Hends Fly Hooks BL 554

Customer Reviews

Good Shape, Bad Temper Review by David

Rating

I love the shape of these hooks, which is why I gave the hook a rating of 2 stars, but I have had too many (about 1 in 4) break, usually just at the start of the bend, which is why I gave the hook a rating of ONLY 2 stars.
I tied a bunch of soft hackle nymphs with them, and they work great at attracting trout, but it's very frustrating when the hook just snaps. Sometimes, as happened to me yesterday, it happens on the first fish. I can only guess that this is due to the hook tempering process. Maybe the hook is getting work-hardened during the slight back-and-forth bending that occurs during fly tying, but that movement is unavoidable, and this high percentasge of breakage would be an unacceptable result from any hook.
I tried to get a response from Hends about this problem by sending a message through their website contact link, along with a photo of 1/2 dozen broken size 16 hooks (my favorite size for the flies that I tied on this hook), but don't know if my message was received. No response, anyway.
I'm now using hooks with similar shape from other brands, such as Demmon and Firehole Sticks, with no breakage of those other hooks, so far, but I wish that Hends would address this problem. (Posted on 2/1/2022)