Another tip is to use thick valve rubber. This gives a great grip on smaller hooks/flies yet does no damage to them. Just cut to length, slide onto the jaw of the forceps and thats you sorted!
On the issue of foreceps, I only use medical quality ones (aquired from a friendly doctor). They are much more ridged and therefore you dont need so much force to grip a large hook and they NEVER rust. Mine came from Panaga Hospital, Brunei in 1979 and have been used for Pike ever since!
