Setting The Hook

[tbear]

Is setting the hook with dry flies something that's hard and just comes with practice. I was out this morning and must of missed 100 fish. Most of these were little creek chubs but still. I landed a few of these chubs, but I missed a few that I could tell were trout. I'd see em take it then raise the rod tip and nothing. I'm not sure if I'm just slow to react or I thought maybe I was trying to set it too hard cause sometimes I'd get the fly stuck in the tree above the creek.

 

[Padraic]

There are days when getting the timing right can be really hard, and there are days when the presentation you have to use is going to make setting the hook harder.

Small fish can "explode" all over a fly without really taking it in their mouths. I that case, you are going to miss some fish. And at times or with some hatches, the fish may be taking insects in such a way that when you set the hook, you will be pulling it out of their mouths. This can happen if you are throwing the fly directly upstream, and the fish come up and take the fly such that the tippet hits them on the nose. When you set the hook, you're actually going to flip the fly out of thier mouths. If you are presenting downstream, when you set the hook you are generally pulling the fly away from the trout also.

The solution in just about any case (I say just about, but I can't think of a situation where this hasn't worked) is to slip strike. Slip striking is when you set the hook with the flyline and not the rod. The flyline is usually managed such that you don't have a lot of slack in it anyway, but it'll work even if you do have some slack. When you see a fish take your fly, strip the line like you're pulling in a streamer. The line will move all the way down to the fly setting the hook. You don't need a lot of force to set a hook in a trout's mouth, so even if there is slack you'll probably have enough power to do this. You won't be pulling the fly away from the trout or throwing it up into the tree.

If you can't get the hang of slipstriking, try to set the hook without flipping the tip of the rod up. A fly rod is a very long lever, and setting the hook with the tip of the rod can be too strong a hookset. I've seen guys bust off fish this way. I lift the whole rod, without snapping the tip up (much). I think of it as "snugging" the hook in place instead of setting it. I think it helps me to remember that you don't need or even want to "rip lips" with a trout.

 

[Wulff-Man]

Padraic gave you a good answer, and he touched on this, but there are many times, especially when fishing to educated trout, that they refuse your fly at the last second and it's very hard to tell. With all the years I've been fly fishing it still amazes me how they can do this. Just last week they were driving me nuts. It looked like there was no way they were refusing the fly - they would rush up, look just like they grabbed it, I'd set the hook, and nothing. And a couple times they "treed" me too. It seems like there's no way they could change their minds this fast, but apparently they can. I know they were refusing at the last second because after this happens a couple times I don't set the hook right away, I wait for them to grab it. (And when I'm setting the hook, I'm doing it slowly, pretty much the way Padraic described.) Then if I'm still missing them I wait even longer, eventually getting to the point where I don't set it at all, and it becomes obvious that they aren't taking the fly, just splashing at it. The best I can tell you if this is happening, is to do the same thing. Hesitate before setting the hook, set it slowly, and if this still doesn't work, just wait to see if they are taking it at all. Wait for them to grab it and swim down with it. If they are refusing at the last second, you need to try to improve your presentation and/or try other flys.

Oh, and for little chubs, if they are real small, it's possible that the fly was too big for them to get in their mouths.

 

[Padraic]

If you are getting last second refusals, try downsizing the fly or the tippet. The fly could be too big, or the tippet may be causing the fly to drag.

 

[OhioOutdoorsman]

Also taking in slack line on the drift as you are able. Also if you are keeping your rod tip high like you should in most cases to get a good drift....its hard to lift it up anymore and you pull the fly away....thats why a deliberate tug on the line as apposed to a bassmasters fling it over your shoulder hook set works better.

 

[thedude1534]

When i was fishing in New Zealand, I missed the first few fish cause I was setting the hook "Overfished American Stream Style" by doing it immediately after the strike to set the hook before the fish spit out the fly. My guide told me that down there, fish will wait about 3-5 seconds to reject a fly, much slower than some parts around here. So from that point, whenever my fly got hit I'd take a second to say "haha, I got you....." then set the hook.

I've used that technique sometimes around here when I am missing a lot of strikes and it has paid off. I've also noticed taking my fly down to a smaller size helps.

 

[shipnfish2006]

thedude1534 wrote:
When i was fishing in New Zealand, I missed the first few fish cause I was setting the hook "Overfished American Stream Style" by doing it immediately after the strike to set the hook before the fish spit out the fly. My guide told me that down there, fish will wait about 3-5 seconds to reject a fly, much slower than some parts around here. So from that point, whenever my fly got hit I'd take a second to say "haha, I got you....." then set the hook.

I've used that technique sometimes around here when I am missing a lot of strikes and it has paid off. I've also noticed taking my fly down to a smaller size helps.

Dang you pretty much said everything I was thinking about saying. I've always had the most success when they take it to wait until the fish turns back under the surface until I set the hook, which is about 1-2 seconds after the take and my hook up to miss rate has improved greatly from the days of setting immediately.

 

[Stevie-B]

I have found that you may have to try several of the above mentioned tips or a combination to start hooking up.

Just to give some insight: Last week I hit the spinner fall on the Gunpowder River in MD. Before it got too dark to see I had a small fish hit my fly. I decided to watch instead of set the hook. The fish inhaled the fly and as it was turning down, shook its head twice and the fly floated out. Something to think about

Steve

 

[thedude1534]

To clarify a little of what I said above, I certainly do think that setting the hook very quickly is the right technique in many cases. I think it all really depends on if they are coming up from the bottom, taking them hard, then going back down, or just hovering right below the surface gingerly lapping the flies up. In the latter case, I think that setting the hook quickly is the way to go.

 

[Stone_Fly]

I was getting the same thing all weekend at the Jamboree. I fished a couple of brookie streams, I just got rise after rise and nothing was there. It's a refusal at the last instant. I fished over a nice brookie on Slate Run at the Morris Run Rd. bridge for 3 hours yesterday. And cast after cast got refusals, but most of the time he didn't even appear to look. Even the small fish refused my offerings, until I went through every fly that should be hatching at this time of the year except a #14 Slate Drake. I tied that fly on and caught the 11 inch brookie and a bunch more, they didn't even hesitate.
So what I'm saying is something wasn't right with the fly, and with low slow and clear conditions on many small streams trout get selective I don't care where you're fishing. Even brookies get the blues. So keep trying some flies once you get the right one, it magic. Thank God we got some rain.