I like to make modular bodies (independent of any hook)
with both closed-cell and open-cell foam (dry flies and wet flies).
I usually make the body on a thin, horizontally-mounted beading
needle, finish the fly and then add the hook--almost as an
afterthought.

If they made crooked-shanked plastic worm hooks (like the ones
bass fishermen use for 'Carolina Rigged Worms' ) small enough
for medium-sized open-cell nymphs (like the Somore, below) then
you wouldn't need to tie the fly onto the hook at all.

You could thread a modularly-made foam-bodied fly onto the hook like
a plastic worm. If you pinched the barb down, this would allow
changing flies without re-tying the tippet knot (without changing
the hook).


http://montana-riverboats.com/pages/...denRocker.html
http://montana-riverboats.com/pages/...s/Somores.html

Unfortunately, it's hard to find "plastic worm hooks" smaller than size
1 or 1/0