Fly Fishing

jeremy · Location: Portland, Maine

I know there are a lot of people on here who take their fly tying pretty seriously and I especially know that many of my friends, especially in saltwater, are very picky about what kind of hooks they use for tying flies. I can think of sever saltwater tiers in particular who are always saying, "I only tie with Gamakatsu or Owner hooks. Anyway, just curious what everyones preferences are for hooks, in both fresh and saltwater. Do you like a certain type of hook for bigger fish like steelhead, atlantic salmon and another type of hook for small dry flies and "smaller" trout. And is there a specific hook that you like to tie with for saltwater gamefish?

kory_k · Location: New York, NY

Jeremy,
Excellent post as I am extremely particular about my hooks as it is ultimately what keeps you connected to the fish. With a bad hook, you can do everything else right and end up with a lost fish.

For freshwater trout, I use tiemco. They are high grade japanese steel and have a huge range of hook types from tiny dry flies to huge streamers and everything in between. They stay sharp, don't bend out and are a solid all around hook.

For steelhead, Gamakatsu all the way. The harder steel and finish keeps the hook much sharper than any other that I have tried. There has been a lot of discussion among friends and I about which model for tube flies, but the brand is always Gamakatsu.

For Saltwater basic patterns such as for clousers, deceivers and other multipurpose flies, I use Tiemco. For bigger game saltwater, such as roosterfish and large jacks I use Gamakatsu. I haven't really fished bluewater or tarpon, but most guys I know that do a lot of it use guys use Gamakatsu for billfish and swear by owner hooks and the tiemco 800sp point hook for Tarpon.