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Hi Guys, I haven't posted here for a while. As some of you may know, I have only been fishing for a couple of years as I never fished as a kid. For this reason I missed out on acquiring all the basic skills. Even hook tying has been a learning curve. Eyed hooks were not so much of a problem but spade end hooks are another matter. I have been experimenting with tying spade end hooks for a while. I know I can buy them ready tied but it bugged me that I could not do it myself. I have tried all sorts of hookers, I even spent a kings ransom on a ZT Pro hook tyer - my thoughts on it can be found HERE. I found I could tie a hook easier with a tyer if I could hold the line tight and I came up with a magnetic solution while trying to tie knots with a Matchman like this:

 

mag-bal_02.jpg

 

Click on the image for more details. I up-graded to a Stonfo tyer, the small one is good for the really fine hooks.

 

After all this messing around I eventually managed to tie a size 18 spade end hook by hand! Who needs hook tyers? Well me, I still can't tie size 22s or smaller without help... Yet!

 

I think I get just as much fun out of the preparation as I do out of the fishing - almost. That is probably just as well as I have probably spent as much on end tackle and 'tools' as I have on rods and reels.

 

Ralph.

Edited by Fishplate 42

It was T H I S big, honest!

 

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Fishplate,

 

Good lord! - spade end hooks? Last used them in 1947. Can you still buy spade end hook tyers?

 

I must admit, some fond memories associated with them. Spade end hooks are as fiddly as a meerschaum pipe.

 

Phone

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Yes Phone spade end hooks & tyers are popular as ever over here. I believe the smallest Eyed hook over here is a size 18, & they never seem to hang correctly anyway, unlike a spade end which does. (when tied right)

 

I don't tie my own these days, but I can tie them as good as any tyer, if not better. Ready tied hooks back in the day had a poor reputation for becoming unraveled, & poor quality mono'. Nearly everyone tied their own then.

 

Ready tied are generally very good these days & inexpensive, though I like the sentiment back then of buying those little greaseproof/waxed paper hook packets for home tied.

 

I like the Red hook patterns - size 14 to 20 as I fish red Maggot a lot - it makes sense to me to use a hook same colour as the bait where possible.

Edited by Martin56
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Fishin' - "Best Fun Ya' can 'ave wi' Ya' Clothes On"!!

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I used to tie them and have a matchman hooktyer but i now use ready tied mostly so i can blame the manufacturers when i lose a fish if the line comes back with that distinctive curly bit on the end ,weel actually my many boxes have full barbs when the club demands microbarbs ,i did squash them down but cant be arsed any more and i always get tangled trying to unravel mine where ready tied ones are a doddle

I have boxes of mustads but i loved the old gold plated ones they caught fish without bait in the sun LOL

Edited by chesters1

Believe NOTHING anyones says or writes unless you witness it yourself and even then your eyes can deceive you

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There is only one opinion i listen to ,its mine and its ALWAYS right even when its wrong

 

Its far easier to curse the darkness than light one candle

 

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I always use a hooktyer, Either the one shown above or another make which is a little easier to use as the shaft has a rotating head. Never had any issue with them down to size 24. Most hooks I use are spade, only used eyed hooks from size 12 up and only really for thicker gauge, ledgering or hair rigs. Just think presentation is better. Eyed hooks I prefer the types with the eye bent forward and often tie round the shaft similar to the spade. However, tie these by hand.

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I used to use spade end hooks all of the time for hooks smaller than size 16. Ready tied hooks were frowned upon for not being as reliable. Although their quality has improved a great deal now and I now quite happily use ready tied hooks.

 

Spade end hooks sit on the line a lot better than the much more bulky hook eyes, but the line needs to come away from the inside of the hook otherwise it's possible for the spade to actually rub and cut through the line if tied incorrectly.

 

That gizmo you are using in the photo looks ideal for keeping the line tensioned while using a Matchman Spade end hook tyer, nice one.

 

Keith

Edited by BoldBear
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Happiness is Fish shaped (it used to be woman shaped but the wife is getting on a bit now)

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Martin,

 

Tongue in cheek a bit. I'm sure, if it's fiddly it's in England

 

Phone

Yes indeedy Phone, :wiggle:

 

I've even made my own hook tyers in the past - out of a a spring loaded wooden clothes peg with a Panel Pin (that's a thin wire nail Phone ;) ) cut off short in the top to bend the line around & the nose of the peg filed flush.

Fishin' - "Best Fun Ya' can 'ave wi' Ya' Clothes On"!!

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Good idea that Ralph :)

 

I don't have a lump of metal that size but I reckon a length of wood will serve just as well if used as a 'tying table' on your lap.

John S

Quanti Canicula Ille In Fenestra

 

Species caught in 2017 Common Ash, Hawthorn, Hazel, Scots Pine, White Willow.

Species caught in 2016: Alder, Blackthorn, Common Ash, Crab Apple, Left Earlobe, Pedunculate Oak, Rock Whitebeam, Scots Pine, Smooth-leaved Elm, Swan, Wayfaring tree.

Species caught in 2015: Ash, Bird Cherry, Black-Headed Gull, Common Hazel, Common Whitebeam, Elder, Field Maple, Gorse, Puma, Sessile Oak, White Willow.

Species caught in 2014: Big Angry Man's Ear, Blackthorn, Common Ash, Common Whitebeam, Downy Birch, European Beech, European Holly, Hawthorn, Hazel, Scots Pine, Wych Elm.
Species caught in 2013: Beech, Elder, Hawthorn, Oak, Right Earlobe, Scots Pine.

Species caught in 2012: Ash, Aspen, Beech, Big Nasty Stinging Nettle, Birch, Copper Beech, Grey Willow, Holly, Hazel, Oak, Wasp Nest (that was a really bad day), White Poplar.
Species caught in 2011: Blackthorn, Crab Apple, Elder, Fir, Hawthorn, Horse Chestnut, Oak, Passing Dog, Rowan, Sycamore, Willow.
Species caught in 2010: Ash, Beech, Birch, Elder, Elm, Gorse, Mullberry, Oak, Poplar, Rowan, Sloe, Willow, Yew.

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I only tie my own these days if I need an out and out special which can't be bought in the shops - like an extra long 3 or 4 foot hook length sometimes if fishing a Bomb & don't want a visible loop to loop joint too near to the hook bait.

 

Little things like that can mean the difference between a good day & not so good. :1a:

 

I nearly always use a quick change bead to attach the hook length when Ledgering - It's much easier than having to push the loop to loop apart when you break off. Also the loop in the main line is then straightened & malformed in that event making the new hook length more difficult to thread!! - you don't get that with qcb's.

Edited by Martin56
  • Like 1

Fishin' - "Best Fun Ya' can 'ave wi' Ya' Clothes On"!!

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