Fly Tying Hook Brands

Being retired and having virtually nothing to do, I decided to find as many "fly tying" hook brands.

After an exhaustive 2-3 hour search on the internet trying to find as many hook brands as I could find, I managed to create the following list (most likely incomplete). I tried to find as many "freshwater" brand of hooks. Of course some brands contain "saltwater" hooks, one brand contained only 1 "freshwater" hook, some brands I have never heard of but most of them I have. Some are "fly shop" brands and some are personal brands. Some are offshoots of popular major brands. I did not list brands that only made treble hook for salmon etc.

So here is the list of the brands I found

A. Jensen
Akita
Alec Jackson
Allcock
Allen
Bergman
Blue Heron
Cabelas
Castor
Charles Jardine
C'ultiva
Daiichi
Dai-Riki
Demmon
Dohiku
Dragonflies Competition
Drennan
Eagle Claw
Elite
European Barbless Hook
Fly Tying Boutique
Fulling Mill
Gaelic Supreme
Gamakatsu
Green Caddis Outfitters
Grip
Hanak
Hayabusa
Hends
Heritage
Herters
Hook and Hackle
J:son
Jstockard
Kamasan
Ken Sawada
Knapek
Kobe
Kumho
Lazer sharp
Leeda
Lightning Strike
Maruto
Matzuo
Maxcatch
MFC
Mustad
Orvis
Osprey
Owner
Partridge
Saber
Sakuma
SFFT
Skalka
Spear-It
Sprite
Stealth
Stewart Forster
Sundridge
Syndicate Comp Hooks
Talon
Targus
The Fly Shop
Tiemco
Togen
Topfly
Trokar
Tunca
Turrall
Umpqua
Varivas
VMC
White River Fly Shop
Wizard

If anybody knows of other brands please post them in a comment and I'll add them to this list.

Articulated A. P. Nymph

Profile Plate

A profile plate helps to reduces glare, eyestrain and blocks out the busy background on the tying bench. The plate is also perfect for providing a plain background for photographing your flies.

But they can cost $$$ depending on the vise manufacturer

So here is my cheaper alternative

I bought a typists document holder for $5 + free shipping

Insert a 39 cent piece of your favorite color craft/scrapbooking paper in the holder

Then place it behind your vise to block out the mess and clutter on your bench and you'll see what youre tying much better

Please note: this is just one way of making a profile plate. There are many more clever and elaborate ways of making one

Thanks for looking

Norm

Alexandra

Alexandra

Winged Wet Fly

Tag - Dark red floss*

Tail - Peacock sword

Ribbing - Oval silver tinsel*

Body - Silver tinsel

Hackle - Deep wine, dark claret or black

Wing - Peacock sword - may have a dash of scarlet on each side

Trout - Ray Bergman

Forgotten Flies - Schmookler and Sils

*The recipe in Bergman's book lists the ribbing and tag as optional

The Alexandra exists in numerous variations. It is a fly of English origin that was supposedly banned in fishing competitions at one time because of its killing effectiveness.

Trout Fishing and the Color of Wet Dubbing

http://www.scribd.com/doc/142144696/Trout-Fishing-and-the-Color-of-Wet-Dubbing#scribd

Folding Feathers

Every now and then there is a need to to have that swept back look with hackles and other feathers

Here is one way out of many to achieve that look

This is a simple fly tying technique someone might want to learn

Yes it adds time to tying your fly but who cares!

http://globalflyfisher.com/tie-better/folding-feathers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U8IZ6GLdns&t=149s

Alpine Emerger

Alpine Emerger

Hook - Standard wet style

Thread - Gray

Tail - Dyed blue dun barred mallard fibers tied sparse

Body - Dubbed blue dun synthetic

Legs - Same as tail fibers

Popular Fly Patterns by Terry Hellekson

With a lifetimes supply of teal feathers, 

I substituted these for what's called for in the original recipe

Body Glass Caddis

Body Glass Caddis

Hook - Straight or curved
Thread - Black
Ribbing - Copper wire
Body - Olive body glass or equivalent*
Thorax - Peacock herl
Legs - Optional

*Equivalent = V rib, d rib, liqui lace, larva lace, swannundaze (if you still have it) etc.

Careless Coachman

Careless Coachman

Hook - Mustad 3665A

Thread - Fluorescent red
Tail - Golden pheasant tippet
Butt - Peacock herl
Body - Red floss or uni stretch
Rib - Flat silver tinsel, wound closer than usual
Wing - Brown calf tail

How to adjust your bobbin holder

Stump Lake Damsel

Stump Lake Damsel

Hook: your favorite

Thread: olive

Eyes: see below

Tail: marabou

Body: swannundaze or d-rib etc

Wing case: olive magic foil, scud back etc

Thorax: SLF damsel olive dubbing

 Thread 2 fringe beads onto a short length of wire and twist until tight. I added a drop uv resin to help spread them apart. Tie them onto the hook and make some figure eight wraps between the beads.

Example of fringe beads. Note the offset hole.

If you're lazy and don't want to twist up any eyes just use peanut beads.

Thanks for looking & happy tying.

Lopez Minnow

Lopez Minnow

Hook - Streamer style

Thread - White

Under body - Lead Wire

Tail And Back - Buck tail (Brown, black, green etc)

Over body - Silver mylar braid piping

Eyes - Painted yellow over black

 UV Resin

Reference: Streamers & Bucktails The Big Fish Flies by Joseph D Bates Jr

Thumb Tack Eyes

I had an idea regarding eyes for larger flies like those used for pike, musky, saltwater fish etc and thought about using thumb tacks for eyes. I had a box of white thumb tacks and a variety of lacquer craft paint and married the two together as shown below

You can start making the eyes using gold, silver, white, multi colored thumb tacks

When ready to install in your fly, just snip off the tack to the desired length and use epoxy to adhere the eyes to your fly.

I used the Wasatch eye painting tools to help make the eyes

Sinfoil's Fry

Sinfoil's Fry

Minnow Imitation

Ken Sinfoil

Hook - Dai Riki 700 or equivalent, size 10-12

Thread- Black

Underbody -Silver mylar tinsel

Body - Clear plastic wrap cut into 1/8-inch strip and wrapped

Collar - Fluorescent red Body Stretch

Wing - Sparse widgeon flank, mallard flank, teal, bronze mallard fibers

Head - Black thread

Eyes - Painted black over yellow

Awesome Lake Brookie

Awesome Lake Brookie

Hook: Streamer style

Thread: Light color for under body and then black

Tail: Olive marabou

Ribbing: Red holographic tinsel

Body: orange floss, orange Uni Stretch or equivalent

Topping: Peacock herl from an eye stick

Throat: White buck tail followed by orange hackle fibers

Eyes: Painted yellow and black

Tying Note: Light colored thread is used to help maintain the body color of the fly. 

Thanks for looking.

Slade's Secret

Slade's Secret

Hook - Mustad 3399, 3906 or equivalent

Thread - Black

Tag - Flat gold tinsel & gold floss

Tail - Bronze mallard

Butt - Peacock sword

Rib - Gold oval tinsel

Body - Rear half lime green wool, front half peacock herl

Wing - Brown bear

Throat - Teal flank, sparse

Reference - Charles DeFeo section of Forgotten Flies

In this pattern I made a couple of substitutions

1. I colored white floss with a gold marker to achieve the gold floss

2. I used peacock herl for the butt. I didn't feel the peacock sword herls I had were long enough.

3. I used moose body hair for the wing. I have no brown bear.

I hope you like it.

Marlo Dipietro Vises

See more vises here

How Does a Trout Catch a Fly?

http://www.flyfishingdevon.co.uk/how-does-a-trout-catch-a-fly02.shtml

Chevrolet Promotional Flies

DR. Hendrickson