Here is a tip on fly hooks that will help you catch more fish on fly.
Many people tell you to sharpen
your hooks to catch more fish but here is another way to help you catch
more fish in addition to sharpening
the point of the hook. Most hooks have a barb much larger that you
need to keep a fish on the
hook. I like to file down the barb to half it's original size. That's right
FILE!
not mash. You can mash down
your barb if you like, but I don't like to. The reason I file down the
barb is so
that you make a smaller hole
in the fishes mouth which makes it easier to drive the hook home. The other
reason
is the large barb not only
makes a bigger hole, but it can also cut the hole bigger as the fish
fights, twist and turns itself
during the fight.
Here is an example of a #1 mustad 3407 with the barb unfilled and them filed.
Size #1 Mustad not filed
Size #1 Mustad with barb filed down
I guarantee you will hook more
fish if you file down your hook barbs and the difference
with a large hook like #2/0,3/0,4/0
or larger is much more dramatic!