The Madness, The Results
Generally the failures followed a pattern of 3 or 4 different steps.
1. Light line – knot broke, no effect on the hook
2. Mid-weight line – knot broke, hook somewhat deformed
a. slight deformation, hook probably not compromised
b. significant [read more]

Materials
Hooks

Togen Scud hooks in #8, #10, #12, #14, #16 (left to right)
*Not shown* Togen Emerger hook in #18 (just for fun…)
Typically I tie nymphs on #10s, #12s, or #14s.  The bigger hooks give peace of mind and work well [read more]

*Disclaimer* any resemblance to scientific method is purely coincidental, the scientific validity and the sanity of the tester are questionable…

The basic mechanism was to clamp a piece of cork to the table to serve as the fishes mouth. Different pound [read more]

The Challenge
In my searches for quality fly hooks at a reasonable price Togen’s Hooks come up often, both The Roughfisher and Singlebarbed recommend them.  So this past fall I bought a 1000 mixed pack - several different sizes of scud hook, [read more]

We usually smuggle some goods that we can’t get out here on the prairie after visiting home:

2 WI brews, 1 MN brew, and 2 homebrews from a buddy of mine

Nuts, from one of the finest stores in the Upper Midwest

Some [read more]