Fly Tyers Dungeon, commonly abbreviated FTD, is a small American fly-tying materials company based in Florence, Montana. The business is closely associated with owner and operator Doug Brewer, known to customers as the “Mad Scientist,” and developed a following among fly tiers for unusual synthetic materials, experimental blends, generous package sizes, and unusually low direct-to-consumer pricing.

FTD traces its online presence to 1999, although the business’s involvement in fly fishing and the production of tying materials predates its website. Products such as Congo Hair, specialized dubbings, flash materials, synthetic fibers, legs, eyes, and other tying components became the core of the company. Many of these materials were developed, blended, processed, or packaged by FTD itself in what Brewer refers to as the “Dungeon.”

Entry into Fishing Hooks

Fishing hooks were a considerably later addition to the Fly Tyers Dungeon catalog.

By the early 2020s FTD had begun offering its own branded hook range, particularly hooks intended for large streamers, predator flies, saltwater flies, carp patterns, and other applications where strong hooks were required. A November 2024 account by a long-time FTD customer described the hook line as having been introduced only “a year or so” earlier, suggesting an introduction around 2023.

Unlike many of FTD’s tying materials, however, the hooks do not appear to have been manufactured by Fly Tyers Dungeon.

FTD’s own description of the Big Game hook range states that the hooks are made from high-carbon steel, finished in black nickel, and manufactured in China. Brewer also explained that he had searched for months before finding hooks that he considered suitable for the line.

The available evidence therefore indicates that Fly Tyers Dungeon should be considered the importer, selector, brand owner, and retailer of these hooks rather than their physical manufacturer. The actual Chinese factory or factories responsible for producing them have not yet been identified.

This type of arrangement is common in the modern fishing-hook trade. A distributor may select an existing factory pattern—or sometimes specify features, finishes, packaging, or dimensions—and market the resulting hooks under its own model numbers and brand. Unless factory records or import documentation are located, it is difficult to determine whether individual FTD patterns were completely standard Chinese catalog hooks, modified factory patterns, or hooks produced to specifications supplied by FTD.

The Big Game Hook Series

FTD marketed much of its hook range as Big Game Hooks, emphasizing strength and affordability for large freshwater and saltwater species.

Known FTD model designations include the MS100, BH200, ST5500, OS700, PK25, and dedicated carp patterns, along with several additional styles offered at various times.

The examples documented here illustrate the range:

BH200 — A black-nickel, high-carbon-steel big-game hook. FTD described the BH200 as slightly offset, with a relatively long shank, straight point, and two small barbs on the upper portion of the shank. The surviving package shown here is size 1/0.

OS700 — A general-purpose heavy freshwater and saltwater pattern. FTD specifically compared the OS700 with the familiar Mustad 3407/34007 style, describing it as a non-offset, ring-eye hook in black-nickel high-carbon steel. The documented example is size 1/0.

B.G. Hook Carp — A heavy hook sold specifically for carp flies and carp fishing. FTD described its carp pattern as a black-nickel, high-carbon-steel hook supplied in fly-tying sizes. The documented package is size 6.

The simple packaging used on these examples is characteristic of the small-scale nature of the operation: clear plastic bags with printed Fly Tyers Dungeon labels carrying the FTD logo, product description, model or application, hook size, and company website.

Identification and Collecting

From a historical-hook standpoint, Fly Tyers Dungeon hooks are best classified as modern private-label/imported hooks sold under the FTD brand, rather than hooks made by a vertically integrated hook manufacturer such as Mustad, Partridge, or Daiichi.

That distinction is important when cataloging them.

The brand recorded on the package should remain Fly Tyers Dungeon / FTD, because that is the commercial identity under which the hooks were sold. The manufacturer field, however, should presently be listed as something similar to:

Manufacturer: Unknown Chinese manufacturer
Brand/Distributor: Fly Tyers Dungeon (FTD)
Country of manufacture: China
Introduced: circa 2023, provisional

The individual FTD model numbers are still historically useful. Models such as the BH200 and OS700 document how a small American fly-tying supplier assembled its own branded hook program during a period when Chinese contract and private-label production had become an important part of the international fishing-hook market.

Future identification of the original factory could allow these hooks to be linked with identical or near-identical patterns marketed under other brands. Until such evidence appears, however, similarities in shape alone should not be treated as proof of common manufacture.

Fly Tyers Dungeon therefore represents a different chapter in hook history from the traditional hook-making firms. Its importance lies not in operating a hook factory, but in selecting, branding, importing, and selling economical modern hooks directly to fly tiers as part of a broader proprietary fly-tying materials business.