Hookset Help

[allthingsfishing]

I live in northeast Ohio and have been fishing the tribs for steel. All of a sudden I'm getting strikes but lose the fish after a 10 second fight.
Is anyone able to tell if it's a poor hookset or something I'm doing wrong during the brief fight? All of the takes have been downstream from my position after a nice drift. Using barbless hooks on egg patterns.

When I swing a woolly bugger my hookup percentage is much better.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[pete41]

offset the hook point somewhat at the bend- that way the point will dig in not back out ..works very well but I didn't explain it as well..

 

[CRB]

When you feel the bite don't lift your rod tip up; bring it sideways toward the the side down stream.

 

[Solitariolupo]

With large fish like that and barbless hooks make it that much harder. Make sure when you hook you pulling the line to hook not the rod also with barbless make sure you leave no slack in your line. Any slack the hook will pop right out.

 

[JeffK]

For bigger fish, like steelhead, one has to think more like a saltwater fisherman and less like a trout fishermen.

First, make sure hooks are sharp. Check frequently since bottom bouncing nymphs and egg patterns dulls them when they hit rocks.

Need a strong set with the rod facing more towards the fish so that you use the butt of the rod where you have more power. The tip of the rod has little force. An old exercise is to put a scale on the tippet and feel how much force you can develop at different rod angles. It can be enlightening.

The classic saltwater set (or streamer set) is the strip set. When you feel something strip the line straight back until you feel the fish then pull the rod back or sweep it to the side using the butt to load the line. For downstream takes it helps to pull sideways towards the bank so the hook has some side motion. Pulling the rod up can pull the fly straight upstream out of the fish's mouth. A side set may get the fly to catch in the scissors.

Now when the fish makes that hard first run let it go - don't try to turn a larger, hot fish. One can't always control that hard first run for a large fish, whether a steelhead, an albie, or a bonefish. Have patience, it will tire soon enough. The kind of sets used by trout fishermen commonly don't pull the hook hard enough to set it in the jaw. I know it is hard to give up one's trout fishing habits when going after larger fish.

Search salt water fly hook set for better explanations.