Mustad C70S hooks

[josko]

I find I'm bending Mustad C70S size 6 and 4 hooks on bonefish with 12# tippets. This doesn't happen to me with the old 34007 hooks.
I had thought the C70 was the replacement for ther 34007. Is it actually a lighter-weight hook? If so, what IS Mustyad's replacement for the 34007?

[juro]

I am a TMC 811s man - never open up on the flats northern or tropical.

However I am jealous that you are opening up hooks on bonefish while I am at work... or wait you are at work! Now I am twice as jealous

[FishHawk]

S71S Mustad Signature hooks is the replacement. Take a look at the Gammi
CS 15 hooks and their bone fish hook in all black. Razor sharp out of the package and very light but strong hook. Try them and you'll like them. FishHawk

[juro]

I tried the SC15 Gamakatsu as well as a broad range of other hooks back when I worked at a fly shop. The tin plating was not as corrosion resistant as the TMC stainless and the material was fairly large diameter for it's strength compared to the quality alloy TMC uses. I found large diameter wire best fished with the barb intact (for obvious reasons) but prefer to use a hook that is effective barbless.

On the positive side, the 'drop-bend' design provides a wide gape and it's a sticky fish hookin' design, probably a great choice for saltwater tube flies and other down-riding point flies (deceivers etc). I wouldn't choose it for bonefish though, as most bonefish flies are meant to be fished point-up.

Mustad hooks had poor quality control, soft materials, required sharpening but were cheap. My bonefish flies tend to last a long time as long as I wash them in fresh water so I prefer to use very high quality hooks. Since those days new models have come out from Mustad which I have not checked out yet but hear good things.

I found the best overall balance of lightwire strength, factory sharpness, quality control and durability in the TMC 811s after that fling through the hook rack. Daichi taking a close second.

Consequently my striper techniques and bonefish techniques are very closely tied and the 811s gets my nod for both. However my conclusions were jaded by the flies and techniques I like to use, your results may vary.