ok some of you have read my earlier snoqualmie report and see i had some jig hooks breaking. and it caused a little stir.

well i bought a new pack of jigs today and thought i would give them a little test.

my hook clamp does not hold the sickle bend very well. and i have to use a slight more pressure then normal to hold them. i have never had a problem with rvr fshr hooks breaking, or any other hook breaking until the last pack of rvr fshr jigs i bought.

naturally thinking it was a faulty pack of hooks.

well i took a few of the faulty jigs, and a few of the new pack i bought today and stuck them i the clamp 1 by 1 seeing if i could in fact break the hooks by putting alot of pressure on the hooks with the clamp.

not a single hook broke due to the clamping. BUT after tying a piece of 20lb mono and hooking the jig to a nail on the fence i was able to put enough pressure on the clamped hooks to break 2 from the "faulty" pack. and all 3 of the brand new pack.

after that i took 3 jigs from the brand new pack (unclamped), and tied the mono to them and pulled on them. with none resulting in breaking.

i then took all 3 of those jigs and clamped them to the same pressure as i would normally use. and 2 of those jigs broke after pulling on them again.


so my results.................. im one powerful clamping mofo.

again. the success i have had while using rvr fshr products has been great. my fishing success has improved greatly. and i will continue to fish thier products as long as they are avalible.

keep up the great work fellas, you make some great gear


p.s. no science was used in these test. no animals were harmed during the typing of this. though my eyes really hurt from looking at the screen

can i get those replacements now

Please define "my hook clamp"

Vise?

Maybe that is my problem also, though Ive put a lot of hooks in that thing (even up to size 18 dry fly hooks) and have never had a prob. Guess I might start not putting them in there so tight now....

Jake

That is what most people would call it Danny.

hook vise. yea....sorry my choice in wording wasnt the best.

The solution doesn't sound like more hooks, it's more like new vise.

i have broke many various jigs on the shaft somewhere, never broke a rvrfshr shaft. i have although broke the eye on the rvrfshr jig. not nearly half as many breaks as other jigs!

well they are not breaking on the shaft. they are breaking at the second bend...

with the vise i have, the hook is not clamped evenly. so i have to add more pressure in order to get the jig to stay still. with a normal bend hook, there is a a little more even clamping surface.

that is the only explination for the breaking. the original pack with hook breaking issues and the pack i just bought to test are from 2 different stores and a couple months difference recieving the product from rvr fshr. so i highly doubt the breaking is due to faulty product.

i have had quite a few jigs break. but that is due to alot of use and/or rust spot on the shaft

Lots of use will make your shaft rusty, after a while. Just ask Danny.

Where is that picture of the vise-grip-vise when a guy needs it?

Here you go Coley....

By the way, I've used RVRFSHR jigs hooks for the past few years and have never had one break.

Thanks for further clarifying drifter, even if I am still a little perplexed since I super-clamp the crap out of mine right on the bottom bend as well?

Nice vises Brian!

Is that a pair of vice grips welded onto a bar?

That is pretty sweet!

Yes it is. I saw this on another board and thought it was a pretty cool idea. The guy built it for tying larger saltwater flies.
No slippage gauranteed.

Yeah no [censored]. I could use a no fuss big fly vice line that. Could come in handy for a lot of uses actually.

Drifter101,

Sorry, you're wrong about not using any science in your test. Actually that was a pretty good example of using the scientific method to try and determine why some hooks break and some don't. All you could have done for a better test would have been to use a larger sample size and have some way to measure the amount of force you applied when clamping the hooks, so that each would be subject to the same force, or a known amount of force. But heavy handed you are! The test proves that!

Sg

Only thing I can see that might have the hooks breaking in the vise is the rough ragged hold they would have. I did the same thing though with the Sickles I just got, though not from Rvrfshr. I tore the hell out of 15 hooks using vise grips just to see how much they could take. I did break any but they are heavy Octopus hooks so that is likely a big difference.

I like your testing methods though, if a hook can pass that it won't have a problem with anything in our rivers short of maybe a 10 foot sturgeon.

Drifter101,

Could your vise be nicking the hooks? How big are the jaws on your vise? Are they designed for small hooks or are they suitable size for larger hooks?

I agree with Joe that you should be able to clamp the hook with enough force to prevent it from moving and not cause any damage.