Maxcatch Hooks

Maxcatch Hooks In the House

December 24 2020

I recently received a request to tie some flies for this coming Spring. The fishing locale will be upstate South Carolina, otherwise known as the Southern Appalachians.
What the requestor wanted specifically were Cahills, Hendrickson's, that sort of thing,...dry flies, in other words.  
Full disclosure: I don't normally tie this kind of fly.
I used to, when I first learned that trout and panfish pretty much eat the same things.
But I've moved away from them, and don't get much call for the type.

So, I referred to the information I've shared on these pages before, from the book, "Trout Streams of Southern Appalachia," 3rd edition, by Jimmy Jacobs. I've linked it here:

www.facebook.com/groups/flyfishingsouthcarolina/permalink/1782042488699164/

After re-reading it, I realized I would need some proper dry fly hooks for this work – 12's and 14's to be exact.
Here's how Mr. Jacobs explains it...

"HOOK SIZES

No elaborate ranges here; it's really a small selection when compared to what we THINK we must have. In short, here are the sizes you need to consider:

- Sizes 12 and 14 for dry Flies

- Sizes 8-14, for nymphs and wet flies

That's it. These will allow mastery over the bulk of the conditions found in Southern Appalachia."

Since there is no better time to add to the hook stash than when prepping for a tying project, I ordered some dry fly hooks in those sizes from Maxcatch on ebay.

In these pics you can see the package dump – the “unbagging,” so to speak.

The 12's

The 12's are black nickel, and barbless, which was not intentional, but it won't make a difference. 

They were $5.75USD

The 14's

The 14's are barbed, bronze, and came at a cost of $5.50
These are packs of 100 – making the hooks less than 6 cents apiece.

Now, if these are like most other items from Maxcatch, I can expect good performance from them.
Yes, they came from China, like most every other thing these days.
I wouldn't normally order them that way, because it can take a hugely long time to get anything from there.
Yes, the “slow boat from China” you've heard about your whole life is real.

The thing that decided me, however, was they were coming from Maxcatch.
And how long did they take?
10 days. Not long at all.
So there it is.
Hooks. China. Maxcatch.
Make of that what you will.

Anyway, they look okay, as hooks go.
Keep in mind, they aren't paying me to plug these hooks - I'm not advertising them, I get no kickbacks from Maxcatch, and I'm not on their pro-staff team... I'm not on anyone's pro-staff, in fact, except our own, here at Palmetto Fly n Fish...

No, this is just me telling you what I can tell you. 

I might stress test a few of the hooks, to see how they hold up; that's always revealing. 

I do this from time to time with hooks, when I feel the need, and some of you may remember my “Great Aberdeen Hook Test” from a few years back....

https://palmettoflynfish.blogspot.com/2019/01/the-great-aberdeen-hook-test.html

If I do the tests, I'll update with a new blog post to inform you of the results.

Next comes the tying, which will follow my current Project Vise line-up, "Bass Flies You Cant Imagine."

For now you've seen the hooks. We'll "see" what else develops.

Thanks so much for reading and Tight Lines,

David
Palmetto Fly n Fish

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