Set. The. Hook.

gfen

gfen

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Joined
Apr 8, 2007
Messages
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Damnit, give me hints. I'm done. I can't do it. I get constant takes on dries, but I seem to have lost the ability to set a hook.

Seven takes, no sets. It ain't all bad timing, either.

I'm about ready to pick up golf.
 
Hold the slack with your left hand and give a sharp raise of your rod tip. Do both of these simultaneously and make sure it is a sharp movement. The other thing you should remember is that you should delay setting the hook. I think I usually wait about a second. I have never really thought about it, I just kind of do it. Oh yeah, don't be afraid to set the hook twice. My biggest problem is hooking fish when I am fishing downstream to them. It's almost as if I have to much tension on the line when they strike.
 
gfen wrote:
Damnit, give me hints. I'm done. I can't do it. I get constant takes on dries, but I seem to have lost the ability to set a hook.

Seven takes, no sets. It ain't all bad timing, either.

I'm about ready to pick up golf.

Without seeing what's going on, it'd just be a guess.

Saturday, Sunday, or Monday - lunch at Cali Burrito, fix the hookset afterwards.

Deal?
 
gfen wrote:
Damnit, give me hints. I'm done. I can't do it. I get constant takes on dries, but I seem to have lost the ability to set a hook.

Seven takes, no sets. It ain't all bad timing, either.

I'm about ready to pick up golf.

now, ya can't hit a golf ball with a fly rod.....

I've been having the same issue...but haven't had a chance to practice enough...but if you figure it out, lemme know
 
Heritage-Angler wrote:
Without seeing what's going on, it'd just be a guess.
Saturday, Sunday, or Monday - lunch at Cali Burrito, fix the hookset afterwards.
Deal?

LL's trying to set something for Friday night. I'm already up to meet him over in your Principality.

I'm not sure of the status of my weekend, depends on what the wife wants to do. Let me get a feel for where she's going this weekend, and we'll see if we can correllate.

Its amazing how badly I'm coming undone at this. I'm picking up plenty of takes, and I don't think its fish just bumping hte fly, but no matter how quickly or slowly I react, nothing.
 
Gary,
Have you ever heard the "God Save the Queen" saying that you're supposed to say before setting the hook after the take? Basically it's a way to force yourself to let the fish take the fly and start it's downward turn toward the bottom of the stream before setting the hook and potentially pulling it from the fishes mouth.
 
gfen wrote:


Its amazing how badly I'm coming undone at this. I'm picking up plenty of takes, and I don't think its fish just bumping hte fly, but no matter how quickly or slowly I react, nothing.


Did you try attaching a hook to the fly? ;)

Seriously - most common issue with dry fly hooksets is being too quick (i'm a repeat offender on this one when i get too excited), but it could be a number of other things too (size and type of fly, angle of set, the fish gods hating you, etc).

I'd be happy to join you some evening as well to see what's up. Feel free to give me a yell.
 
I never really figured the whole hook setting thing out for dries. Some days I bat near 1.000, while other days miss nearly every fish. When hooking is tough I try to set quickly or try to delay to see what it takes to hook them that day.

One thing I have learned though, is to try delay setting the hook when fishing dries downstream. The delay allows the fish to turn down. Setting the hook immediately when the fish are downstream of you usually pulls it out of their mouth.

I've sat and watched fish feed on the surface. Sometimes they follow the fly and suck it in. Other times they charge the fly and turn down immediately. Fish react differently on different steams, maybe because of fishing pressure and or predators. They also may take differently depending on what's hatching and the water type (flow and depth) they're in.
 
When I can't seem to hook them on dries, I stop trying for a bit. I find some slow water let them take it and spit it out. I'll try to get a good look at the whole thing, and then try to adjust to any weird timing peculiarities I see.
 
As other have said, more often than not missed sets are due to setting the hook too quickly. When you see the take, wait half a second and in a steady controlled manner set the hook by lifting and pulling the rod back and to the side. And there’s another reason for this, I have fished heavily pressured waters where the surface “take” really isn’t a take but rather a sink and the actual take happens underwater, as if this is the trout’s mechanism for determining fakes from real ones - real ones stay submerged while fakes disappear - so delaying the set half a second or so will allow the fish to actually retake the fly subsurface. I’ve seen this phenomenon happen on more than one occasion and on more than one stream.
 
GreenWeenie wrote:
so delaying the set half a second or so will allow the fish to actually retake the fly subsurface. I’ve seen this phenomenon happen on more than one occasion and on more than one stream.

I'm gonna have to try that myself. I have had very frustrating days on Valley when those little browns will surface and pluck a fly off the water, but when I attempt the hookset, there's nothing there. Thanks for the tip GW.
 
As with GW, delaying slightly before setting is my default hook-setting method. When I continue to miss fish, I speed up or delay the set a little more to find what works. I watched the fish a Valley feed on top. There at times (most times) where they quickly snatch the fly on the surface and return to their position. They will reject it in an instant. In that case a quick set may be needed. The best advice is to try to read what is happening that day and adjust your set to the situation.
 
are you using a slower action rod and used to a faster action rod?
If so, use the other rod.
 
Lots of times "misses" are the fish refusing the fly at the last second. Just like when they follow a spinner then just bump it, never actually even opening their mouth. The past couple of weeks I've had trout hit my fly and I've set the hook and hook them in the belly. Funny foul-hooking them with dries. But I think they were refusing it at the last second but I still stuck'em.

Could be the hook gap, style, or shape. Or could just be missing them. But I think 0 for 7 on hook-sets, something is going on.
 
This is the exact reason I nymph instead of dry fly fishing. When you nymph is you miss a set it's because you're too late. For dries, first I can't follow the fuzz on the water and when I can when and a fish hits, I rip the fly out of it's mouth. I can fish terrestrials a bit, and I'm learning to just wait, which is a killer. You'll be fine and I too share your frustration. If you think golf is any better have at it. It's all the same. My youngest son can drive a ball well over 300 yards.. It's the greens that kill him. One puzzle at a time. Have fun!
 
I don't think I've ever missed more than 5 or 10 fish nymphing. It's always "bottom". :)

Not as easy to explain misses away with dries.
 
I gave nymphing a serious effort twice this weekend, both of which ended with me hating the experience.

Yeah, it works, but its still boring. I also get tired of having to unhook the bottom every 3rd cast.
 
You are like the ANTI-me. I just as often say to myself "I gave dry fly fishing a serious effort twice this weekend. Yeah, it works, but...."

:)
 
What's boring about it?

I say this with 100% honesty: it's more fun that dry fly fishing for me.

To me, dry fly fishing is lazy. I look for a rise, I cover it, and I catch the fish if he eats. There are two dimensions, and I can often visually ID what the fish are eating. I can even get an idea of how big the fish is before I target it.

Nymphing is 3D. It's a guessing game, and it requires close observation to do well. I can usually make adjustments to fix my errors after a few casts/misses with dries... with nymphs, I'll sometimes find myself scratching my head for an entire weekend trip before I figure them out right before it's time to leave.

Nymphing is where it's at for excitement. The take is less spectacular, but everything leading up to it is superior IMO.

If searching with dries was more effective, I'd probably prefer that. Covering tons of water looking for a surprise is what does it for me. This is why I switch to terrestrials when it's time.
 
Well put Jay.
 
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