swedish hooks

[Don]

Does anyone know where I could find swedish hooks? (at least that what LaFontain called them)

You can find a picture of one in Gary Lafontain's book Caddisflies, he uses them to tie a Dancing Caddis pattern.

The best way I could explain them is they are flipped up so the point rides up, but by the eye of the hook there is a bend that goes up/verticle and then back horizontal.


Thanks for any help.

[Cary]

I ordered some a few years ago from Hunters Angling Supplies, in New York somewhere. Probably can find them searching the net.

[Cary]

Paste this link:

http://www.huntersangling.com/cgi-bin/shopper.cgi?key=H01641&preadd=action

[Trouty]

In LaFontaine's fly tying video he says to use a simple ring eye hook for this pattern instead of the Swedish hook. The Swedish hook is too hard to find and he says (or said since he is no longer with us) the ring eye hook fishes as well or better than the Swedish hook. The fly is tied inverted so watch out for pricking your fingers on the hook.

Its a good fly!!

[Greg M]

Do those come with or with out the bikini team?

[jdubya]

and have not had much luck. My conclusion was a lot of work finding the right hook and tying the unusual fly for little gain. There are better adult caddis patterns....(any by Lawson for example).

[Trouty]

I have had pretty good success with it on Uintah lakes and on the Herriman stretch of the Snake in Island Park.

I agree there are better adult patterns for dead drifting but sometimes moving the fly across the top can really turn the fish on. I have not, however, tried skating (intentionally anyway - sometimes I do it unintentionally!!) other dry caddis patterns so I don't really have anything to compare it to when it comes to moving a dry across the surface.

[Ouzel]

I don't have any info. on hooks but I do have a couple of posters of the Swedish Bikini Team.
They don't help my fly tying but they sure do brighten my day. :-)

[Don]

thanks for link to the hooks.

All this leads me to ask what are your favorite Adult(dryfly) caddis patterns to be dead drifted?

What it your favorite caddis pattern to be skated across the surface?

[carpman]

I can order some for you. Let me know if your interested......

[jdubya]

for adults to skate: Goddard caddis is good as is the Al Troth Elkhair and the fluttering caddis: these sit hi on the water and don't drag under.

For spent adults that are too tired to skate, I like a Hemmingway, a spent partidge, antron caddis, crippled caddis, and a new fly Chris Lawson showed me of basically a spent adult with parachute, an X-caddis, and a few others...

[Greg M]

Ozuel

Here you can update your swedish supplies.

http://www.swedishbikiniteam.com/images/swed.jpg

[Cary]

I gotta agree with JDub, alot of effort for little return, but it does skate well. Fact is, there isnt really that much opportunity to fish it. I think it works better during egglaying flights rather than emergences.

My favorite caddis dry is Lawson's partridge caddis, fave emerger is a CDC caddis.