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AJ Steelhead Iron

6K views 10 replies 4 participants last post by  flytyer 
#1 ·
These aren't available locally. How is this hook different than the AJ heavy wire spey hook ? Is the wire heavier ? The shank looks like it might be a little shorter ?

Thanks in advance
Gillie
 
#3 ·
They are about the same wire as the heavy wire AJ Spey Hook with a shorter shank and a straight looped eye. The hook Alec is calling his steelhead iron is a Daiichi 2151. You might want to check and see if any local dealer who carries Daiichi has it or is willing to get it for you.
 
#7 · (Edited)
BLACK FRANCIS said:
i believe it is the daiichi 2161.
I agree the shape is extremely close, but the daiichi 2161 is different. I've used the 2161 for quite a while. Lovely hook, but with the strangest sizing of any hook I know — here's photo of size 1, 2 and . . . 4! The steelhead irons are available in odd sizes (3, 5, 7 and 9). The small nickle hook in the pic is what I believe to be a steelhead iron size 7. Compare it to the 2161 size 4.

Perhaps, they've "renamed" and "resized" the 2161 to carry the AJ name?
 

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#8 ·
Peter,
The 2051 is the standard AJ spey hook's number designation with Daichi.

The AJ SI comes in smaller sizes than the AJ heavy wire spey and looks as if it would serve as a nice hook for smaller wets.

If you look at the Daiichi information the 2151 and 2161 are described as the same hook but with different eyes.

As Bill said, the sizing between the 2161 and the AJ SI are quite different. It very well could be some different sizes of the 2161 relabeled for Alec's name. The other difference is that the 2161 is available only in black while the SI is available in different finishes.

Gillie
 
#10 ·
wrke, ghillie, and Black Francis,

You guys are correct, it is the Daiichi 2161 with the up loop eye, and not the 2151 (the 2161 and 2151 are the same hook, the difference is one has a straight eye and the other a turned up eye, and I constantly find myself calling them the wrong model number as a result). However, all Alec (I appologize to anyone who might be confused by my calling him Alec, I've known him for 14 years on a personal basis) did was re-lable the 2161 with the same odd size hook numbers he uses on his AJ Spey Hooks and had Daiichi make them for him in some finishes other than black. Alec had to buy quite a few thousand of each of the other colors in each of the sizes to have Daiichi do this for him.

In fact, myself and several others from the area who know Alec (Russ Miller, Bob Arnold, Steve Gobin, and several others) suggested to Alec that he market the 2161 as one of his hooks since it appeared to us that west coase steelheaders would buy them only if they had Alec's name associated with them as far back as 1994. We also suggested Alec market the Veverka Low-water hook as an AJ hook, Alec decided to do this after he spoke with Veverka about it and he came up with the name Low-water Dee for them. And all of us were very glad when Alec started marketing both hooks.

The size relationship between Alec's Steelhead Irons and the Daiichi 2161 is easy. Alec sizeed then in sequence from #3 to #9 instead of the unusual Daiichi sizing of #1,2,4,and 6 (How many of us are familiar with #1 hooks?). Thus, a 2161 #1, becomes an AJ Steelhead Iron #3, and so on. Alec did this to make it easier on the tyer and fisherman. The #9 (Alec's size designation) is my favorite hook to tie my friend (and Alec's friend) Bob Arnold's Spade on.

Alec also markets Bob Veverka's Low Water Hook (Daiichi 2131) as the AJ Low water Dee hook. It is the identical hook, just re-labeled by Alec and sized in odd number sequence instead of the usual even number sizing used by Daiichi. Alec simply uses odd sizes in sequence starting with #3, rather than the even sizes Daiichi uses. Thus a Veverka Low-water Hook (Daiichi 2131 #2) becomes an AJ Low-water Dee #3, and so on.

Wrke,

As you can see, you were right on about Alec calling them a different size. The AJ Steelhead Irons in 3,5,7,and 9 are the same as the Daiichi 2161 in 1,2,4, and 6. Alec using the odd number sizing was for marketing and to keep consistency with the sizing of his Spey Hooks, as well as to make it less confusing than having a hook designated as #1.
 
#11 ·
Peter,

I forgot to put this is my previous post. The AJ Spey Hooks (2051 etc.) have a different shape than the AJ Steelhead Irons/ Daiichi 2161's. The AJ Spey Hooks are much longer shanked, don't have a continous bend in the shank, and have a different bend and hook point, along with a much smaller diameter wire. The AJ Heavy Spey Hooks are identical to the standard SJ Spey Hook, just made from a much thicker diameter wire.

I still wish I would be able to convince Alec to put blind eye AJ Spey Hooks on the market in sizes #3 and #5. I love the blind eye #1.5 for dees, but it is too long for spey flies. A straightened #3 and #5 make for very pretty speys. Alec doesn't think there is enough of a market for the blind eyes in #3 and #5 to do it though. Oh well, they are easy enough to straighten if you use a butane lighter to heat them and then bend them with a pair of pliers. Just don't use anything hotter than a butane lighter to heat them or you will take the temper out of the hook.
 
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