Do you tie on Mustad fly hooks ?

[kjackson]

Hooks...I have thousands of various brands, Mustad included. I have Partridge hooks from a WWII rehab tying kit (for wounded soldiers) plus samples I've picked up from sales reps, at shows and so on.  Right now, I'm trying to thin down the stash of VMC tying hooks I have, plus some Fenwick super sharp worm hooks.  As for Mustard-- the older ones often enough are a touch on the dull side, but a Luhr Jensen hook file takes care of that.  My only concern is wire strength on some of the older VMCs.  I'll have to hook up with a few hybrids to test that.

[snagged in outlet 3]

1 hour ago, fishinwrench said:

How could you possibly not like it?  

Flyfishing for smallies is the most fun you can have with your clothes on.   

Although I'd probably not like it nearly as much if I was limited to using only commercially available flys   🙂

 

I wanted to get comfortable in my boat and it’s easier with conventional gear. I grew up fly fishing.  Literally from 3-4 years old flinging yarn around with a rod tip.  It’s great but I guess I just don’t share your enthusiasm with it.  🤷‍♀️

[tjm]

I never have figured out how bait and spin tackle became "conventional gear" at about a hundred years since beginning,  they are the new kids on the block,   with fly tackle going back to prehistory.

[netboy]

I buy all my hooks on Ebay from this guy. Great hooks and never had one fail.

Great Flies | eBay Stores

 

i 

[fishinwrench]

35 minutes ago, snagged in outlet 3 said:

I wanted to get comfortable in my boat and it’s easier with conventional gear. I grew up fly fishing.  Literally from 3-4 years old flinging yarn around with a rod tip.  It’s great but I guess I just don’t share your enthusiasm with it.  🤷‍♀️

I hate that I've lost my enthusiasm for conventional fishing.   When swinging a 5+ pounder over the gunnels doesn't get your blood pumping anymore.... it's kind of a sad moment.  🥺

[snagged in outlet 3]

15 minutes ago, fishinwrench said:

I hate that I've lost my enthusiasm for conventional fishing.   When swinging a 5+ pounder over the gunnels doesn't get your blood pumping anymore.... it's kind of a sad moment.  🥺

Sometimes I get tired of line management and worse of all is light line for trout.  I was on the Colorado river with 10 pound tippets on nymphs.  Now that’s something I can get behind!!!

[Flysmallie]

3 hours ago, fishinwrench said:

A buddy of mine bought some flys through Fly Depot, and I really expected them to be literal JUNK.    But when he got them I was blown away......Kelly Galloup himself couldn't tie better Zoo Cougars.   On good hooks to boot.   

There's no way that I'd tie a dozen Zoo Cougars for under 8.00 

Shultz Outfitters had a special run of big smallmouth flies the other day on Instagram. Twenty bucks a piece. They didn't last long. They do this all the time and they go quick. 

[fishinwrench]

1 hour ago, Flysmallie said:

Shultz Outfitters had a special run of big smallmouth flies the other day on Instagram. Twenty bucks a piece. They didn't last long. They do this all the time and they go quick. 

There's a growing trend towards hucking giant flys for big smallies......I just can't get behind that, personally.   The waters I fish aren't necessarily loaded with fish over 16", and those 13-16 inchers are way too much fun to not target specifically.   🙂

[fishinwrench]

3 hours ago, snagged in outlet 3 said:

Sometimes I get tired of line management and worse of all is light line for trout.  I was on the Colorado river with 10 pound tippets on nymphs.  Now that’s something I can get behind!!!

Line management is why I have a separate boat built for flyfishing.   I can't flyfish out of my bassboat, too many seats, cleats, foot controls, ect. that wanna grab line all the time.  

[tjm]

I've always wondered about a line basket, but never tried one; now I think I want one of these-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OthFWcfQpXs

Back on topic, although I thought Mustad was the worlds finest back when, out of those hooks I bought then, dozens have broken off at the bottom of the bend, where the forging ends. Sometimes several hooks in a row then dozens of flies before another bad hook, most often they break when mashing barbs, but I've lost a lot of trout to broken Mustads. I guess I got a bad batch, and at a penny a piece the biggest loss is my time,  but it's enough to put me off seeking out Mustad hooks when others are more available. I think all the bad hooks were 94840 #14, but it  doesn't really matter. I've never had a TMC hook break that I recall. The last hooks I ordered came  from Wholesale Fly Company, cheap and sharp but I haven't used them enough to recommend them, has anyone else used these? Other sources?

The big thing about Mustad back in the '70s was that almost all patterns called for a recognized Mustad hook by number, that and there weren't but a few other choices in fly hooks.  No way to compare sizes and shapes either, now with the Web and resources like https://flyhooks.org/ we can make more intelligent or more informed choices.