My first exposure to flies tied on jig hooks was while casting oversized flies to snook. I was impressed with two things: the way the light wire of the hook made even four-inch flies easy to cast, and the hook-up rate. At first glance the 60-degree bend behind the hook eye makes flies look odd, like something that fell out of a hardware-chucker's Plano. But indeed they are castable, and very fishy. In fact while jig hook flies got their start with West coast anglers, many of the top permit guides in the Keys now tie their flies on variations of the bent-shank design.
Henry Cowen walks us through the beginnings of jig hook use by fly tiers and shows several patterns that have proven themselves effective not just for stripers, but for just about any saltwater fish that will fall for a streamer. Read "The Jig Is Up" on MidCurrent.
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