Hooks hooks Hooks

[toddsbernina]

I've got a couple questions about hooks.

1. As my collection of hooks is growing having 20 packs of hooks to sort thru is annoying and the ones in my plano box get mixed up and i can never remember what size is what. how do you all store your hooks?

2. What is the difference between eyes on hooks eg. up, down, straight?

thanks. :beer2:

[Minx]

Mine all go into a Plano box with the size & model # cut from the package & folded up. On the bottom of each compartment is a small square of sticky sided magnetic tape to hold the "wandering" down a minimum...chuck

[steve s]

The same thing happens with my hooks as well. For hooks of the same style, I use vitamin/pill containers, the kind that have a compartment for each day of the week. I label the container which type of hook it is and each compartment has a different size. You can get the containers at most any drug store for about $1.

Steve S

[toddsbernina]

The same thing happens with my hooks as well. For hooks of the same style, I use vitamin/pill containers, the kind that have a compartment for each day of the week. I label the container which type of hook it is and each compartment has a different size. You can get the containers at most any drug store for about $1.

Steve S

briliant!! i'm going to albertsons on my lunch break to pick some up. Thanks

[flytire]

Tiemco hook file

http://www.bolsars.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/tiemcohookfile.jpg

[TheShadKing]

I use vitamin/pill containers, the kind that have a compartment for each day of the week.

iagree although you can actually get them where the compartments lock ... try The Container Store or whatever it is across the street from the downtown Bellevue Post Office.

The compartment locking is a great feature both for pills (childproofing) and for hooks (drop proofing.)

I've completely gone over to this style ... rock city!:thumb:


Rolland

[cabezon]

When you reach the mini-flyshop stage of this addiction (I went over that edge a while ago), you may want to consider a multi-drawer utility box, the kind used to hold various sizes of nails, screws, bolts, etc. I've got one with 60 drawers (6 rows of ten drawers) and have hooks in most of the compartments. There's a row for dry fly hooks, another for nymphs, one for streamers, another for steelhead, and one for stainless saltwater hooks. The stinger hooks for bass/striper poppers are fit in there somewhere.

Steve

[Richard]

When you reach the mini-flyshop stage of this addiction (I went over that edge a while ago), you may want to consider a multi-drawer utility box, the kind used to hold various sizes of nails, screws, bolts, etc. I've got one with 60 drawers (6 rows of ten drawers) and have hooks in most of the compartments. There's a row for dry fly hooks, another for nymphs, one for streamers, another for steelhead, and one for stainless saltwater hooks. The stinger hooks for bass/striper poppers are fit in there somewhere.

Steve

Tough to pack around, though - big grin.

I use the Tiemco hook file for smaller hooks, hooks that I might take with me when I travel and take tying gear. Basic hooks like dry fly, scud, 3xl streamer, nymph hooks are in that file. I also have another TMC hook file in which I keep my beads.

I use the Plano boxes for the larger hooks, and I do just what Minx does for hook ID. I have one box for my salt hooks, and one for my steelhead/salmon hooks. The work fine for the larger hooks.

I'd have gobs of those pill containers for my hooks, and I can't see those 4/0 TMC 7999's fitting in those very well . . .

[cabezon]

Yeah, mine is not a road-ready setup. I've moved several times since I bought it and I always have to pack it carefully so that I don't end up with a nightmare of mixed hooks. I also have two sets of 7-day pill boxes for my travelling kit: one set with dry fly hooks, the other with nymph/small streamer hooks. If I'm on the road, I don't see myself tying up a steelhead fly to match the hatch. The bigger challenge with the road-tying kit is deciding which materials might come in handy for that unique match the hatch situation.

Steve

[Mike Etgen]

About the time I started getting serious about tying, I lucked into two "craft containers" that are like the Tiemco boxes (from what I can gather from the pics). I think they were meant to hold beads.

I did find two more something like these at a yard sale last year but my wife took them from me.

Each is about an inch deep, has 35 compartments, and sized about 9" x 12" overall. I haven't filled every compartment yet, but they work perfect and accept hooks as large as size 2 (as large as I've gone). Each one also has one rectangular compartment dead in the middle that ends up collecting usable scraps of hackle, etc.

I'd suspect you can find something close at a Joann's Fabrics or similar store.

[Nooksack Mac]

I use multi-partitioned plastic boxes a lot. Permanent partitions are better; the adjustable kind allow small hooks to crawl underneith. I glued a foam sheet on the inside of the lid, and a foam strip around the inside edge of the lid of my dry fly hook box. Even No. 28 hooks stay in place. If my hand ever slips while the box is open, it will be a disaster, but so far, it hasn't happened in over thirty years.
You can label by clear-glueing a sheet of paper on top; or cut individual pieces of paper for the bottom and side of each compartment. Use package labels when you can.
For removing hooks, and other chores, I consider a set of tweisers to be a basic and essential tying tool.

[Les Johnson]

I just refinished an old rock maple hutch that belonged to my grandmother (ci4da 1940, or thereabouts). I have my hooks sported into large plastic boxes under, trout, British trout (I went through a phase several years back), saltwater and steelhead/salmon. These and a selection of other large capactiy spare hook boxes fill the bottom section of the hutch. In the main drawer I have an assortment of fly vest doodads and spare parts for vises, etc. It is just right as the counter top of it is great for setting hooks out of the storage boxes for examination. All of the hooks are either labeled or left in the original packages. I call it "Granny's Hook Hutch".
Some of these hooks probably predate a lot of the folks who post on WFF. I detest giving up hooks, particularly some of the older Sealeys, Allcocks, Mustads, etc., that were used for steelhead fishing when I got into the sport some 50+ years ago.
Good Fishing,
Les Johnson