I was visiting the Glasgow Angling Centre the other day with Mike and we got around to discussing hooks as you do when you meet up with any angler in the close season. Discussions in the close season all come around to fishing eventually, usually a lot more in-depth conversations are to be had during the close season as you cant talk about how nice the trees are or what interesting bugs you noticed down at the river the other day. So after discussing how desperate you are to feel the sun on your face and to see a rising trout to cast to you thrash out the intricateness of flies.
I use Kamasan b100 hooks for most of my flies, parachutes to CDC emergers and really like them as they give the fly a good old buggy profile. It also means the butt of the fly is hanging below the surface which is seemingly a good trigger point for a trout. Mike likes them too for I think the same reason. They come in three flavours: Gold, Nickel and Bronze. Last year I lost a good trout as the hook straitened, that was in fact the only time it had happened to me but I have since read on various forums that other people have found the same problem. I was talking to a fellow fisherman in work and he stated he had just thrown out a few boxes of them as he did not trust them anymore. The common complaint is that the Bronze ones are the worst out of the lot and consequently I only buy the Gold or Nickel. Mike thinks this is a lot of old rubbish and in fact went as far as to say the Gold or Nickel might actually put a trout off the fly as it’s an unnatural colour to be hanging down from am insects butt (he conveniently left out the tapered leader which is trailing away but I am not even going to get into that discussion). He has also had no experience of the hook giving out when playing a large trout (which immediately makes me question his tales of big trout) which leaves me with the same problem- should you risk it all on possibly dodgy hooks ? Of course there can be other reasons why the hook straightens – too much side strain and possibly even just “one of those thingsâ€.
So my thinking is made up of part experience, part conjecture and part hearsay- is that not possibly the best way to come up with an opinion? I will wait and see what happens this season I think; although what if I was to lose the fish of the season because of a dodgy hook that I knew was suspect?
2 thoughts on “Kamasan b100”
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I wouldn’t throw the things away.
The hook that straightened might have simply gotten ticked on a rock at some point in a cast, and gave up the ghost on a fish.
You could always select a test sample, put ‘me in your vise, and see how easily they straighten.
I wonder how much effect hook color has on fish. I know my tendency is towards dark or bronze hooks versus the flashy kind, but that belief doesn’t hold up in the face of the kind of “flash” we often add to flies to attract fish.
It remains a mystery of the stream – something worth fighting over during the off season, but wholly forgotten when the trout are rising… 😎
I think you’ve got it there Tom. I suspect it wasn’t the hook’s fault itself, but excessive wear of the hook caused by unfavourable aerodynamic buffeting due to wide-loopy casting. Tighten the loops boyo, trust me.