PennKev wrote:
Also, unlike bass, trout have a lot of soft tissue in their mouth region, while the mouth area of a bass is harder and more bony. It very easy to rip the hook out of the mouth of a trout.
I disagree. A trout's mouth is mostly bony in comparison to a bass' mouth. Bass have a lot of thin and membrane like tissue in their mouths that allows them to open their jaws widely and engulf their prey. Trout on the other hand must grab larger prey between their jaws and hold on until they can subdue and swallow it. I think this is the real reason for the difference in hooking and landing either fish. Even small bass can close their mouths completely on a fly. In comparison, even a 14-15" trout will have trouble doing that in many cases. Depending on how the trout grabs the fly, the entire bend of the hook could be outside the fishes mouth and oriented so that it will not strike tissue on the hook set or strike outside of the mouth in an akward position. I don't believe losing trout hooked on streamers is a result of "soft tissue," but instead is a matter of their anatomy and our streamer designs not matching up well for angling purposes.
If the goal is to hook and land trout on streamers I would use heavy tippet (2x is often not too heavy) and set the hook as hard as possible. You'll get more fish but they will be hooked in the top of the head, underneath the mouth, behind the gill, on their backs, etc. Whatever the hook point hits when you set.
Kev
Well I guess we disagree Kev, but everyone has their own experiences with fishing. I believe the inside tissue of a trout is very soft when compared to bass. The pro bass guys don't use the powerful rods and generate all that power on setting for nothing. They are looking to drive the hook home through the bony mouth.
You wrote, “set the hook as hard as possible.” (for trout). I've fished with many guys that fish mostly for bass, and many use way too hard of a set and tear the hook out of the trout's mouth. They usually end up with a hunk of flesh left on the bend of the hook instead of a fish in the net. In fact, when I fish for smallies for a while and go back to fishing for trout, I sometimes have trouble adjusting to setting the hook for trout.
Not really the case for streamers, but the reason we all lose trout, especially big ones, on the small flies with small hooks is that they often pull free because the gape is so small and holds a very little amount of flesh in their mouth. An overly heavy set, or too much pressure put on the fish during the fight causes it to pull free.
I wrote "Trout are not as efficient as many other fish when attacking prey. You can use the same streamer on smallies, for example, and they hit the bullesye every time!" So I agree that trout generally don't engulf the fly as a bass often does, hence the main reason why we have more missed strikes with trout.
You wrote, “...set the hook as hard as possible. You'll get more fish but they will be hooked in the top of the head, underneath the mouth, behind the gill, on their backs, etc. Whatever the hook point hits when you set.” If setting the hook like you do when bass fishing works for you, than continue on. I’ve found that one good firm set works best for me to hook and land trout.