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In Depth Review of New Daiichi Scud Hooks

J. Stockard Pro Tyer: Paul Shurtleff, Springville UT, You can find Paul @: www.instagram.com/insectinside/, www.facebook.com/pauliescustomflies

In this article J.Stockard Pro Paul Shurtleff reviews a new series of Daiichi Scud Hooks. Here are the links to each model and you can read Paul’s analysis below.

1924 Barbless Scud Fly Hook – matte green
1925 Barbless Scud Fly Hook – matte brown
1928 Barbless Scud Fly Hook – matte gray
1929 Barbless Scud Fly Hook – matte black

I’ve fully tested all of the new sample hooks sent to me. What I’ve discovered is that these hooks are VERY STRONG! They do not want to bend at all and they are NOT brittle either. They are reluctant to bend but will bend (under extreme pressure) instead of instantly breaking off. I tested 1 hook from each pack of each color and stress tested each hook color to the breaking point. What I discovered is that there is NO difference (that I detected) in strength between colors either. This is not a thorough test since each color of sample hooks received was in a different size. However, from what I could tell, comparable companies hooks in the same size ranges proved to be fairly equal as far as strength goes. I am quite impressed with the strength. What I did notice is that whatever coating Daiichi puts on these hooks makes them VERY SLICK! They’re almost dangerously slick… so much so that 2 of the sample size hooks survived the “Nano Silk” test (where I break a hook in my vise with Semperfli’s Nano Silk Thread) and I had 2 hooks slip out of the jaws of my Regal during stress testing making a horrible snap sending a cold chill down my spine! I have never had a hook pop out of the jaws of my Regal before up until stress testing these hooks, I am quite impressed with the strength to say the least. In fact, that’s one thing I’m going to caution for consumers and a recommendation for Daiichi for production packaging. These hooks are extremely slick: They can and will slip out of the jaws of vices under heavy pressure. That could be due to the stainless jaws of my Regal (which are slick anyway) but it should be something to caution anyway in my opinion.
Tying on these hooks was great. As mentioned before, scud style hooks are typically not my first choice to use but they were great to tie on. Tying on these hooks was like tying on any other hook with the exception of there being very little hook flex under thread pressure like there is on other similar hooks. I understand that these hooks are heavy wire extra strong hooks but it’s still something worthy of noting. Because of the coating and next to zero hook flex, that’s where the caution of the hook popping out of the vise comes in. Having a hook pop out of the vise can cause damage and chipping of vise jaws (not to mention a sharp projectile potentially flying across a room!) so again, something to caution. However, the slick coating of these hooks didn’t cause any issues while tying, the thread stuck on pretty good actually and I had zero material roll with a light thread base. I’m not sure whether that same thing would happen if there wasn’t a thread base, I’m just saying that I didn’t have any issues that way.

Continue reading → In Depth Review of New Daiichi Scud Hooks

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Rotary Fly Tying – Featuring the Norvise

Guest Blogger: J. Stockard Pro and Owner of Norvise: Tim O’Neill, Hockessin, DE

As we travel the country on the fly fishing show circuit I am always amazed by something I observe when I look at the “ring of tyers” at each location, whether we are up in Marlborough, Massachusetts, Atlanta, Georgia or Pleasanton, California one thing seems to repeat itself over and over.

Rotary fly tying is nothing new; vises that you can slowly rotate 360 degrees have been around for a long time. The thing that I find odd as I watch tyers from all around the country is that very seldom do I see people using the rotary function of the vise as part of tying the fly. People will invest a lot of money for these tricked out rotary vises, and I am not saying they are overpriced, I am saying it is an investment, and they only use the rotary function of the vise to turn the hook to look at the other side of the fly. This always seemed strange to me.

Continue reading → Rotary Fly Tying – Featuring the Norvise

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Dreamstream Scissors Review

Guest Blogger & FOM Tyer: Paul Beel, J. Stockard Pro Tyer Team Leader and owner of FrankenFly

On a regular basis I keep a pair of general purpose scissors handy on my tying desk. I like to keep my good scissors as sharp as possible and not dull them by cutting things I don’t need to cut. So this is the reason I use general purpose scissors.

I noticed J.Stockard had new scissors available from Umpqua and I picked up some Umpqua Dreamstream+ All Purpose scissors coming in at 4 inches. The general information on these scissors reads;

“Medium length, micro-serrated blades make these a great all-purpose scissor. Sharp, serrated blades grab and cut a wide variety of natural and synthetic materials for all-around use.”

I’ve now been using the Dreamstream scissors for several weeks and completely agree, these are great for all-around use. The serrated blades make these scissors really excel at cutting synthetics, because they are able to grab a hold of the material and it doesn’t slip out of the blades. The serrated blades also make these clinch together as they cut, so you can feel them grab. I’ve also cut natural materials with them and they do that just fine too.

I haven’t been easy on these scissors the last few weeks either. I have cut Intruder wire, Fireline fishing line, lead wire, copper wire, flashabou, synthetic hair and fibers, and many types of natural feathers and furs. I’ve even used them to scrape off the stiff glue from my dubbing needles. They are still working just fine and cutting just fine. I wouldn’t say they are as exactly as sharp as they were out of the package, but they are still plenty sharp enough to cut the materials I need to cut.

They fit into my hand just fine and the finger holes are made just like almost any other scissors. So nothing out of the ordinary there.

To be honest, I would say as general purpose scissors go, these are just as good or better than anything out there right now. I would not hesitate to pick up another pair when I need them.