Mustad C49, Superfly HKP... and other hooky thoughts

I started out on the cheap in fly fishing. When you start fly tying and fishing at age 5, you take what you are given. You get a newspaper route (do they still have those?) and buy stuff at the Fishin' Hole in Edmonton, Christmas and birthdays and grade 4 report cards add to your tying collection. You do the best you can in your blissful ignorance. Having stuff is great, and you do with what you can afford. My uncle taught me enough about fly fishing to make me obsessed - actually I was born obsessive, he just directed my OC nature.

I've always used Mustad hooks. I loved the little cardboard boxes with wax paper wrappings and was sad when they went to the plastic clam shell packaging: it weakened the imagery. But I've never had issue with Mustad. Sure, I've read some on the internet go on about how poor quality the hooks are, etc. I always wondered why I'd never lost a fish to a bad Mustad hook but a few people are so anti the brand. Forward many years of fishing. I've broken points off some hooks in canyon/gorge settings. You can't always miss the rock walls behind you. That was never a big deal. The old, standard hooks always served me well. Through my teenage years, I got into tying small stonefly patterns on the fine wire, extended shank dry fly hooks. They worked well, floated, added thorax length to my patterns. I still enjoy the patterns and they hold up for 6 to 16" cutts in open situations, no issue.

It wasn't until 3 years ago on our third trip to New Zealand that I ever had any kind of issue. We'd started to tie more exclusively on Mustad C49 hooks, thanks to chironomid fishing influence up at Fortress Lake Retreat, with some brookies to 7 or 8 pounds landed on the hooks. They are great little hooks that offer a lifelike curve to chironomid patterns. I began to tie my stream nymphs on the hooks and really have loved the appearance of the patterns, and the and performance on our home waters with cutts and browns that tended to be less than 4 pounds (24") has been satisfactory. It got to the point all of our nymphs were being tied on C49s, but we'd not used them on larger river fish, and not yet in New Zealand.

So, what happened on our third trip to New Zealand? It was a mouse year. Imagine your local waters and taking the fattest trout in the river and doubling its weight, the fin muscles Popeye-ing in strength. It was my first NZ mouse year brown of 8 lbs that opened my eyes. The fish didn't do anything special. It jumped and ran in an open river situation. I was well into my backing a few times in the heavy current. You simply don't just reel large fish in when in heavy water. By the time the fish was to hand, the hook was bent out completely. Garbage. Fair enough, I'd given it a work out, I thought. But what I didn't know at the time was that trip was to become a one and done exercise. After every single fish, the C49 was completely bent out.
Every fish.
It got to the point on that trip that I'd hook up a 4 lb spring creek brown and do the usual fight, and either lose the fish for a bent out hook or land it and have to tie on a new fly. Of course we stopped using those patterns on fish that we really wanted.

It was the first time that we'd ever had any issue with Mustad. We haven't stopped using Mustad. No, we still love it, maybe because of habit, maybe because there is no need to change something that works for you. We're happy with Mustad in every other situation, likely always will be. I can only say good things about every other Mustad experience. Those C49s are great chironomid hooks and never failed us fishing lakes. But on bigger fish in moving water, I wouldn't use it again. I wouldn't risk the time and $ of a trip to New Zealand on that hook.

Now, forward to this year's trip to New Zealand. Obviously no C49s were on board. But, we took a flier on Superfly HKP hooks. Same idea, short shank, curved hook. Just Superfly's in house brand. The result was probably 50% better. Not perfect, but encroaching very reliable. There were some flies that lasted 1/2 doz fish, some that lasted not one, and some that went 3 days of fishing - it's all so subjective, from scenario to scenario, person to person, etc. When I hooked into one 7 1/2 lb brown from a spring creek on one particularly tough day of fishing toward the end of our trip, as I set the hook I said an "ah, shit" to myself, remembering instantly that I had a #18 curved hook nymph below my caddis. Being the first fish any of the 3 of us had hooked into that day I had to fight it less aggressively and be ginger-gentle as it came to net. It was the lingering negativity of our Mustad experience that had me so cautious. We got it, but when you have to adjust your fishing due to hook psychology, you wonder why you did that to yourself to begin with. But, the Superfly hook performed admirably.

If I was to give Mustad C49 an F for large fish in heavy water and a C for stream nymphs on other sized trout, and as close to an A for lake fish on chironomids... I'd give the Superfly HKPs a C+ for big fish in moving water and a B+ otherwise. But that's with the caveat that our/my top end is 12 - 14 river browns. No report on the Superfly hooks on lakes yet. That's just my/our experience.

My friend Nick recently wrote a blog post about hooks in his 8 cents a fly. Make sure you read his blog The Drag Free Drift, it's a great site. We've had the same discussion previously. Why cheap out on hooks? Now, I'm obviously not as strong in my views of that discussion, however, there are times to look at what we're doing. For us, for me, I'll always be a Mustad tier. But, I'd encourage you to look around at some of the reviews of various hooks and various hooks for the fishing scenario you plan to or could be exposed to. Most of the known brands will work well. To take a flier on an unknown? Not always a great idea. Again, for 8 cents...

Now, back to that #1 rule of the internet: to express an opinion, view, perspective, or experience is to invite one back! :)