Salmon Hooks
This section of Old Hooks will present Salmon hooks. Most will be blind eye hooks but there will also be eyed. You will find Salmon hooks in other sections too but the bulk of them are here. There are huge numbers of loose, vintage salmon hooks with no associated paperwork to identify them. I will not attribute potential makers for these hooks unless I am certain of the makers. This lack of identity is frustrating for hook collectors since values hinge on who made the hooks. Add to that the fact that virtually all hook makers copied hooks of other makers. They usually copied the hooks down to the smallest of details.
The aesthetic value of the unidentified hooks is certain. The monetary value is highest with packaging or a copy of the package when gotten from trusted sources.
Many of these hooks were gifts from friends so they will be identified as “…gift from ________” Hooks from the Ron Reinhold collection will be identified as “from the Reinhold collection” If they are mine, no further notation will follow. If they are someone else’s, their name will follow.
If you have not seen the pages of hooks made by Ron Reinhold in our catalog, I suggest you take a look. Every hook on those pages are actual hooks made by Ron Reinhold.
You may see duplicates here and I try to keep that to a minimum but it will occur. Where some duplicates are hand made hooks, the duplicates can serve to show small differences. Also included are hooks that may fit other categories such as marked, knobbed or other blind eye hooks that may have been for bait fishing for instance. All in all, I am trying to put hooks that may have wide uses in categories that seem the best fit.
Unknown blind eye Salmon hooks. Shows three close up shots of three of the points/barbs. These were salvaged from vintage flies. Gift from Bruno Pimpanini.
Unknown blind eye Salmon hooks. Shows three close up shots of three of the points/barbs. These were salvaged from vintage flies. Gift from Bruno Pimpanini.
Unknown blind eye Salmon hooks. Shows three close up shots of three of the points/barbs. These were salvaged from vintage flies. Gift from Bruno Pimpanini.
Unknown blind eye Salmon hooks. Shows three close up shots of three of the points/barbs. These were salvaged from vintage flies. Gift from Bruno Pimpanini.
Two blued hooks, about 1/0 & 1, early Partridge? Gift from Tim Trexler
Two blued hooks, about 1/0 & 1, early Partridge? Gift from Tim Trexler
Unidentified hook, about 2/0, bronzed. Gift from Jim Krul.
Three up eye salmon hooks, about 6/0, 5/0 & 4/0. Very nice hooks from a varied batch of hooks I bought from the UK. These, some oval wire hooks and some lesser hooks were in the bunch. These have nicely hand filed points.
Seven unidentified, marked shank, about 2/0, kirbed, bronzed hooks. These hooks have distinct signs of hand worked hooks. The marks are all over the place including on the sides of the shanks which is seldom seen and the kerbing is uneven. You can see the hooks lined up in the lower photo, the wires should all be touching. They do not.
Seven unidentified, marked shank, about 2/0, kirbed, bronzed hooks. These hooks have distinct signs of hand worked hooks. The marks are all over the place including on the sides of the shanks which is seldom seen and the kerbing is uneven. You can see the hooks lined up in the lower photo, the wires should all be touching. They do not.
This is a bronzed, knobbed, forged hook about 5/0. I have a soft spot in my heart for knobbed hooks.
These two hooks are the last hook Ron Reinhold made and the first I made when I was at his place to learn to make hooks when I bought the business. These are the Ephemera hooks with the exhibition finish. My hook is on top and Ron’s below. I made this one and three others. My friend Royce Stearns has one that I gave him. The others I still have.
These two hooks are the last hook Ron Reinhold made and the first I made when I was at his place to learn to make hooks when I bought the business. These are the Ephemera hooks with the exhibition finish. My hook is on top and Ron’s below. I made this one and three others. My friend Royce Stearns has one that I gave him. The others I still have.
These two hooks are the last hook Ron Reinhold made and the first I made when I was at his place to learn to make hooks when I bought the business. These are the Ephemera hooks with the exhibition finish. My hook is on top and Ron’s below. I made this one and three others. My friend Royce Stearns has one that I gave him. The others I still have.
Unidentified hook, about 1/0, forged, Marked, knobbed, flared, japanned. This is a very interesting little hook. It exhibits no less than three methods of snell retention. It is flared right behind the knob, has the knob as well and is marked. The markings are only on top of the shank which is rare. The marks are hand filed. How can you tell? Ground marks will be round at the bottom of each mark. Embossed marks will tend to be rounded top and bottom and file cut marks will be sharp top and bottom. Also, as in this hook, the area behind the flared area, is not flared which embossing will do.
The hook point is guttered and is a very nice Dublin point. Gift from Martin Bach
Unidentified hook, about 1/0, forged, Marked, knobbed, flared, japanned. This is a very interesting little hook. It exhibits no less than three methods of snell retention. It is flared right behind the knob, has the knob as well and is marked. The markings are only on top of the shank which is rare. The marks are hand filed. How can you tell? Ground marks will be round at the bottom of each mark. Embossed marks will tend to be rounded top and bottom and file cut marks will be sharp top and bottom. Also, as in this hook, the area behind the flared area, is not flared which embossing will do.
The hook point is guttered and is a very nice Dublin point. Gift from Martin Bach
Unidentified hook, about 1/0, forged, Marked, knobbed, flared, japanned. This is a very interesting little hook. It exhibits no less than three methods of snell retention. It is flared right behind the knob, has the knob as well and is marked. The markings are only on top of the shank which is rare. The marks are hand filed. How can you tell? Ground marks will be round at the bottom of each mark. Embossed marks will tend to be rounded top and bottom and file cut marks will be sharp top and bottom. Also, as in this hook, the area behind the flared area, is not flared which embossing will do.
The hook point is guttered and is a very nice Dublin point. Gift from Martin Bach
Unidentified hook, about 1/0, forged, Marked, knobbed, flared, japanned. This is a very interesting little hook. It exhibits no less than three methods of snell retention. It is flared right behind the knob, has the knob as well and is marked. The markings are only on top of the shank which is rare. The marks are hand filed. How can you tell? Ground marks will be round at the bottom of each mark. Embossed marks will tend to be rounded top and bottom and file cut marks will be sharp top and bottom. Also, as in this hook, the area behind the flared area, is not flared which embossing will do.
The hook point is guttered and is a very nice Dublin point. Gift from Martin Bach
Unidentified hook, sneck, from Dave Carne.
Eugene Sunday hook, 9/0. Specially made for Al Cohen & was part of Cohen’s collection until it was acquired by Paul Rossman. Hook has the “pouty lip” Dublin point. From the Reinhold collection.
By looking at this and the other Sunday hooks you can clearly see the relieved taper. That is that the taper is a straight line on top with the shank and the relief is below to allow for the gut to be tied in with minimal bulk.
I have quite a few vintage hooks that clearly predate Sunday’s hooks so it can be assumed he noticed it on them and incorporated it on his hooks or he just thought of it on his own. Sunday studied vintage hooks so I tend to believe in the first assumption. In any case, the relieved taper for those attaching the gut below the taper makes the job of keeping bulk to a minimum easier.
Eugene Sunday hook, 9/0. Specially made for Al Cohen & was part of Cohen’s collection until it was acquired by Paul Rossman. Hook has the “pouty lip” Dublin point. From the Reinhold collection.
By looking at this and the other Sunday hooks you can clearly see the relieved taper. That is that the taper is a straight line on top with the shank and the relief is below to allow for the gut to be tied in with minimal bulk.
I have quite a few vintage hooks that clearly predate Sunday’s hooks so it can be assumed he noticed it on them and incorporated it on his hooks or he just thought of it on his own. Sunday studied vintage hooks so I tend to believe in the first assumption. In any case, the relieved taper for those attaching the gut below the taper makes the job of keeping bulk to a minimum easier.
Eugene Sunday, limerick, 4/0. Gift from Paul Rossman.
Eugene Sunday rational 3.0.
Eugene Sunday, limerick ½” longer, Dee, 6.0. From Paul Seymour to Ron Reinhold 9/1997. From the Reinhold collection.
Eugene Sunday, “Madden Celebrated Limerick”, 5.0. From Frank Lendzion Feb. 1994 to Ron Reinhold. From the Reinhold collection.
Eugene Sunday, Harrison Hollow point but with a Dublin point, 5/0. This hook except for the length is an exact match for the Reinhold Noble HB 5/0. From the Reinhold collection.
Eugene Sunday, #1 5/0, limerick. From Gene Sunday to Ron Reinhold June 1999. From the Reinhold collection.
Eugene Sunday, #1 5/0, limerick. Gift from Paul Rossman.
Hutchinson & Son, 1 1.2, sproat, Reinhold collection, Royce Stearns
Hutchinson & Son, 1 1.2, sproat, Reinhold collection, Royce Stearns
Milward & Sons, #3, slight up turn in the taper. Reinhold collection, Royce Stearns
Phillips 1.0, Reinhold collection, Royce Stearns
S Allcock, 1.0, hook & label detail, Reinhold collection, Royce Stearns
S Allcock, 1.0, hook & label detail, Reinhold collection, Royce Stearns
W Bartleet & Sons, 1 1/2 Dee, Reinhold collection, Royce Stearns
W Bartleet & Sons, #6, Reinhold collection, Royce Stearnsv
W Bartleet & Sons, #6, Reinhold collection, Royce Stearnsv
W Woodfield & Sons, #5, knobbed, japanned, Reinhold collection, Royce Stearns
Harrison Bartleet, 4.0, japanned, Reinhold collection, Royce Stearns
Harrison Bartleet, 4.0, japanned, Reinhold collection, Royce Stearns
Harrison Hollow point, 4/0, japanned, Reinhold collection, Royce Stearns
Milward Bartleet, 3.0, japanned, Reinhold collection, Royce Stearns
O Mustad & Son, 8,0, oval wire, japanned. Eugene Sunday acquired this hook from Paul Schmookler and Ron Reinhold got it from Sunday 12/29/1997. I have oval wire hooks from at least two hook makers, this being Mustad. This hook differs from the rest in that the oval is very pronounced and they were able to bend it the “hard way” much more successfully than the others. The others have their wire with the “flat” sides a little off perpendicular in the bends while the Mustad is perfectly in line. The others ovals are not quite as pronounced as this hook.
It is not easy to detect an oval wire just by looking at it. Even looking at one often does not give up the oval configuration either. The one test that is infallible is to roll the shank between your thumb and index finger. You will feel a distinct difference from a round wire.
Hook makers likely thought the oval wire would result in a stronger hook. I am sure it is, but the effort to make them vs the gain in strength over a forged wire hook just didn’t make it worth it. I expect it was more a sales gimmick that fell by the wayside. They are very cool hooks though and they rarely turn up.
Gift from Ron Reinhold.
O Mustad & Son, 8,0, oval wire, japanned. Eugene Sunday acquired this hook from Paul Schmookler and Ron Reinhold got it from Sunday 12/29/1997. I have oval wire hooks from at least two hook makers, this being Mustad. This hook differs from the rest in that the oval is very pronounced and they were able to bend it the “hard way” much more successfully than the others. The others have their wire with the “flat” sides a little off perpendicular in the bends while the Mustad is perfectly in line. The others ovals are not quite as pronounced as this hook.
It is not easy to detect an oval wire just by looking at it. Even looking at one often does not give up the oval configuration either. The one test that is infallible is to roll the shank between your thumb and index finger. You will feel a distinct difference from a round wire.
Hook makers likely thought the oval wire would result in a stronger hook. I am sure it is, but the effort to make them vs the gain in strength over a forged wire hook just didn’t make it worth it. I expect it was more a sales gimmick that fell by the wayside. They are very cool hooks though and they rarely turn up.
Gift from Ron Reinhold.
Oval wire, up eye, 8.0, gift from Davie McPhail.
Oval wire, up eye, 8.0, gift from Davie McPhail.
Two oval wire hooks, about #1 & 1/0.
Two oval wire hooks, about #1 & 1/0.
Unidentified oval wire blind eye hook, about 8/0
Unidentified oval wire hook, about 2/0
Blind eye hook by Henrik Strandgaard, gift from Royce Stearns
Eugene Sunday Phillips hook, 3/0. The bend is the same as the Reinhold Phillips-Jones 2/0 but the throat is longer on the Reinhold hook.
Eugene Sunday Phillips hook, 3/0. The bend is the same as the Reinhold Phillips-Jones 2/0 but the throat is longer on the Reinhold hook.
#35 Eugene Sunday hook, 3.0, see #36
#36 Eugene Sunday, marked as Phillips 3.0, but is a perfect match to #35 bur slightly shorter and the Reinhold Harrison & Bartleet 3/0.
Allcock, kirby, long shank, 5.0, blued, gift from Paul Rossman
Unidentified #1904-M, sproat, 5.0, 6.0, gift from Paul Rossman.
W Woodfield & Sons, two sizes, knobbed, Kinsey, japanned. The largest hook is the same as #24. These were a gift of Paul Rossman.
R Turner, 5.0 & 4.0, marked, japanned. The marking detail clearly shows the profile an embossed marking leaves. A gift from Paul Rossman.
R Turner, 5.0 & 4.0, marked, japanned. The marking detail clearly shows the profile an embossed marking leaves. A gift from Paul Rossman.
Allcock, XL, kirby, marked, blued. The one photo shows how really bad some machine made hooks can be detail wise. Gift from Paul Rossman.
Allcock, XL, kirby, marked, blued. The one photo shows how really bad some machine made hooks can be detail wise. Gift from Paul Rossman.
S Allcock, sproat, 5.0, japanned. Gift from Paul Rossman.
Allcock, limerick, 5.0, japanned. These are two hooks I’m sure from the same box. I can’t say what the age of them is but when compared as two of these photos show, they differ significantly. The shanks are different length and the points are as well. It is either hand work or very sloppy machines. I am thinking the latter. Gift from Paul Rossman.
Allcock, limerick, 5.0, japanned. These are two hooks I’m sure from the same box. I can’t say what the age of them is but when compared as two of these photos show, they differ significantly. The shanks are different length and the points are as well. It is either hand work or very sloppy machines. I am thinking the latter. Gift from Paul Rossman.
Allcock, limerick, 5.0, japanned. These are two hooks I’m sure from the same box. I can’t say what the age of them is but when compared as two of these photos show, they differ significantly. The shanks are different length and the points are as well. It is either hand work or very sloppy machines. I am thinking the latter. Gift from Paul Rossman.
DW & JD Clark, Chestertown, #5, hollow point, japanned. Gift from Paul Rossman.
O Mustad & Son, O’Shaughnessy, two sizes, bronzed, forged, offset taper. Paul Rossman gave me two of each of these size hooks. Three have the typical hollow point while one is distinctly an in-turn point (the lower one). More interesting hook questions. Gift from Paul Rossman.
O Mustad & Son, O’Shaughnessy, two sizes, bronzed, forged, offset taper. Paul Rossman gave me two of each of these size hooks. Three have the typical hollow point while one is distinctly an in-turn point (the lower one). More interesting hook questions. Gift from Paul Rossman.
S Allcock, 6.0, sproat, bronzed, hollow point. Gift from Paul Rossman.
H Milward & Son, #16, sproat, hollow point, japanned. An elegant little hook. I do not want to make one anywhere near this small!!!! A gift from Paul Rossman.
Unidentified bronzed, about 3.0. Gift from Dave Carne
Some unidentified hooks. Gift from Davie McPhail.
Mustad, 4.0, flatted, blued. From the Reinhold collection.
Mustad, 4.0, flatted, blued. From the Reinhold collection.
Edgar Sealey & Sons, 4.0, Aberdeen, from the Reinhold Collection.
W Bartleet & Sons, package and labels, hook, 6.0. Other than the size and fact that this hook has a Dublin point instead of a hollow point, the package description matches. From the Reinhold Collection.
S Allcock & Co, O’Shaughnessey, 2.0, drilled, forged, bronzed, tapered. From the Reinhold collection.
S Allcock & Co, O’Shaughnessey, 2.0, drilled, forged, bronzed, tapered. From the Reinhold collection.
Dave Paris hook, Modified Harrison bend, ca 1980 – 1995, Reinhold collection. I don’t know much about Dave or his hooks. This is the only one I’ve seen so I don’t know if the interesting “taper” was standard for him. An interesting solution for eliminating bulk at the head of the fly.
Mustad Cincinnati, #3751, pre WWII. From the Reinhold collection.
Harrison’s, Celebrated O’Shaughnessy Dublin Limerick, 3.0. From the Reinhold collection.
Unidentified Limerick hollow point, about 5.0. From the Reinhold collection.
Harrison, 6.0, flatted, hollow point. From the Reinhold collection.
Harrison, 6.0, flatted, hollow point. From the Reinhold collection.
Harrisons’, Aberdeen, 7/0, blued, marked. From the Reinhold collection.
W Bartleet & Sons, 4/0, tapered, 3.4” longer. The taper clearly shows evidence of hand filing. From Derl Stovall on 10/10/1997, who acquired it from the Michael Radencich collection as sold by Phil Castleman in mid 1990’s. From the Reinhold collection.
W Bartleet & Sons, 4/0, tapered, 3.4” longer. The taper clearly shows evidence of hand filing. From Derl Stovall on 10/10/1997, who acquired it from the Michael Radencich collection as sold by Phil Castleman in mid 1990’s. From the Reinhold collection.
Gamakatsu, 6.0, One of only about 10 made. Reinhold got this hook from Tai Nakamura in 2003. He worked with the Gamakatsu developmentteam that made these in 1993. The project was abandoned because they couldn’t figure out an economical japanning process for mass production. From the Reinhold collection.
C Draught, 6.0. Was in a yellow “Bibeau’s” labeled plastic bag. Bag was labeled 2/0 but the hooks are actually about 6/0, flatted. Reinhold collection.
C Draught, 6.0. Was in a yellow “Bibeau’s” labeled plastic bag. Bag was labeled 2/0 but the hooks are actually about 6/0, flatted. Reinhold collection.
Wm Bartleet, 5/0 & 1.5”. From Gene Sunday 12/29/1997. Fron the Reinhold collection.
S Allcock, O’Shaughnessey, limerick, 6.0. From the Reinhold collection.
Mustad Carlisle, #3201, 3.0. From the Reinhold collection.
Mustad, #3899, 5.0, Reinhold collection.
These above hooks are all O Mustad & Son Limerick hooks. They were sent to me by Dag Bjørnar Berg who has a shop (Jarle & Bjørnar Flyfishing) in Norway. Bjørnar doesn’t know a whole lot about these hooks but the fellow he got them from said he believes a few of them were hand made and not production hooks. The largest I think. In any case, he had a couple packages for the hooks (most were loose) with one labeled as Christiania and another Oslo. We know that the Christiania hooks predate 1924 when the name was changed to Oslo. Some are bronzed, others japanned, gold and ”bright”.
The First group photo shows five bronzed hooks, all of which look to have some hand filed tapers with the largest, a 10/0 hook that may also have had the point hand filed. I would say these hooks could be from about 1905 or so. That is the date he gave me as what the other fellow told him. So I won’t disagree with that.
Next are four shots, three tapers and one with two points. The smoothest taper and the lower point is the largest hook while the taper with file marks and notches (marks) is the smallest of the hooks. The other taper is the second to the largest hook.
The second group photo shows two bright hooks on top and two gold below. The larger bright hook was in a package marked Christinaia while the smaller in one marked Oslo. So the first would be 1900 ish while the smaller is newer. Interestingly, the package fro the smaller one was made for the French market. The two gold hooks look of more modern make so around that late twenties or so.
The last group photo shows a group of japanned hooks. The largest is 6/0 and the smallest a #3. I am not sure enough to put dates on these and none had packaging so I would put them conservatively in the twenties.
I took the second largest hook in the first group, a 9/0 and placed it alongside a 9/0 #3101 A on a later Mustad sample card and except for the taper/eye and point, hollow/dublin, both hooks are near matches. This does not necessarily cast a shadow on the age of Bjørnar’s hook because the Limerick is a very old bend. Just an interesting exercise.
All of these hooks are very well done.
If anyone has more information on these hooks, Bjørnar would like to hear them. You can contact him via email at flyfish@online.no
Originally I got the one box of hooks with the company name missing but it did say Norway so I assume that the O Mustad & Son company made and packaged the hooks. Recently, I was sent the other photo of a similar label with the name Thomas Hawkes & Co on it from Paul Martin and Álvaro Lopez-Watermann, both friends and avid hook collectors.
Unknown make Salmon hooks, #6, low water, japanned, brazed up loop eye. There could be a label under the tape but the tape and writing is vintage and has a bit of a Victorian flavor to it.
Unknown make Salmon hooks, #6, low water, japanned, brazed up loop eye. There could be a label under the tape but the tape and writing is vintage and has a bit of a Victorian flavor to it.