Hook for the Red Hackle?

[wsbailey]

Stefan, have you looked at the Osprey VH120 hook?

[daringduffer]

Stefan, have you looked at the Osprey VH120 hook?

I have it on my radar but not in my hand. Have ordered a couple of different hooks to try. Shipping cost can be dreadful; how about $24 for 100 hooks, just shipping cost. Turned that one down, although the eye was tde already.
Have a couple on order from here:http://www.troutandsalmonhooks.com/shop/.

Had two of these from flyhookfiller that I tied on, and liking the result ordered some more:

Engelsk round bend Wetfly down eye hook, 17-208

. At the same time I ordered a pre-historic (kind of) Barbless Specimen hook, Sundridge branded (Geoffrey Bucknall), with a triangular point.

Tied a couple yesterday, using my oldest claret gossamer that was not as strong as they use to be. Frustrating. Tied a couple more with Veevus 6/0 in a similar shade, ribbing with Sulky and it felt like cheating. I'm running out of that vintage furnace rooster cape. Will save it until I have decided on hook.

dd

[William Anderson]

I definitely want to see these.

[hankaye]

dd, Howdy;

Stefan, I also am wanting to see the fly you tye, are you going to enter the swap with it?

hank

[daringduffer]

I'm getting closer but still have problems managing to get everything right on the same hook. When correcting one mistake, another one takes its place. I found a hook that I like; an old Partridge 1x long shank, but it is fine wire. I will be using it in spite of this. Unfortunately I have run out of bronze peacock herl and not found a source for more. I improvised by using the purple DMC Fil mètallisé 4012 that I bought from South Korea last year. It's a very fine thread that just gives a little shimmer when twisted with the herl and silk. If these flies were intended just for catching 'my' grayling, I would be perfectly satisfied. My old school gold tinsel was too wide, covering too much of the peacock. I have ordered modern fine version. Using both tinsel and DMC was too "busy" in my opinion. (I tried gold Sulky).

When searching for "the" hook, I had a conversation with a hoarder to my liking. He bought some hooks 16 years ago.

When the Partridge factory closed l bought the entire stock of hooks. 10000 kilos or if you like numbers 900.000.000 hooks
That was 16 years ago and l still have 90% left.
I have all their archive hooks dating to 1920.s
Best buy l ever made..

If Old Hat (saw a post of his on another forum, dating a few years back, that he was looking for bronze, not for gold) or someone else could give me a lead to "dat hurl", I would be thankful.

When I'm done, I will send a couple of flies to somebody with a camera. This time I had master Shuck in mind, but I have not asked him yet...

dd

[hankaye]

dd, Howdy;

If I am remembering correctly, somewhere on this forum someone had mentioned that
by leaving some hurl in the sunlight it would change to a bronze color. I don't know how
long that may take to transform ... and I realize that daylight is not that much of your
day this time of year. As Ruard is always reminding us "There will allways be a solution."

hank

[wsbailey]

Here is a link to some bronze peacock herl: http://feathersmc.com/product/bronze-peacock-herl/. Leisenring's standards were very high and I have never seen any that would meet them. All of the bronze herl I have seen has some green.

Bill

[Mataura mayfly]

I may have lucked out on a bad bunch, but last time I was in Northern Ireland, I bought some of the Osprey hooks and bought them home before I used them.
Now, as a display hook to tie on, brilliant. As a fishing hook for NZ size trout...... bloody terrible!
The few hundred I got were either not tempered correctly or the Osprey range are of a milder temper than hooks I am more used to, as a LOT of them bent enough to long distance release whatever they had sunk their point in to.

Now, I also remember hearing of someone on the forum here who often boasts about how much bronze peacock herl he has. Something to do with his parents owning a genetic bronze Peacock for breeding/display purposes. I am sure if you sent a postal address (via PM or email me) he could be convinced to send some over.
Leaving herl in the sun will discolour it to become bronze-ish, but in my experience it weakens the stem and can cause each herl to break down and shed the very fibres you are wanting to retain. I think it is a fine line between enough sun to discolour and too much leading to deterioration.

[daringduffer]

dd, Howdy;

If I am remembering correctly, somewhere on this forum someone had mentioned that
by leaving some hurl in the sunlight it would change to a bronze color. I don't know how
long that may take to transform ... and I realize that daylight is not that much of your
day this time of year. As Ruard is always reminding us "There will allways be a solution."

hank

Thanks for the suggestion, hank. I've found that Jeff is right about deterioration in the sun, at least on my herl. The herl Bill linked to (thank you, Bill) looks pretty good on my screen, but I would be a fool if I didn't accept the South Island offer. His herl is bronzer than mine .

dd

[daringduffer]

Leisenring's standards were very high and I have never seen any that would meet them. All of the bronze herl I have seen has some green.

Bill

I wonder where he got them from, and if Pete Hidy had the same source?

dd