At the other end of the hook is the eye. On eyed hooks this was a tapered loop eye as opposed to the 'ring' eye seen on modern hooks. This was easier to make (taper the shaft and fold around a mandrill) and stronger. It also would have been easier to quality control. The one problem I have found with tapered eyes is that the eye does not align with the shank.

The center of the 'loop' is biased towards the side where the 'leg' loops back to lie alongside the shank - a small gripe maybe. The other disadvantage with looped eyes is the flat platform they provide for tying - this is good when you are trying to seat a married feather wing but it can look bulky and it is hard to get a good small tight round head.

This of course is not a problem in the next hook, the eyeless hook. This is basically the same hook but with a (in most cases) tapered shank instead of an eye. Attachment to the line was via a loop of silkworm gut tied in at the start of the fly and built over.

Some tiers extend the gut down the body and build up thread, floss and tinsel over it to give a tapered underbody - I have done this for some show flies and I use it for the front half of bodies on some Hairwings (e.g. Rusty Rat, Undertaker etc) and it does give a nice look as well as avoiding a sudden drop off where the gut ends.

The next hook is the Spey style and Dee Style. These are basically the same in both eyed and eyeless versions, except in the matter of shank length. A Spey style hook is generally 6X-7X length shank and quite commonly available. A Dee style hooks has a shank 9X-10X long and is uncommon.

Some companies make a 10X shank fly hook and call it a Carrie Stevens style hook after the streamer type of fly first tied and popularised by Mrs Carrie Stevens. A Carrie Stevens style streamer tied on a Dee hook would look great. Dee hooks tend also to have downward looped tapered eyes and a straight shaft.

These are the main types of salmon hooks but there are variations of all. Alec Jackson released a set of signature Spey hooks - up eyed and in gold and silver. Nice but expensive - if you can find them. Some hooks are made with 1x diameter shanks and some (notably Partridge M series) made with a heavier wire. Then of course there are the double hooks and even trebles. But doubles are only occasionally seen and trebles are largely restricted to fishing flies.