The name alone implies it – Patagon Bos Taurus, it sounds almost intimidating and the fish this hook is intended for are intimidating as much as they are beautiful. Big, strong South American rainbow trout in fast flowing water. Rainbows that like big flies and require a big, strong hook.
And the Bos Taurus is a strong hook and I think we can guarantee that you’ll never bend one out on a fish. It’s challenging for us to make these small, niche-style hooks, hooks that often arise from a specific need, maybe even for a specific fishery and turn out to be everything they need to be and still be versatile.
The XO 720 Patagon Bos Taurus is made for big, strong South American rainbow trout. We’ve had enquiries about a hook for this fishery and we have worked closely with Marcos Vergara from Hareline Dubbin. Being of South American decent, Marcos knows this fishery and through his company he has contacts to a lot of fly fishers who fish for these giant rainbows. In Marcos’ own words:
“Bos Taurus Hooks are designed to be used on larger rivers in the Patagonia Regions of Chile and Argentina. Rivers like the Petrohué, Puelo, Limay, Chimehuin and Río Grande on Tierra del Fuego. Hooking large fish in fast moving water requires the stouter hook.”
The name, Bos Taurus, is also Marcos’ idea. Locally the big rainbows are called “vacas”, which means cow – referring of course to their size and the scientific name for a cow is, you guessed it, Bos Taurus. Patagon of course refers to Patagonia.
The flies used usually imitate trout and silversides (known as pejerrey) and as if the hooks aren’t big enough as they are, they are often combined with a shank to create really big flies. The XO 720 comes in size 1,2 and 4.
The hooks have been a long time under way, so we’re happy we can finally present them to you. The artwork by Thomas Weiergang on the black “No More Bull Sh..!” enamel mug is actually inspired by the name of this hook. If you look closely you might be able to recognise the hook bend.
An old saying goes that old fishermen never die, they just smell that way. I think we’ve all been there – a car smelling more like old, damp waders and stale coffee than anything else. Don’t worry – Ahrex and Bos Taurus has you covered. We also made air-fresheners featuring almost the same design, also by Thomas Weiergang. So now your car can smell nice again as well as look cool.