We were able to connect with Chris Adams over the weekend in regards to the launch of the NEW CA Bendback Ahrex Hook. As many of you know we are closely tied with Ahrex Hooks and love their collaboration with incredible tiers and designers like Chris.
After a great conversation on the benefits and functionality of this new hook we wanted to share with you some information provided directly from the sources! Here are some words from Chris!
"I think it's awesome to have a company such as Ahrex who will listen to one insignificant individual about a hook that works for them, and then present it to the world. The Ahrex SA258 CA bendback is based heavily on what I thought was the perfect bendback hook... a bent PR320. I have been fishing Bendback hooks for an Australian species called Barramundi for about the last 15 / 16 years, I have been fishing for 'Barra' a lot longer, but the results that came from employing a bendback fly to my fishing were outstanding. The Bendback allowed me to put the fly where the fish live which is usually in thick weed that's usually around dense underwater timber. These fish won't hunt the fringes and wont respect a fly that comes close, it has to be on the money. Equally as important from arguably the world's fastest implosive feeding fish, was a hook that had the rigidity to set the hook without relying on the fish turning its weight onto it.. anything short of an instant hookst was spat out and never looked at again. The SA258 and the PR358 had to build on how good the PR320 was, now that we were given the chance to improve an already awesome hook. A larger gauge and a saltwater finish is important for snag dwelling fish that if you give them more than a foot to get home... you had already lost, a slightly larger gape but not too much that it would create flex in the shank, an oversized eye is there to both accommodate a 80lb shock needed for Barra, but most importantly, the extra weight of the oversized eye is to assist the action of a hook that has the tendency to swim in an undesirable 'belly first' action. The SA258 and the PR358 have taken almost 3 years to come to fruition. I am sure Ahrex ( who was awesome through this) can attest to how pedantic I was with the design, probably adding another year onto its release while I kept going back to the drawing board to finalise the design. At the end of the day, I couldn't be happier with the final result, Ahrex has really come through and delivered a hook that I hope anglers all over the world can benefit from."
We hope that this information was beneficial and adds an extra layer of information into how to apply this hook to your fisheries! This style of hook does not have a lot of notoriety locally for cutthroat and salmon but we will 100% be testing this out on all our local waters!
Get yours today at Spawn Fly Fish and checkout Chris Adams on Instagram for more inspiration on this amazing hook! @ammo_flies
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