In the early days of fly tying and fly-fishing, “wet flies” were king. Dry flies and nymphs today are more popular, but wet flies, which are fished subsurface, are still very successful for catching trout, steelhead, and salmon. Wet flies do not closely i
Heavy wire, 2X-long hooks are today the most popular models used for tying flies imitating nymphs (The larvae of mayflies, caddis flies, and stoneflies). They also are popular for grasshopper patterns.
Round bend, down-eye, 1X-heavy wire, 2X-long shank, f
Bob Johns, a noted fly tier and hook designer created this “Bartlett” style hook in the 1970’s. He preferred this straight eye version to the more popular “up-eye” (see 2161) for his personal flies. This hook can be used to create beautiful curved nymphs
4X-long hooks are great for minnow imitations. The shank of the hook is the right length to create properly proportioned fish profiles. Some fishers complain that hook shanks longer than 4X allow the fish to use leverage on the shank to “throw” the hook s
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