Wide Gap Hooks: Dropping Small Fish

[Alain Barthelemy]

I fished again today, in a coastal stream loaded with chubs and fallfish.  It is still a bit too warm for trout.

I am still thinking about your concerns regarding dropping small trout during comps.  I again experimented on my techniques, this time with hooks.  I am fishing single size 16 flies with 3/32in tungsten beads.  I tied flies with identical materials, except for the hook.  I am wondering whether wide gap hooks actually make you lose smaller fish.  If you think about it from a practical standpoint, a small fish's mouth will have more trouble getting the entire hook bend inside its mouth, especially with wide gap hooks.

The two hooks I tested were TMC 100SPBL and TMC 5262 (crushed barb), both in size 16.  Obviously, a comparison between two SPBL hooks would be better, and maybe I will do that later, but I chose these hooks on the basis of hook gap.

The 100SPBL is a "wide" gap, relative to the standard gap on the 2X long 5262.  Again, it would be a better comparison to test hooks of the same length, but let's just think about gap for now.  Also, the 5262 has a heavier wire.

Most of the comp hooks you use are wide gap, but today at least, the standard gap hook dropped fewer fish.  These are fish in fast water between 3 and 10in long.  If the trout were active, I would catch them too, no doubt.

Consider my caveats above and please do your own comparisons, but this is something to think about, and out-of-the-box thinking may lead to advancement.

[Loren Williams]

That is an interesting perspective Alain.  Let me toss this you:  if the gap was impeding the take of a smaller fish, wouldn't using the same hook but in a smaller size solve the problem?

I have used many hooks and the ones I feel most confident in have the following similar qualities:  LONG points, scary sharp points, pleasing wire diameters (not too fine or too heavy).

[Alain Barthelemy]

Loren,

Thanks for the feedback.  Yes, in general, smaller flies result in better hookups on small fish.  The problem is that since I am single fly nymphing a lot, it is difficult to cast the size 18s and smaller by themselves.  As you know, it is always interesting to experiment with hooks and I have used the short shank wide gaps ones too, but I think some of them are extreme.  I believe that if we could try a

Size 16 TMC 5212 SPBL (if it existed)

that might easily become my favorite nymph hook.  This phantom hook's properties are 2XL, thin wire, standard gap.  The free-living caddis nymphs I favor look better on the 2X long hooks and the extra distance from the bead may give a better hooking angle.

The best short shank I like right now is the Daiichi 1530, but I feel the Hanak C260BL falls in the extreme catagory.  When I look at the Hanak, I see a "square" aspect ratio, but I believe nymphs are more rectangular.

For debarbing the 1530s, I tried using my Dremel tool in the garage with a cone-shaped stone.  It works great, but you need not dig too deep.

I know there are other hooks people like, and I have certainly not tried them all!