Troutnut Forum > Fly Tying Discussion > skinny hooks, fat hooks
| CaseyP | February 20th, 2007, 1:34 pm | |
| Arlington, VA/ Mercersburg, PA Posts: 254 | recently the purveyor of most of my hooks greeted me with joy: in place of the hard-to-get Partridge klinkhammer hooks, he had some Gamakatsu emerger hooks. they're barbless with a verticle eye, and have a flat section next the eye equalling a third or so of the total length to the point. most interesting to me, they are made of a much finer wire than the same size of klink hooks. being a heavy-handed beginner, i find it a challenge to avoid pulling the things this way and that as i tie. ignoring for the moment the possibility that they will not give my klinkhammers the keel they need to land upright, what advantages do such slender barbless hooks have? i tied a few Hank of Hair flies on them in different colors and if it gets warm enough next week i'll go try them out. the verticle eye was a problem when i cut the hair to form the head. should i just leave it sticking out and cut further back? last point: that flat bit might make it possible to tie a dry on top "umbrella" style. that's my next task. | |
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| GONZO | February 20th, 2007, 1:49 pm | |
| "Bear Swamp," PA Posts: 876 | Casey, You may find that you need to add a wire rib or underbody when tying Klinks on these hooks to get the proper performance. (This is why I like standard wire hooks like the Mustad C49S for hanging emergers.) The up-eye does cause problems with Elk-Hair Caddis type wings (like the Hank of Hair). You might want to play around with inverted versions along the lines of LaFontaine's Dancing Caddis or Louis's USD CDC caddis. You could also try a fold-down style by tying the hair tips forward, and then folding them back before tying the collar to produce a mini-bullethead. By the way, you can probably eliminate much of the flexing you mention by seating the bend of the hook much deeper into the jaws of the vise than normal. This won't work with emergers, but it should be no problem with flies like the Hank of Hair or umbrellas. When tight wraps are critical and the fly is mounted in the normal fashion, pinch the rear of the hook with your free hand (for added support and stability) as you draw tension on those wraps. | |
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