Hook Sizes

F

Flydog

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Joined
Dec 1, 2006
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I would like your thoughts on standard size hooks vs. a 2x. I tied a few PTN this morning .....5 on a standard Mustad and 5 on the Mustad 9671 2x. The flies tied on the 2x are much better looking flies.
Is there a dis-avantage of tying all flies on a 2x?
If there are advantages / advantages would the same apply to both dry flies and nymphs?
 
As a new flytier i dont have much wisdom to add. However, I feel that the extended length would probably look better if i tied them for one specific reason. My eyes are larger than my tying skills. I'm trying to grasp the whole, fit all this stuff onto a tiny little hook and make it look like its supposed to thing. I try not to crowd the eye when i tie, but it's sometimes inevitable for me. I know its just going to take practice for me but i'm assuming that if the hook was extended like you're saying, you have enough room to tie the same style of flies and finish them off with plenty of room. My big issue is now the size of the nymph, dry, whatever your tying. I don't have much experience but i know the relative size of your fly does have to come close to the natural and this varies with the extended hooks. Now me personally, i'd rather have a 1lb burger rather than a 6 oz but we're talking about fishing here. Well i guess i probably havent answered anything here but i'd rather post something on here than work on Saturday lol. Have a good weekend guys, hope the weather turns around.

Ryan
 
I think it all depends on the aquatic insect you are trying to imitate. I put all of my Blue Quill and Isonychia patterns on 9672s because they are long and slender bugs. Short stocky nymph imitations, like Stenonema, go on a 3906 for me. Ephemerella patterns go on a 3906B. All depends on the bug.

BTW....I use Mustads exclusively. I'm not saying other more expensive hooks aren't worth the money. I just don't have any troubles with Mustads.
 
If I use a beadhead, I normally grab a 2X long hook, so that way the body is relatively the same size.
 
I just tied up some PT's today. You really don't want to know the size. I use the TMC 101, which I believe is a 1XL, for most of my nymphs. Just a personal preference for a straight eyed hook. Look at it this way, if you want to tie a size 12 nymph. You can use standard size 12. If you want to use a 2XL and keep the nymph the same size as the one tied on the standard 12, you'll have to drop down to size 14, otherwise you're actually tying a nymph the size of one tied on a standard size 10. It's a generalization since it's not written anywhere that the shank length of a standard size 12 should be 10 mm long. Still it's a useful piece of information to keep tucked in your mind and works in both directions.

12 std
going up shank length
12 2XL= size 10
12 4XL= size 8
12 6XL= size 6
going down shank length
12 2XS= size 14
12 4XS= size 16

I use it more as I tie smaller flies. If I'm doing midges, and I want to tie a size 22. I'll use a size 20 2XS. Makes it easier for me to tie.
 
I believe that what really matters is what the fish think and how it compares to the proportions of the actual nymphs that they are feeding on. The way to find out which is better is to observe the naturals and experiment on the water with the 1x and 2x. Let the fish tell you. I've fished places where the fish wanted more bulk than what the naturals actually had. It just seemed to get their attention more. You can also experiment with how many wraps of lead you should add to the fly for particular fishing situations. The willingness to observe and experiment can lead to incredible refinements in your fly tying and and fly fishing techniques.
Marv
 
Some of my more opinionated fellow fly tiers (aren't we all?) feel long shanked hooks don't hold as well. Whether this is more a hook gap size/bite or leverage of the shank during the fight is part of the issue.

When I started fishing in the 50's, I tied sunnie flies low water style on Carlisle hooks, which were about a 12XL - made it a lot easier to unhook them, but as I think back maybe the hookup rate was a little less.

Others feel the very short shanked stuff don't hang to fish well to begin with.

Then there's the whole tube fly thang.

It's not all just about looks.

tl
les
 
I think the big advantage to a longer shank hook would be for people like me who tend to crowd the front of the fly when they tie. I know some who use a long shank hook and tie a smaller pattern on it. Yeah there may be more hook showing but their patterns look a little better having that extra room to work on.
 
I only use 2 -xl hooks in larger sizes - #12 and #10 - for dry flies.
It keeps the hook gap a little smaller, which is fine on a fly that size.
For instance, I tie my green drakes on a #10 - 2xl, instead of a #8 hook, - which would be about the same size fly.
just have a little less hook showing
 
On the other hand, does anybody think it might be better to use a short-shank hook to tie small flies so you have a bigger hook gap? (In this case you would be tieing a #24 fly on a #22 short hook, for example.)
 
I think that would be a case by case measure of the person's "hook-size-o-phobia". You're still tying a smaller fly on a larger hook. If you think a bigger gap works better, fine. If you think the gap size isn't THAT big of a deal, you can go longer without going wider. But I see what you mean. I guess it would really depend on the pattern in that case , too.
 
Wulff man_

using short shank hooks for smaller flies is a pretty good idea, but basically the same as using wide gap hooks.
In fact George Harvey, in his books, recommends using a #20 short shank hooks for tricos, which are usually tied in#22 and #24
just different ways to achieve the same result
 
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