Hook setups for Flies

[1mainiac]

This has probably been covered but how many of you tie your own leaders for flies? I have gotten to the point that I almost never use the factory hooks and leaders on flies and based on the number of lost fish per boat today in the Dreamweaver Tournament has me wondering how many used the factory setup? I snell 2 Owner or Gamakatsu 3/0 Octopus hooks on Gamma Flouro leader and have found my hook up rate is much higher and once they are hooked they stay hooked. I also snell on Owner trebles with a single Octopus as a trailer on some of my setups.

[Nailer]

This has probably been covered but how many of you tie your own leaders for flies? I have gotten to the point that I almost never use the factory hooks and leaders on flies and based on the number of lost fish per boat today in the Dreamweaver Tournament has me wondering how many used the factory setup? I snell 2 Owner or Gamakatsu 3/0 Octopus hooks on Gamma Flouro leader and have found my hook up rate is much higher and once they are hooked they stay hooked. I also snell on Owner trebles with a single Octopus as a trailer on some of my setups.

I used to, but since using the Sigs Riggs fly's I no longer have to.

Our hook up ratio used to be %50 with the other fly's,

our catch rate now I bet is over %95.

They use #1/0 VMC vanadium xtra strong cone cut treble hooks.

http://www.siggsrigs.com/

[Adam Bomb]

Ive always tied my own flies from scratch and learned early on to put a good sharp hook on there otherwise you will miss allot of fish. Since then ive used a premium hook of some sort...VMC Cone Cut, Owner or Gamakatsu. Right now im using tandem 4/0 Gamakatsu Octopus hooks and 60# Fluorocarbon leader material. I have a very good hooking percentage to land ratio with that set up. I like the singles, they really burry in a fishes jaw well.

[1mainiac]

About 4 years ago I went to a seminar on Salmon fishing given by Love It Charters. They were very straight forward about several things one being keep your program fairly simple and work on finding active fish rather than trying to get inactive fish to bite. When it came to flies they were very clear nothing on their boat except Owner hooks and Gamma Flouro leader material I kinda thought it was a bit of a commercial but tracked my fishing success for the season on flies my success ratio was below 50% with factory tied gear most of which came with VMC hooks and Big Game leader. So by mid season I began tieing my own with Gamma and Owner hooks and the catch rate went thru the roof with Owner Trebles probably close to 90%. When I began tieing Tournament flies with a Single trailer hook there was another improvement and with the double single setup I am useing more and more I am finding if they are hooked something else will fail before the fly setup they are also easier to deal with in the net. I would be willing to bet the few failures I have had in the last 3 years can be linked to damaging the knot with pliers removing the hook from a fish. I have not lost a single fish on a fly rig this year and would bet overall we are well above 95% of our hits making it to the cooler. So on days when I hear guys losing more than they catch I am wondering if a few changes in the program would solve that.

[Fishwhisperer]

I've had no problems with leaders, it is always the hook that fails.

http://www.greatlakesfisherman.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13066

[tgafish]

I retied my leaders for yesterdays tourney with Seagur 40# flouro and lost my first fish of the day from breaking it. Go figure. I caught 2 other nice ones on the same leader material on the other fly

[1mainiac]

I have a partial spool of Seagar 40lb flouro that I had a couple of fish break off not sure why but I stopped using it. I know it was not the knot that broke because 2 of the failures came back with 9 to 10 in of leader behind the flasher and I run 18 to 24 between the flasher and fly. I don't want to advocate that one leader or lure maker is way better than another I think most of the companies make a good product and we all tend to have good luck with certain ones which makes us more confidant with them. Many times we try something and it fails so we tend to avoid trying it again. I know I have a ton of lures and setups that I almost never run and I am sure others catch lots of fish on them but even with several hundred spoons and over a hundred J Plugs and I am not even sure how many flies I have on board I bet I could put the stuff I run on a regular basis in a Barbie tackle box and yard sale the rest. But I am a nut job when it comes to tackle and when I see something I don't have I often buy it. I do admit it is nice when you hear someone saying they are catching fish on a lure that you have one on board.

[GLF]

I do admit it is nice when you hear someone saying they are catching fish on a lure that you have one on board.

I have 2 of everything. When I pick up something new, I always purchase 2.

[tangled mess]

This time of year when the fish are big we will use 50# leaders and still may have to retie after every fish.The line gets all frayed up when the line is running through there teeth you should check your leader after every fish if you don't you will be sorry and also you should sharpen your hooks after every fish at this time of year as there mouths are getting harder.

[1mainiac]

Good point Don I always keep several pretied setups on the boat so I can change out leader and hook in a couple of min or less if need be.

[Adam Bomb]

Ill third that. I just use a leader spool that have the pretied set ups ready to rock. In addition to completed flies i also carry several pretied fly bodies of proven producers along with beads. So, if i break one off or want to add a few more to the spread then its easily done.

[Just Hook'n]

JIm, I too use Gamakatsu hooks, but I use singles with a trailer, like I used to do when bass fishing spinner baits. I don't know, but I tell you this, I lost the frist 4 fish on flasher flies this year and since then not a factory hook stays on my rigs. I also use 20 lb fluorocarbon for the lines. I typically just slide off the skirt and beads right onto the fluoro.

[1mainiac]

here are a few of my setups starting at the top are tandam Gamakatsu Octopus on 30lb Gamma Flouro leader with glow beads between the hooks. Below them left to right is a Mustad 2x strong octopus hook behind a Owner 2x strong treble on 40lb Gamma Flouro with another same setup below that then to the right is a single Owner 2x strong on 40lb Gamma. I tie all of these myself and they have not failed yet if you sink one of these into a Salmon it is coming home with you.

This is one of my combat and nighttime favorites this actual one was made last night but I have been making these for years. Oh and this was a Siggs Apple Glow when I started. Not sure if it would still qualify for the Siggs photo contest anymore and Mike said I could not run them like this in the Tourny that was canceled because it was modified well actually I only told him about the glow beads between the hooks. Which I can under stand totally that it is a big change and could be unfair to everyone else so I agreed to run the lures as packaged for the event. But after I got home last night I played online poker and tied up a few setups.

I keep a few boxes of building supplies on the boat I guess it goes back to my fly fishing where I always carry every fly I think might work and stuff to build differant ones right on the river to match the hatch. Heres the best part there is no better feeling in the world then catching fish on gear you build yourself at the prices I pay for some of my supplies I am not saving money on this except for when I buy in bulk but knowing I can count on what the fish is hooked to is priceless.

[S. Yonker]

I use a single Gamakatsu 4/0 octopus for my flies.

For those of you experiencing breakoffs with treble hooks in a tandem set-up, are you filling in the gap where the hook shanks come together with super glue?

I have noticed that in a tandem set-up with a treble as the lead hook, the line connecting the lead hook to the trailing hook can sometimes get wedge in the hook shank gaps of the lead treble resulting in the trailering hook breaking off.