will the short shank do?

[slarteebartfast]

i may be heading up to maine this weekend to visit a good buddy and hit some of his landlocked salmon spots. and being the stubborn striper fisherman i am, i would like to tie up some of my familiar streamers to bring along.

 

it appears that the flatwing style of fly was taken from salmon flies of old, so i am one step down that road, but when researching a few salmon streamers they all seem to be tied on long shanked hooks. is this because salmonids tend to "hit low" or strike in a way that a short shanked hook may not stick? i have mainly short shanked hooks, 254's and such.

 

its what i got, so its what i will bring, but will i be throwing an inferior hook here?

[M. saxatilis]

Slart,

I'm hoping others will shed more light than this but I would be less concerned with the short shank as I would be with the heavier wire hook.

 

If you are looking for a good hook to tie salmon flies on try TMC 7999. A typical flatwing pattern would be a bit large for Atlantic salmon...no? Scaled down I could see, but to use a EC 254 i think would be overkill, unless in smaller sizes like 2 or 4? Come to think of it I have only ever tied on 254's size 2/0-4/0.... like I said, perhaps someone else might chime in.

[slarteebartfast]

i have a bag of size 6 254's i picked up at some point, thinking that they might come in handy. wonderful move! but maybe thats why i don't seem to have any money...

 

my buddy told me to tie up something "big and nasty". big and nasty? ok let me grab some 7/0's. oh, 3-4 inches max? hmmmm. big and nasty.