Don O I wasn't thinking when I said stainless steel because many of the saltwater hooks are tinned or nickel plated which are possibly even better. I have discovered to my amazement that I do indeed have some size Mustad 10 C71S SS hooks, left over from a past fly swap, so I am going to give them a try. The trouble with me is that I have a lightning fast response to a tug on my line, when all I want to do is let the fish turn with the fly and hook itself. I find it hard to slow down and as a result my hookset tends to be, shall we say, a bit on the strong side. Neville (Nev) Gosling Greater Vancouver, B. C. Canada
Subject: [VFB] Re: Small saltwater stainless hooks Nev, Locating small #10 and < ss fly hooks is pretty hard. You can usually find a box of 100 #10 ring-eye in a bait shop, not in a fly shop. You may have to bend the kirb, but that's not hard. Also look into circle or semi-circle hooks if you will have any long or slack line fishing. If you are tying simple patterns, tho, it may be better to go ahead and tie disposable or re-tyable flies on regular bronze hooks. Current thinking is that it's kinder to the fish to have an easy-to-dissolve hook in their mouths if they break off. A stainless hook takes forever to corrode, and the fish will usually weaken during that time and get picked off by a predator. Mustad, EC, and other hook-makers are making heavy bronzed 3XX wire hooks for saltwater use, as a #10 std. stainless will bend or break off in a big fish. These heavy wire hooks also supply the weight needed to get the fly down. DonO --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the "VFB Mail" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/vfb-mail?hl=en VFB Mail is sponsored by Line's End Inc at http://www.linesend.com -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
