These are all excellent softies for steelhead and salmon. Great ties.

Thanks for the compliment :D

I only realized I’d posted it to the wrong sub forum after the fact. I’ve been a long time gone.

The Knapek dry fly hook has some pluses and minuses. As a factory barbless it’s designed to have a deep throat primarily for holding power after the hook set. The slight ...

https://i.ibb.co/Fk4vrkvD/IMG-6531.jpg

Hook: 14 Knapek D
Thread: Olive Pearsall’s silk
Tail: CDL Fibers
Hackle: “Ginger” Cookshill Hen
Thorax: Olive Diamond Ice Dub


Notes: Hackle is tied open à la Stewart’s Spider through the thorax with two touching turns behind the head. Meant to be ...

We have Western Green Drakes in my neck of the woods. The local species has a broader and more compressed abdomen than the one pictured. I normally opt for a nymph pattern (usually beaded) with a brushed out thorax, but on occasion I do something like Mike suggested, but I use the tips of very fine ...

You should turn Misa on to the Knapek dry hooks. They have a seemingly short shank on them, but it's actually full length with a "square" bend. I'm actually using them for small nymph hooks--tying "french style" nymphs. Sticky sharp and as with the Hanaks they're designed as barbless hooks from the ...

S'allright WH. I get that jive what you're laying down. ;-)

Competition or not, these are great hooks. I'm all about design, particularly functional design, and these hooks and their ilk have it in spades. As Hans would say, they make a great canvas to tie on.

Aaron

PS I have no financial ...

Having just received a second order of several hundred of these hooks (260/200/400) I can say without a doubt that these are some of the most well designed hooks I've found. They are what most call "competition hooks" designed for penetration, strength and holding power. While any of my comparisons ...

*Chuckle*

Great little story, Mike. I might have to retell it over drinks at my local hangout.

Aaron

There's a ton of variations on muddler headed wet flies in the UK. Almost anything is fair game. It's an unexplored style of fly in my neck of the woods (and I'm fine with that). Lot's of ground to cover--keeps it fresh.

Thanks for the links, Ray. Nice looking selection of flies--including his ...

Thanks. They're loosely based around some of the stuff I saw Davie McPhail tying. The first is a riff on the Dunkled wet fly, while the second follows a basic olive bumble or the like. I've tried adding some knotted pheasant tail legs to the first one, and we'll see if performs any better for the ...