostly on cost. However if i find they break i'll be back to kamasan.

Also use TMC Diiachi and Dai Riki.

 

I guess no real brand loyalty here.

I usually buy what the pattern says if i dont have a comparable hook in my own stock.

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My favorite overall hook maker is Daiichi. (I love all Daiichi I've tried) I love Gamakatsu, but they are mostly pretty pricey. I particularly like their streamer hooks. I use a lot of the SC-15 Gamakatsu hooks. I use almost every brand there is to some extent. I like Eagle Claw jig hooks. I have Owner Aki hooks. I have a lot of Mustads. (mostly classic Mustads) I like TMC 300 hooks, but rarely buy TMC other than those now. I love Gaelic Supreme hooks, but they are very expensive. I have used Dai-Riki for small hooks, and the 700 streamer hooks. MFC hooks are okay, not as sharp as I like. I prefer sharp and strong hooks, right out of the box. I don't want to take the time to be constantly filing on hooks to sharpen them.

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I sure like Tiemco hooks for most things but I use many other brands and hooks not ment to have flies tied on them.

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Tiemco seem to be a cut above most of the competition but I've been using a lot of Allen hooks lately. I've not been disappointed by Daiichi, Gamakatsu, or Mustad either.

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I voted Mustad because they are easily found and have a pretty good selection etc. etc. But that being said you will find almost every brand of hook in my desk.

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I really like the Allen hooks and I've caught lots of fish on them. I always sharpen any brand of hook and debarb before tying on them. It really does surprise me how many people don't sharpen, and how much difference it makes. I really like the way hooks that are barbless out of the package look, but it's hard to find them in an affordable option. I don't quite understand this...it would seem producing the barb adds an extra step and therefore expense for the maker. So I'm forced to believe it's just a marketing gimmick to charge more for barbless. I guess the barbs are a popular thing, but I think they get in the way of getting a good strong connection on a trout lip.

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My small understanding of hook making is that the barb has been an integral part of the process of making hooks which may explain the issue.

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