Hook recomendation?

Hi folks

I'm off to Asia again in just under 8 weeks. First stop will be to do battle with the Pacu, a strain of Piranha, in a lake near Kuala Lumpur. I'll be fly fishing for these, using a slow sinking bread fly.

I'm struggling to find a suitable hook to tie my flies. It needs to be very long in the shank, to keep my line away from heir teeth. It also needs to be very strong, as they fight hard, and dirty.

I've ruled out using a short wire trace, as it will affect the bouyancy of my flies.

An 'Aberdeen' style sea hook would be perfect for shank length, but useless in the strength department.

Any ideas?

Cheers

If you search on the Internet, Mustad do some Tarpon Hooks, they should be strong enough i would have thought.
I don't know what they would be like for tying flies on to though.

Hi Ric, after good sport again.
How about salmon type tube flies? Use the plastic tubes instead of the metal ones, you can cut the tube as long as you like then use a small treble, double etc. You could try a large light salnom. Sea hooks might be too weighty.
Good luck.

No idea about the hooks I'm afraid, but very interested in how you get on. I'm in the process of planning a trip to Malaysia for late December to mid-January including plenty of fishing.
Hope you plan to post blogs from your trip again? If you need any contacts on the ground, I have some people out there.

---------- Post added at 14:22 ---------- Previous post was at 14:20 ----------

Ric Elwin said:

Hi folks

in a lake near Kuala Lumpur.

Click to expand...

Is that the Angler's Lounge?

I'll have a look at the Tarpon hooks, suspect they might be a bit short in the shank though.

I've never quite understood tube flies! I'll have a look...

The fishery in question is called Tow Foo. Literally, it's tofu, as that is what's fed into the lake regularly to maintain the weight of the fish. I can highly recomend it. It's 20 minutes north of Kuala Lumpur on the 'Kommuter' line, then a 3 quid taxi fare. Although a commercial, it looks very different from this, quite natural. The Pacu go to nearly 20, Catfish to the same weight are common. Grass Carp are tough, but catchable. If you have a bite off a Rohu, and your rod is in a rest, your rod will most likely end up in the water. If not, the speed of it's first run will make you think you've hooked a Bonefish.

Day tickets cost 3.50, meals less than a pound, and if you want to extend your stay, there is satellite tv under cover from the regular rain, plus any number of extremely friendly local anglers. Give it a try, you will not be disappointed.

Have a good trip Ric

Ric Elwin said:

The fishery in question is called Tow Foo. Literally, it's tofu, as that is what's fed into the lake regularly to maintain the weight of the fish. I can highly recomend it. It's 20 minutes north of Kuala Lumpur on the 'Kommuter' line, then a 3 quid taxi fare. Although a commercial, it looks very different from this, quite natural. The Pacu go to nearly 20, Catfish to the same weight are common. Grass Carp are tough, but catchable. If you have a bite off a Rohu, and your rod is in a rest, your rod will most likely end up in the water. If not, the speed of it's first run will make you think you've hooked a Bonefish.

Day tickets cost 3.50, meals less than a pound, and if you want to extend your stay, there is satellite tv under cover from the regular rain, plus any number of extremely friendly local anglers. Give it a try, you will not be disappointed.

Click to expand...

That sounds great, I'll have to give it a try. Have to say I'm more interested in catching Asian species, even on a commercial.
Despite 10 years of trying, I've still never caught a rohu! Hopefully that will change this year.

Have a great time...