Ahrex FW501 — Dry Fly Trad. Barbless

Dry Fly Trad. Barbless hook silhouette
Ahrex FW501 — Dry Fly Trad. Barbless

Ahrex FW501

Dry Fly Trad. BarblessListed by Ahrex from January 2018 V

Evidence reviewed October 26, 2026. Marks: P photographically · V verified · I inferred · E estimated · S speculative What they mean

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Summary

The Ahrex FW501 is a single, barbless dry fly hook from the maker’s Freshwater Series. Ahrex lists it as Dry Fly Traditional, Barbless; the pack prints the name as Dry Fly Trad. Barbless.

The hook has a turned-down eye P and a black nickel finish V. This entry documents size 12.

Photographic record

2 photographs

Front of an Ahrex pack for FW501 Dry Fly Trad. Barbless hooks, size 12, 24 pieces, with a white AHREX wordmark on a dark blue band.
IMG-1Ahrex — New entry — image 1 Pack front: FW501, size 12, 24 pcs., black nickel finish. The top edge is torn.

How to identify it

On the pack, identification rests on three printed items: the model code FW501 at top left, the name DRY FLY TRAD. BARBLESS, and the FRESHWATER SERIES heading above it P. The AHREX wordmark sits on a dark blue band, and the web address WWW.AHREXHOOKS.COM runs along the bottom.

Size and count are printed in the top row of the front panel.

A loose hook without its pack is harder to place. A plain shank, turned-down eye, black surface and no barb are consistent with the model but are not specific to it I.

Technical profile and measurements

Features of the model, as recorded
FeatureRecordedEvidence
EyeTapered Eye, Turned Down
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Turned down: the shank bends toward the point side before the eye, which is a small closed ring P. The photograph does not show whether the eye is tapered.

OBS-1SRC-3
WireStandard, Round
ShankStandard — Plain
BendPerfect, Standard gap
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Round, evenly curved bend. The lower leg runs forward in an almost straight line to the point P.

OBS-2
PointStandard / Spear
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None. No barb is visible on the photographed hook, and the pack and the maker both list it as barbless PV.

OBS-4LBL-7SRC-1
Finishstated on packaging
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Black nickel finish, printed on the pack and stated by the maker V. The specimen is black with a dull blue-silver sheen P.

LBL-8SRC-1SRC-2OBS-6
ConstructionBarbless

Ahrex lists FW501 in sizes 8 to 18 V. One US dealer lists sizes 10 to 18 V.

The shank is straight and plain, with no ridges or kinks visible in side view P. By shank proportion the hook falls in the standard-length group. Its wire thickness is nearest the heavy group, measured from the traced outline against the site catalog I.

Measurements

Per size, with how each dimension was taken
SizeOverall lengthShank lengthGap widthBend depthWire diameterWeight
12Specimen S113.3 mm PcaliperMEA-110.2 mm PcaliperMEA-24.9 mm PcaliperMEA-3—0.6 mm PcaliperMEA-4—
Calibrated SVG True-scale preview

How hook dimensions are measuredA hook outline with dimension lines for overall length, shank length, gap, bend depth, and wire diameter.Overall lengthShank lengthGapBend depthWire diameter
Overall length
Eye to the farthest point of the bend.
Shank length
Eye to the start of the bend.
Gap
Point to shank, at right angles to the shank.
Bend depth
Shank to the bottom of the bend.
Wire diameter
Across the wire, measured by caliper where possible.

Specimens, packaging, and label

This record documents one specimen. It describes that specimen only, not every example of the model.

Front of an Ahrex pack for FW501 Dry Fly Trad. Barbless hooks, size 12, 24 pieces, with a white AHREX wordmark on a dark blue band.
Open full size

S1 · Pack of size 12, with loose hook

Size
12 (printed on the label)
Container
Other
Hook condition
Intact, with a continuous black finish. No rust, chips or bends seen; a few tiny pale specks sit on the shank (P).
Packaging condition
Good — moderate wear, legible
Wear
top edge, full width: Ragged, torn-looking paper edge with white fibres showing along the whole top edge; it may be a torn-open top or a torn-off strip. LBL-10
Measured
size 12
Photographs
IMG-1IMG-2

Only the front panel is recorded, so the container type is not shown. The top edge is torn, with white paper fibres showing along its full width; it may be a torn-open top or a torn-off strip.
A small dark mark of unknown nature sits at the top right corner. The printed surface is otherwise clean, with no creases or stains seen.
The loose hook is assigned to this pack because both are labeled size 12; nothing on the hook itself ties it to the pack.

What the label says

LBL-1 printed · front panel, top left from IMG-1
FW501
LBL-2 printed · front panel, top center from IMG-1
SIZE 12
LBL-3 printed · front panel, top right from IMG-1
24 PCS.
LBL-4 trademark · dark blue band, center from IMG-1
AHREX
LBL-5 printed · red band, inside blue band from IMG-1
CHEMICALLY SHARPENED FLY HOOKS
LBL-6 printed · below blue band, line 1 from IMG-1
FRESHWATER SERIES
LBL-7 printed · below blue band, line 2 from IMG-1
DRY FLY TRAD. BARBLESS
LBL-8 printed · below blue band, line 3 from IMG-1
BLACK NICKEL FINISH
LBL-9 printed · bottom blue band from IMG-1
WWW.AHREXHOOKS.COM
Trademark
Angular white block-letter wordmark built from broken geometric strokes, set on a dark blue band across the upper half of the panel. The second glyph can read as H or N; the web address on the same panel spells AHREXHOOKS.
As entered on the specimen record
FW501
SIZE 12
24 PCS.
AHREX
CHEMICALLY SHARPENED FLY HOOKS
FRESHWATER SERIES
DRY FLY TRAD. BARBLESS
BLACK NICKEL FINISH
WWW.AHREXHOOKS.COM
Layout
Front panel only. Top row: model code at left, size at center, pack count at right. A dark blue band carries the wordmark and, inside it, a red band with the CHEMICALLY SHARPENED FLY HOOKS line. The series heading, hook name and finish follow on three lines. The web address sits in a blue band along the bottom.
Typeface
The four black lines FW501, SIZE 12, 24 PCS. and DRY FLY TRAD. BARBLESS are in rough-edged type unlike the rest of the label.

Pattern history and manufacturer context

Series

In its announcement of the Freshwater Series, Ahrex says barbless versions are offered across the series V. The line-up in that announcement lists FW501 Dry Fly Traditional – Barbless next to FW500 Dry Fly Traditional V.

Dating

Ahrex's announcement of 19 January 2018 lists FW501 among the Freshwater Series hooks that had just arrived at its headquarters. The maker's FW501 product page was published on 18 January 2018. The pack shows no date, so these dates apply to the model, not to this pack.

Ahrex Read the maker’s history →

Use

  • Dry fly

Primary application

The pack prints the hook as a dry fly hook, and the maker lists it as Dry Fly Traditional V. Size 12 falls in the range used for traditional dry flies I.

Collecting and buying

1.5 / 10CollectabilityRarity: Common

Common. The maker and a US dealer both list the hook, so it is easy to find new. No sold sales or signs of collector demand are recorded.

Basis: Listed on the maker's product page and by a US dealer; no source shows scarcity.

No sold sales are recorded for this model, so no value range is shown.

Where to find

Offered by dealers; one US dealer listing is recorded V.

Modern equivalents and related hooks

Best matchRelated by Attribute

Computed automatically from catalog data — updated as new hooks are added.

SilhouetteHook ModelMatchAnalysisCompare
FW500 No. 12 — Dry Fly Traditional silhouetteFW500 No. 12 — Dry Fly Traditional89%Matches: Bend, Shank, Gap, Eye, Eye Orient. +6 moreDiffers: Wire: Standard vs Heavy (1X Heavy); Barb: Barbless vs Barbed; Gap ratio: 36.8% vs 34.0% +1 moreCompare
FW503 No. 12 — Dry Fly Light Barbless silhouetteFW503 No. 12 — Dry Fly Light Barbless87%Matches: Shank, Wire, Gap, Eye, Eye Orient. +6 moreDiffers: Bend: Perfect vs Round / Kendal; Shank ratio: 76.7% vs 75.0%; Gap ratio: 36.8% vs 34.6% +1 moreCompare
FW502 No. 12 — Dry Fly Light Barbed silhouetteFW502 No. 12 — Dry Fly Light Barbed83%Matches: Shank, Wire, Gap, Eye, Eye Orient. +6 moreDiffers: Bend: Perfect vs Round / Kendal; Shank ratio: 76.7% vs 77.4%; Gap ratio: 36.8% vs 34.3% +1 moreCompare
R50-94840 No. 14 — Signature Fly Hook silhouetteR50-94840 No. 14 — Signature Fly Hook81%Matches: Bend, Shank, Wire, Gap, Eye Orient. +3 moreDiffers: Eye: Tapered Eye vs Ball Eye; Point: Standard / Spear vs Needle; Finish: Other vs Bronzed +5 moreCompare
W172 No. 14 — Allcocks W172 silhouetteW172 No. 14 — Allcocks W17279%Matches: Bend, Shank, Wire, Gap, Eye +4 moreDiffers: Eye Orient.: Turned Down vs Turned Up; Finish: Other vs Bronzed; Application: Dry Fly vs Dry Fly, Wet Fly +4 moreCompare

ExploratoryRelated by Shape (SVG)

Ranked purely by silhouette geometry — attribute labels are ignored.

SilhouetteHook ModelMatchCompare
FW500 No. 12 — Dry Fly Traditional silhouetteFW500 No. 12 — Dry Fly Traditional88%Compare
B175 No. 6 — Trout Heavy Traditional silhouetteB175 No. 6 — Trout Heavy Traditional82%Compare
94836 No. 6 — Mustad 94836 Viking Hook silhouette94836 No. 6 — Mustad 94836 Viking Hook79%Compare
94840 No. 10 — Mustad 94840 silhouette94840 No. 10 — Mustad 9484078%Compare
Blue Label 2x Fine TDE No. 14 — Blue Label silhouetteBlue Label 2x Fine TDE No. 14 — Blue Label77%Compare

Sources, open questions, and record notes

Sources & Documentation

This specimen and its packaging — photographed, 2 images
Supports: overall lengthmeasurements availablemeasurement notessize documentedquantity per packagesub branddating rangeeyebendbarbfinishmeta titlemeta descriptionprimary search termssummaryidentificationtechnical notesprimary application

Entry last updated October 26, 2026. Entries are updated as new specimens, measurements, or documents come to light.