As of the first of this year the venerable hook manufacturer, O. Mustad and Sons, has discontinued the manufacturing of it's flagship line of fly tying hooks. Gone are the 94840 (standard dry fly), the 9671 and 9672 (time honored nymph hooks) and the 3399A (standard wet fly). This, I believe, is only a partial list.
I have used these hook styles for almost 40 years but have also used newer brands/styles for the last 15 years. Frankly, I don't see a great deal of difference between them except that Mustad always had a quality product at a much lower price. Some of the new brands have a finish that is too bright for my liking. Mustud's finish was "dull" (which was good) as was their marketing effort which made them lose market share (which was bad).
The above "numbers" are etched into the brains of many of us flytyers who have been around for a while. These were the hooks used by many of the great flyfishers of the last half century. Their books always mentioned them in the tying of patterns which we use today. I can honestly say that I never lost a trout in 40 years of flyfishing due to a Mustad hook. All lost trout were my error. Thank God that I have a good supply of these old standbys but I will be scrounging around for what's left.
Mustad will continue with their "Signature" brand, an upscale, higher priced, questionably improved product.
Things Change.......
Ken
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