Hook Anatomy

The hook is an integral part of fly fishing. It is what makesus anglers instead of fishermen, keeps us attached to thefish, and provides a pallet to tie our flies.

Shank: The shank is where the fly is tied and can be thought of as the backbone of the hook. The shank of the hook is usually straight, but canalso be curved for Spey and Salmon style hooks, as well as living nymphhooks. The shank length is measured in hook eyes. If a hook is 1XL, thatmeans the hook’s shank is one hook eye longer than the standard hookshank. In like, 1XS means the hook’s shank is one hook eye shorter than thestandard size.

Bend: The bend is the most important part of the hook. This is the part of the hook that helps keep the fish attached to the hook after it has eaten thefly. There are many different types of bends. Some of the more commonbends include: Model Perfect bend, Scud/Shrimp bend, and the Stingerbend. The bend style is based on the style of fly you want to tie. If you wantto tie a streamer pattern, for instance, you would want to choose a stingerbend over a scud bend.

Point and Barb: The point is obviously the pointy part of the hook. Most modern hooks are chemically sharpened making them exceptionallysharp. For larger sized hooks, it is always good practice to sharpen thehooks with a file on a regular basis. The barb, traditionally used to keep baiton the hook, can also help keep the fish on the hook during the fight. Onething to remember about barbs is that many watersheds require barblesshooks. It is up to you to educate yourself on the rules where you fish.

Size: Hooks are generally sized in even numbers. The larger the number, the smaller the hook. That all changes once you get into large hook sizes.They are sized in “aught notation” starting at 1/0 (one-aught) and goingup from there. There is no uniform standard for hook sizing. It is set byeach manufacturer and can vary based on the hook style. As an example,a #2 dry fly hook and a #2 scud hook may not be remotely close to thesame size.