TESTING HOOKS
Article
translated from German fly-fishing magazine Fliegenfischen.
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 Last
October, we sent Mustad Circle Streamer hooks in
sizes 4 and 6 to 300 field testers, and in the
following you can find the result of their testing.
Brown Trout, Grayling, Rainbow Trout,
Chub, Sea-running Trout, Cod, perch and Pike: -the
300 test anglers, who had 6 months to try out the Mustad
Circle Hooks, caught most every species that is possible
to catch on a wet fly or a streamer. Combined with
various fly lines, intermediate- and sink tips, DT-
and WF lines. Lines class 6 and 7 were most frequently
used.
Since then we have analysed
the various test results that are reported
back to us. We would like to thank all the "Fliegenfischen" readers,
who have participated in this research, filled
in the forms, sent us photos and their own
flies. We asked our testers how they evaluated
the sharpness of the Mustad Circle Streamer
hooks. "Hooks directly out of the box" were
given an average of 1.6 points.
After trying them out the testers' evaluation
was 1.9 points. A minor reduction
of 0.3 points states that
the durability of the sharpness is high. Workmanship
was given 1.5 points, and
in total the testers assessed the hooks between
good and very good.
The springiness of the hooks was evaluated to 1.8,
classified as being between good and very good.
The reason for this is primarily the material and
its strength, since a saltwater resistant, rather
thick hook does not have the same spring effect
as a lighter, thinner hook. Our next question focused
on the corrosion resistance of the hook. Our field
testers evaluated the Mustad Circle Streamer to
have very high corrosion resistance, scoring 1.3 points.
Since quite a few field testers used the hooks
for saltwater fishing, this is an important property
of the material. |
Mustad Circle Streamer
hooks are distributed in Germany by Exori.
The Stainless Steel hook C71S SS is produced
in # 6/0 - 10. New for 2004 is the lighter
wire version C51S BLN, available in # 2/0
- 16
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Next we asked for the actual
properties of the hooks, a very interesting question
since, unlike standard hooks, you are not supposed to
strike when the fish bites. It was most interesting
to note that test fishers, who according to themselves
were fishing with stiff rods, were striking more than
those with softer rods. Our testers, those who were
striking and those who were not striking, came up with
totally different comments regarding hook properties.
Some of the guys landed most every fish; others described
problems hooking fish. The landing ratio varied between
25 and 90 percent. The poorest success ratio was 2 out
of 8 fish. The most successful tester had 60 bites,
and landed most all of them. All together our testers
had 360 bites. They landet 240 fish, which is approximately
2 out of 3. The field testers reported that the hooks
were holding the fish very well. As soon as the fish
is hooked, it rarely happens that the fish is lost during
the fight. This tells us that this Circle Hook has the
best properties when it comes to turning bites into
fishes landed.
However, it takes some practice to get used to the hooks.
The most successful fishers may be those with a less
developed "Strike-Reflex", and those who control
this well. Some field testers reported hook problems
with regard to the size of the fish, which most probably
is linked to the two sizes provided for the test. Some
test fishers would like to have the Mustad Circle Hooks
in thinner wire diameters, to achieve smoother penetration.
(Dr.Hook's comment: Since this test was completed, the
finer wire diameter freshwater version C51S BLN has
been introduced, in sizes as small as #16).
Another suggestion was to offer
the hook with longer shank in order to open up for more
fly patterns. Altogether, the Mustad Circle hook C71S
SS scores 2.1 points in comparison with standard hooks
from our field testers. The final overall evaluation
of the Mustad Circle Streamer from the readers of "Fliegenfischen"/FlyFisherman
was a score of 1.9.
Test
results:
Our field testers gave the
Mustad Circle Streamer hook the following points:
Before
fishing
Sharpness: 1.6
Workmanship: 1.5
Springiness:
1.8
After
fishing
Hooking
properties: 2.1
Durability of Sharpness: 1.9
Rust resistance:
1.3
Overall
assessment: 1.9
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1.
Ingolf Augustin from Heidenau was fishing with
the Mustad Circle Hook for four days in the
river Elbe in Elbsandsteingebirge . He caught
seven fish, such as a 44-cm Chub, 39 up to
44 cm Grayling, a 39-cm Brown Trout and a 48-cm
pike.
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2.
Frank Heyer from Sevelten was successfully
using a soft rod, a WF-9 clear tip and a Shrimp
imitation for Sea-running Trout, landing three
fish of 43, 45 and 59 cm. |
3+4.Iven
Orlamünde from Rieder was fishing two
days in freshwater. He caught three 25 - 30
cm perch , six Brown Trout around 30 cm and
one 51 cm Seerunnning Trout on his circle-hook
flies. |
5.
Jens Niehaus from Lehre tied his "Unknown
Natural" on the Circle Streamer #6 and
a "Grundel" on #4. Both were successful,
since three Trouts 35 - 41 cm could not resist
them. |
6. Joakim Sondermanm from Olpe,
had three takes on his "Missionary Fly",
and landed three Rainbow Trouts. |
7.
Wolfgang Albert from Lippe hooked two trouts
of 42 and 45 cm and a 60-cm Asp on a self-made
streamer. |
By Clicking on the following links you
can download PDF files of the original articles in German:
| Haken
im Test I | Haken
im Test II |
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