What
determines the size of a hook?
 |
| An Old Goldplated Mustad inside The TMC 518 size #32 |
From the top:
Old Goldplated Mustad size #26
Mustad 94842 size #28
Varivas Ultra Midge size #30
Tiemco 518 size #32
Which
one is the smallest?
Judge for yourself!
Judge for yourself!
Formerly
hooks were bought choosing the size judging by the distance between
the hook tip to the shank. The hook was then cut to suit your purpose
in fishing with it. How are the size determined today? I'll have to
leave that question open because, as seen in the pictures, there is
no definite standard that tells us what size the hook has in
comparison to other hooks. Please feel free to give your input on
this matter in this blog.
 |
| Side view of a Jassid tied on the Goldplated Mustad size #26 |
 |
| Top view of the same fly |
Tied as follows:
Hook:
Old Goldplated Mustad hook size #26,
3 times long, 2 times fine.
3 times long, 2 times fine.
Thread: UNI-THREAD
Trico 17/0 made black
with a permanent marker.
with a permanent marker.
Wing: JC
Nail cured with Clear Cure Goo.
Just
got my hands on some small hooks today. Among them this goldplated
mustad hook. Felt like I had to try it on right away. I'm still
looking for the Mustad 277 #32, so if anyone knows how to get them I
would appreciate a lot if you mentioned that to me. Would love to hear your point of view
when it comes to hook sizes. Until the next post.
Kind
greetings,
Mats
Olsson
If you wish to comment outside the blog your welcome to send the comment to my e-mail: meo@spray.se
11 kommentarer:
Do you "have to" fish with those? Size 20 & 22 we use here in Montana look GIANT trash.....
Hi Satoshi!
I watched your video on tying the Coyote. Nice fly! Naturally we don't have to use the smallest of flies. I'm sure that you are familiar with the Yamame in Japan. In the clear waters it is easily spooked and usually taken with light gear and small dries (If you prefer dry flies). We also have trout that are easily spooked in our small streams. That's when small dry flies can come in handy. It's also a matter of choice. I rather fly fish with light gear and small flies than with heavy equipment. Thanks for your comment!
Have fun fly tying and fly fishing,
Mats Olsson
Mats,
I'll have to take your word on their size. My 66 year old eyes can't determine.
Have fun with those small flies.
Hi Alan!
Thanks for your comment! I was almost blind some years ago but had surgery on both of my eyes and that gave me a vision like a hawk. Before that it took me half an hour to get the tippet tied to a streamer size 8. Imagine the difference! Hope you enjoyed your meal together!
Your friend,
Mats Olsson
Very nicely tied flies and a very helpful blog. Thanks! I'm still trying to locate some extra small hooks with no luck.
I find the question regarding what is the worlds smallest (fly)fishing hooks? :-) It depends whether you are asking about the smallest ever produced or the smallest that is today commercially available. AND of course the never-ending question: WHAT is the size of a fish hook? I put some words on the paper here. Let me know if you like it and what are your thoughts?
SIZING OF THE TINY HOOKS.
Varivas (Ultra Midge #30), Partridge (Vince Marinaro #28), Tiemco (ref.518 #32) and Mustad (ref.277 #32 and the more modern R50 #28) all were produced as very tiny hooks – hooks that are so small and the sales volumes so modest, that the smallest hooks disappears from the market after some time.
The hook size should be determined by the width of the gap of the hook. Comparing hooks with the same hook gap is the way to go. Whether you make a hook with a long shank (like a streamer hook) or a very short shank, does not change the size.
Since there was no industry standard of fish hooks, each manufacturer had different sizing and the printed size on the packages of hooks are not directly comparable.
WORLDS SMALLEST.
There is no doubt which is the world’s smallest fishhook. The vintage 24 carat gold-plated spade-end hook Mustad ref.277 #32 has a total length of 2mm. When analyzing the gap of the hook according to the industry standard Mustad AlphaCode (the system that I developed for the Mustad Signature range) it appears that this hook really is a true size #41(!!!).
The TMC 518 #32 is a #28 with a 4XS shank.
The Mustad R50 #28 was a beautiful tiny hook, but as far as I can see, it is not any more available in the market since the sales figures were not impressive enough.
Hehe, I guess most of us would prefer to tie the leader to one of the hooks with a normal eye instead of the world’s smallest hook. This has a flatted spade end, such as you find on match hooks and some commercial fishing hooks. The way to deal with this is to use a snell knot and apply a tiny drop of superglue to it before you start tying your flies. I recommend to use the thinnest multifilament line you can find, preferably Berkley Whiplash 0,06 Crystal, which is the same as a hair.
Several world class fly tiers have tied their miniature flies on the Mustad #32. Mine are tied by Norwegian fly tier Marit Kronen. Even when magnifying the fly it looks close to perfect(!).
COLLECTOR’S ITEM
I still have some of the tiny #32 in my collection. A couple of years ago several of the specimen anglers of Norway bought from me packs of 3 pcs of these hooks (USD10/pack + shipping) to catch fish as small as 1gram. Impressive! Also, it is no advantage tying this on the bank late in the evening with cold fingers for those of us who need the reading glasses to get the job done ;-)
So if you want to take up the challenge of tying a fly on the world smallest fishhooks, send me a message and I will see what I can do
When mounting the fly, find a magnifier to place in the right focal distance in front of the fly + 1 single hook, and you have you special collector item that will impress most visitors who have an interest in fishing.
Best fishes
.geir/Dr.Hook
Dear sir,
I just saw your post on this blog, very interesting.
I am a Xtra small fly fisher from the Netherlands, study the smallest Insects and their interactions, mainly work under a microscope a Wild m3C, I am used to work within th 100 micrometer range, so would love to give it a go with the Mustad 277 #32, believe it or not I have a Splitcane #000 coming in and fish Terenzio silk lines.
Do you think the Berkley Whiplash 0,06 Crystal is finer than the Uni 20 Denier, this is the thread I use as for now.
Hope you could reply.
Hi Cornelis, 20+ years ago some of the best fly tiers with fascination for the worlds smallest hooks were from The Netherlands. Hans Weilenmann challenged several of the worlds best tiers to make their micro-version fly on the Mustad ref.277 #32, but right now I could not find this online.
I do still have some hooks in my collection. If you send me $15 (shipping included) by Paypal to geirsivertzen@yahoo.no, I will send you 3 pcs of hooks for you to tie on.
Actually I do also have some of the worlds smallest hooks WITH an eye from Mustad, Gold plated hooks (I do not have the ref.number here right now) packed as #28, although smaller than the Mustad Signature R50 #28
Hi,"Dr Hook"
Great, Ill send you some $$ by Paypal, how about some of those Mustads #28, I would love to obtain say 20plus of those.
I use Varivas Ultra Midge #30, TMC518 30# and Gamakatsu BM-12 @30 now
looking forward!
Dear Mats, Dr. Hook, small fly fishers,
Great blog and great to see if the feeding small Rudd in the Netherlands really go for my small insect imitations
I just tied some Xtra small white Midges on Mustad 277 #32 hooks, I will now snell the hooks directly to Stroft 04/00 tippet and secure the knot with some super glue to the hooks before adding the fly, tied with 20 denier mono Uni thread and a 2 cm. piece of micro hackle from a Whiting saddle.
Personally I have the idea that small fish feed on small Chironomids, Parasitic wasps e.g. Chalcidoidea and Micromoth larvae, I shall try to find out what exactly and try to make the 1st photo off a hooked Rudd, as I never saw any Catch on a Mustad 277 #32 hook.
Regards.
Cornelis van den Berg.
p.s. I could post some photos, is there any possibility to add them to this blog?
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