Hook quailty

[Fish For Life 0]

Do you find it worth the extra few dollars to buy good hooks for both tying and fishing? Since i have begun fly tying i have been buying probably the cheapest hooks you can buy, bass pro white river hooks. But now that i have been tying and fishing for a few years now i am starting to wonder if it is worth the extra money to buy better hooks. Im not saying that the white river hooks have not been relatively good, im just not sure if i should be using better hooks. What are your guys thoughts on this. Are more expensive, yet better quality, hooks worth it? If so how much more so than hooks like bass pros or cabelas. Are they really that much better?

 

Thanks

[Stippled Popper 0]

If you have had no problems whatsoever with the hooks you have been using thus far, where is the benefit in paying more

for hooks?

[Saltybum 0]

If fishing in salt for big strong fish...YES. Otherwise, maybe not.

[singletrack 0]

I fish mostly for trout in colorado. But before I moved here I fished the California surf as my main fishing. I found for hooks that it was important to buy more expensive hooks for salt. The fish had really had mouths and you needed a hook that could preice it. For trout I tye 90% of the flies on Dai RikI hooks which are very cost effective. Little quality issues but nothing that really has dropped my fish count.

[kennebec12 0]

I normally tie with Mustad or Tiemco depending on the style of hook I want, but I also tie on eagle claw hooks from wal-mart if I just want a straight shank 2xh. I really don't notice much difference. Gamakatsu hooks I believe are the sharpest initially (and they actually do have a decent selection of fly tying hooks) based on how easily I stab myself with them. Whats the difference? Maybe the hook can hit five more rocks before it gets dull, hooks one more fish, rusts just as easily if not dried out, is slightly more brittle. So as long as you're not missing fish left and right on good sets, they're probably hooks just like all the others. (I always wonder if there is some little factory over in China churning out all the hooks and they just change the packaging)

[utyer 0]

First of all, The Bass Pro White River hooks at $4.99 for 25 pack are far from the cheapest hooks you can buy. Cabela's Sells Eagle Claw fly hooks at $9.69 per hundred, which is $2.43 for 25. Allen Hooks are $3.39 for a single 25 pack, and $2.71 for 25 when you buy 4 or more packs of the same model. Green Caddis Hooks are less than $3.00 for 25. J Stockard hooks are $9.95 per hundred box, and The Montana Fly Co. hooks are just $2.75 per 25.

 

I have used hooks from all of these vendors (and a few others,) with very good results. I have favorites that I get from each of these companies. Since starting to purchase "house brand" or generic hooks, I haven't had a problem. I usually loose a hook to a snag or tree long before I have any issues with the hook itself.

 

There are very few reasons to buy the high priced big brand name hooks for trout fishing. Only if I can't find a particular shape or configuration of hook from a generic hook would I start paying 2 or 3 times as much for a hook.

 

Salt water hooks are usually something that few of the generic brands sell, but there are a few available. I tie most of my Salt Water Flies on Eagle Claw, and Mustad hooks.

[mikechell 0]

Contrary to all the above opinions ... You are fly tying and fly fishing. This requires that you spend the highest price for EVERY single piece of that fly.

 

Wait, that was my evil side speaking. I tie most of my flies on Eagle Claw hooks from Walmart ... $3.95 for 50.

 

I do have to go else where for scud hooks ... but that's about it.

[WVUontheFLY 0]

I can tell a difference on my musky flies, 2/0 and over. I get a finer and sharper hook on my gamakatsu hooks versus the eagle claws I find at walmart in about the same style. The finer point helps penetrate the bony jaw versus the much broader hook point of the eagle claws. But on my smaller flies I use generic brand hooks since I am not trying to pierce a hard bony lip of a musky.

[Kentuckysteve 0]

I buy the cheapest i can find.Usually Eagle Claw from Walmart.My Walmart also has a no name all purpose hook i can get in a 20pk for $1.00.They come in several sizes and they work perfect for me.

[phg 0]

I do find that I have to pay up for good quality dry fly hooks, but, other than that, I've used all the brands mentioned above plus one more, Saber Hooks from Fly Shack. They all work. It's just a matter of finding the bend, and wire gauge and the length you want. Cheap hooks are generally more limited in variety, and made from heaver gauge wire. But, if they are the size and shape you need, why spend more?

[flytire 0]

daiichi 1190 barbless dry fly hooks

 

allen fly hooks for everything else

 

ditto on stippled comment. if it aint broke why fix it!

 

even the higher priced big name brand hooks are going to have a failure every now and then. no batch of hooks are going to always be 100% perfect. every now and then a malformed hook will sneak by quality control.

 

and will even open up on a good sized fish depending on the pressure you exert to bring it in

[McGnat 0]

Ditto on the Allen hooks. I wish they made a 1x long bronze finish dry fly hook.

[RickZieger 0]

I get Dai-riki hooks from Hagens fish.com. For many they are about $65/1000.

If you order smaller amounts they charge slightly more.

 

 

Rick

[robow7 0]

It's not really quality I pay up for but how picky I may be for a certain design. For many of my dries, I like the Daiichi-Orvis dry hooks with the straight large ring eye, wide gap and thin wire. So I wait until they go on sale and I buy a bunch. Other flies that I tie, I might use cheaper Mustad or whatever hooks and just accept the fact that I might have to spend a moment and touch up the point with my files. No big deal. Bottom line, if you can find a hook design that you like and works for you and save some money at the same time, what could be better?

[crazy4oldcars 0]

Better quality hooks are sharper than the cheap ones I have bought. I also find fewer hooks with malformed eyes or that are poorly tempered. (I went to start a fly on a curved shank hook the other day and dang near tied it in a knot in the vise.)

I have been mostly satisfied with the quality of the GCO Hooks. A few flubbs, but the price is right. The only Eagle Claw hooks I use are the Aberdeen in size 6 for a few streamers. I always have to sharpen them, though.

Most of my flies are tied on Mustad hooks, and, recently their Signature series, but I bought some of the JS hooks last week to try. No opinion on them yet.

 

Bottom line for me is that I will keep using my Mustad's, with a few others for specialty hooks. Their better quality control results in fewer unusable hooks.

 

Kirk B.