Mustad Signature hooks - how do they compare?

[Izaak]

My local fly shop doesn't carry a big selection of hooks for trout flies. Indiana is mostly Smallie country. However, I have bought some of their Mustad Signature R50s in the past and have been generally pleased with them. But not having had much chance to make comparisons with many other hook manufacturers I don't know how they stack up to some of the popular brands often mentioned here in the forum, e.g. Daiichi, Kamasan, and Tiemco. I do like the profiles of the Mustad Signature S50s and S70s, and they are cheaper than most other brands.... your thoughts? - Thanks!

[Soft-hackle]

Izaak,
Mustad has been making hooks for years, and as far as I am concerned, they are great hooks-even compared to more expensive brands. The R50s are dry fly hooks, but they can definitely be used for wingless wet flies.

Mark

[Izaak]

Mark,

Thanks for that! I often use standard dry fly hooks for soft hackles or flymphs that I may want to fish upstream in the film as an emerger. With a little floatant that works pretty well. However, it is more difficult to pop them underwater when you want to finish the cast by swinging them below you on the swing. I bought some Mustad Signature R70s, heavier wire, and will see how I like them, although I prefer the profile of the S70s, but don't have a local source for them.

[Smuggler]

Mustad has been around as long as they have been for a reason.
Granted the hooks now aren't like the ones from back when they still came in little boxes but, they're still stout. I've heard stories of people dealing with numerous breaks while tying but, In my 7 years of tying I've never once broke a Mustad.

Plus a lot of models they make aren't priced too badly!

[Izaak]

Yes, my experience is that some of the older Mustads were a bit brittle. The Signature series looks like a good improvement.

[Kelly L.]

I like the Mustad Signature hooks. I have quite a few R50 hooks too.

[Old Hat]

Great hooks and great price. Can't go wrong.

[Jim Slattery]

I'm awaiting a call from my Mustad rep to bring this line into my shop. I'v been drooling over the R70's for quite some time.
Jim

[Mike Connor]

At one time Mustad was basically the "only game in town" and everybody used them. Some of the more popular models have disappeared over the years, notably the 3904A which was very widely used for wet flies.

http://www.jackfish.net/acatalog/Fishin ... ks_21.html

I never had any real problems with Mustads, I used to buy them in 1000 boxes, but I more or less stopped using them when I could no longer easily get the models I wanted, also, quite a few years ago now, I went looking for a hook with specific properties and I found one. For a very long time now I have used "Drennan Carbon Specimen" ( this is the same as the Daichi 1640 )hooks for the majority of my trout and grayling flies. They are excellent hooks and suit me well for a number of things, including dry flies.

There are a massive number of hook models on the market now, I simply ignore the vast majority as it is just too much hassle to keep track and I can't see any particular advantages in having a huge selection. Quite apart from the expense involved.

Daichi 1640



http://www.jsflyfishing.com/cgi-bin/ite ... -Hook.html

TL
MC

[Hans Weilenmann]

Izaak,

The Mustad Signature series are fine quality hooks - but then so are other brands, by and large.

I have little brand loyalty when it comes to hooks - I select them on their characteristics (shape and proportions) for the patterns I tie and fish.

Cheers,
Hans W