Salmon Hooks
The Following is an excerpt from Steelhead Fly Fishing
The hook is fundamental to fly fishing. Its design and construction, along with the style of the dressing, determine how a dry fly floats and how a wet fly swims. Too frequently, however, steelhead fly fishers choose hooks on the basis of tradition and marry their choice to a style of fly they find aesthetically pleasing. This lack of pragmatism can be costly. Flies, even expensive custom flies, often do not fish properly, the hook being too light, too heavy, or too long to efficiently carry the dressing in the water fished.
Over the past twenty years, steelhead fly fishermen have adopted the Atlantic salmon hook for much of their fishing. This classic design with a turned-up looped eye and japanned black finish has become an elegant standard, one integral to the art form of tying steelhead flies. But considerable variation in style and quality exists among these hooks.
The wire diameter of a hook is given an "X" designation followed by "fine" or "stout." A hook that is said to be 2X Stout has a wire diameter typical of a hook two sizes larger. The opposite can be said of a hook 2X Fine. The length of a hook is also given an X designation, but followed by "long" or "short." A hook 3X Long has a shank length as long as a regular hook three sizes larger. Conversely, a 3X Short has a shank length of a hook three hook sizes smaller. This X business is a loose standard applied most generally by manufacturers, and often in conjunction with the type of bend given the hook (i.e., Model Perfect, Limerick, Carlisle) and whether the hook at the bend is straight, or offset for fishing bait. In this manner, the general configuration of the hook is quickly communicated.
The system of describing hook diameter and shank length with X designations is rarely applied to salmon hooks. Diameter is sometimes said to be "light," or "light wire," which can be taken as a dry fly designation, or "low water," which has a fine diameter and a shank as much as 6X long for thinly dressed wet flies, and "stout" or "heavy," for standard wet-fly work. Such designations obviously have meaning only in a very general sense. For example, Partridge in 1991 describes its M style as 2X heavy, "traditional" length; its N style as IX heavy and 2X long, a low-water hook; and its dry-fly hook simply as the Wilson. A fourth Partridge hook, known as the Bartleet Salmon, has the sweeping shank length of a streamer hook and the proportional wire diameter of a low-water or dry-fly hook. The Partridge hooks Mand N compare to Tiemco's 7999 heavy wire, and 7989 light wire, and to Daiichi's 2441 and 2421 low water. Comparisons are made no better when including the Alec Jackson Spey hook (for merly by Partridge, now by Daiichi); the Bob Johns series of straight-loop-eye hooks, including the Winter Run and Short Shanked Bartleet, by Daiichi; or other models of salmon hooks by Mustad or Eagle Claw.
The turned-up-loop eye, in which the wire is bent back along the hook shank, has no exposed edge for the leader knot to abrade against. For this reason alone I prefer the looped eye-whether it is turned up, turned down, or straight. There are secondary advantages as well. The looped eye, turned up or down, permits me to tie a turle knot behind it and to achieve a very direct line of pull. (I never use a clinch knot with a turned-up-loop eye.) When tying the fly, I leave a small space between the end of the head and the eye of the loop to accommodate this knot.
The return wire alongside the shank provides a good base for tying in the hairwing. Again, I must leave myself sufficient room to make my leader knot. If I crowd the head, I also have trouble trimming the wing butts, for they work down between the two wires.
The doubled wire is also a flat skid, helpful when riffle hitching the fly. In the smallest sizes for steelhead, eight to sixteen, wet or dry, the turned-up eye maintains a more open gap than a turned down eye. In larger sizes, however, this is not a consideration.
When I shop for salmon hooks, I look for certain attributes. The return wire at the loop should be tapered. If it is stubbed off, tying a clean body becomes difficult and, also, the tying thread snags on the rough edges. I like hooks with small, thin barbs that can be flattened or easily broken off without weakening the hook. The point of the hook should be tapered evenly, a reasonably long "needle point." In some cases, the point is "chemically sharpened," that is, the point is ground by hand and then put in an acid bath to remove the microscopic grooves caused by the grinding process. This produces an extraordinarily sharp point, sharper than most anglers can obtain using a stone or file.
Though steelhead are not known for their hard mouths, large males have very tough skin that makes penetration difficult. A hook with a short spear point and a large barb is an especially poor choice with these fish, the hook either sliding off or taking such a shallow hold that it easily comes away. Of course, once such a hook has fully penetrated, the hold is very secure, but the trade-off is not remotely worth the aggravation. Partridge, the legendary firm in Redditch, England, makes many fine hooks, but for all the above reasons, I do not think their famous Model M salmon hook is one of them.
While salmon hooks are marketed in three basic weights, from heavy wet fly to dry fly, all serve important wet-fly functions. In most cases, the heavy-wire hooks are expected to take a fly down with no additional weight. The size of the hook can add considerably to the sink rate of the fly, and not just when fishing a floating line. For example, if I am fishing with a fifteen-foot sink tip, I know there is a considerable difference among the sink rates of three hooks commonly used for winter fishing: the Partridge Bartleet in # 1, and Tiemco's 7999 in size # 1/0 and #2/0. The three have similar overall dimensions and can accommodate nearly identical spey dressings. Their weights, in grams, are as follows: Partridge Bartleet 1, .335; Tiemco 79991/0, .508; Tiemco 79992/0, .670. Note that the Tiemco 2/0 is exactly twice as heavy as the Bartleet. If I find I am hanging up while using a 2/0 fly, I can change to the 1/0 size. This is often sufficient to keep my fly out of the rocks. If I am leading my fly through lies with still lighter currents, I'll pick the fly tied on the Bartleet. At any time, I can change to a fly style that will sink faster, such as a dressing in my Winter Series, or sink slower, such as any Marabou Spider or fully dressed General Practitioner. When the sink rate of the fly is combined with sink tips of various lengths and sink rates, the parameters become endless.
Fly fishers sometimes point out to me that the sinking line-not the fly-takes a fly down. They choose a light-wire hook for easy penetration, and use a short leader. Consider first that the sink tip is usually tapered, the sink rate at the fine end of the line less than the sink rate of the belly section. The fly-like the line-has lift when under tension. A heavy hook helps offset this, especially when the angler leads the fly. When tied to a leader of six feet or more, a heavy 2/0 hook sinks faster than the sink tip if the line is strongly back-mended and the fly and sink tip are given time to sink. And finally, a heavily dressed light wire hook does not swim properly when it comes under strong tension. Lift will not only bring the fly off the bottom, it will roll the fly on its side.
The heavy hook is excellent for summer's low waters when surface currents are so swift that a light wire hook will not pass through a hard swing without rolling over or skidding across the top. For this reason, I carry wet flies on heavy- and light-wire hooks, including a few very sparsely dressed low water flies tied on dry-fly hooks.
If currents are not so severe, I to go to the lighter hook, particularly the Alec Jackson Spey. Less tension is needed to set the hook, an advantage when greased line fishing. Light currents generate considerable action, or wobble, from the fly. And in very soft currents, the fly can be led through the swing without any danger of it becoming lifeless and sinking.
Salmon hooks are offered in lengths from "regular" to at least 4X long. The longer the hook shank is in proportion to the gap, the less stable it becomes. A 4X to 6X long hook is extremely unstable, likely to swim on its side under strong tension. The most unstable steelhead hook is Partridge's Bartleet, the shank sweeping up so severely that the hook wants to ride upside down like a keel hook.
Any weight added to the shank of the hook makes the fly less stable. Lead wire wrapped around a hook shank can cause a fly to ride upside down. Some heavily weighted nymph and shrimp dressings roll around nearly weedless, and will pass through their swings on their sides or upside down. Heavy lead barbell "eyes," will also flip a fly over and turn it into a jig. Some anglers anticipate this and tie in a long marabou wing at the throat.
Hackle or fur tied under the wing make a fly less stable. For this reason I reduce the hackle on low water flies, but retain a modicum of wing material. The result is an enticing silhouette that maintains its balance through the swing, even in heavy currents. The classic low-water flies of English salmon tradition had just a touch of throat hackle, and though tied on light-wire hooks, remained reasonably stable during a well-led swing.
In the absence of any tail and almost all current, a fly sinks bend-first, a very unnatural attitude. Several types of dressings, including the General Practitioner, marabou spiders, and spey patterns, swim without this problem. I like these flies for winter fishing because I can lead the fly through very slow currents right to the beach and have it swim properly the entire way.
Because of its classic lines, the spey fly has attracted an enthusiastic following, both in a summer and winter dressing. Surprisingly, few anglers appreciate that the dressing's tiny wing and considerable hackle below make it the least stable of all salmon and steelhead flies. When this characteristic is combined with the sweeping, long shanked salmon hook typified by the light-wire Bartleet, you have a lovely pattern that fishes poorly except when penetrating very light currents. If the classic lines of the Bartleet are preferred, I tie on the Alec Jackson Spey hook, strip the fibers from one side of the hackle before palmering the body, and use a large hook in proportion to the fly.
My choices of general-purpose steelhead hooks are the Tiemco 7999 and 7989. They are approximately 2X long with a slight Limerick bend, a good practical and aesthetic balance. The return wire of the loop is nicely tapered. The length enables me to tie in the tag, tip, butt, and so forth, in a graceful manner, without compromising the fly's stability. The hook point is extremely sharp, the barb small and brittle. When I have not removed the barb, I often find it missing after releasing a large steelhead. I also fish the Alec Jackson Spey by Daiichi, and the Partridge Wilson.
An attractive salmon hook can be created by straightening out the severe bend of an English bait hook. The hooks are available through Cabela's in a number of sizes, including 3/0 to 5/0, sizes other wise expensive and difficult to obtain.
A couple of years ago I began tying my dry flies on the Tiemco 8089, a straight-eye bass "stinger" hook. The light-wire construction and sharpness of the hook point made it excellent for greased-line work in #6 and #10. Mike Maxwell swears by it for his Telkwa Stone.
When tying leech patterns with lead barbell eyes, I like a short-shanked heavy-wire hook with a straight eye. The Tiemco 800B is an excellent choice.
The traditional heavy-wire hook with a turned-down eye is used to tie Comets (including the Boss), nymph patterns such as the Ugly Bug, and occasional bucktails. As a high-quality hook with a loop eye and Limerick bend, it is superb for steelhead, though it possesses neither the graceful line nor the mystique of the traditional salmon hook. The desire of many steelheaders to tie flies along Atlantic salmon lines has probably doomed this style of hook to infrequent use.
Left column top to bottom:
TMC 7999 2/0, 1/0, 2, 4; Partridge M 2/0, 2, 4, 8; Partridge Wilson, Partridge BartleeL
Center column top to bottom:
Bob Johns "Winter Run," Partridge streamer type with turned-down looped eye; TMC 700 1/0, 2, 4, 6; TMC 800 B, TMC 8089,
Right column, top to bottom:
Veniard low-water light wire salmon; Alec Jackson Spey, 5/0, 1, 3, finished in nickel, Japanned black, gold, silver, and bronze