i can fish with the traditionals and get great results, reason why. I use a turle knot, yes i spelt it right. Most knots tie straight to the iron and pull up on low water salmon hooks, the turle knot comes off straight and gives you a direct pull. U can still use traditional knots but then u have to break off the eye and make your own out of braid, another thing with the big irons is i dont like bigger than a 2/0 does to much damage to the fish, and with the bigger sizes i suggest u take a file to the shank near the point and thin it out, make it so the fish cant spit it out, even if you dont tug.
I fish traditionals for 2 reasons, the others are to time consuming, and i fish down and deep on the swing, and i tie patterns that i dont cry about if i loose them, i usually fish with marabou, and rabbit fur. I do use a few fancy/stiffer patterns for strong flows, like GP's, Freight trains, and skykomish sunrise's. They stay up and create a better profile in strong flows where the marabou would collapse. My point is if u loose a marabou or rabbit fur pattern u dont really care cus it take like 5 minutes to tie them and they are inexpensive, but if u lose an intruder or tube fly i'm balling my eyes out 1 because they look awsome and 2 because if i buy them they cost like $4 and if i tie them it takes like 20 minutes for 1 fly.
Turle Knot
It doesn't matter if its and upturned or a downturned eye, as long as the eye is not straight
Kinda long sorry. :2cents:
