To Hook More Fish

MKern

MKern

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Joined
Sep 11, 2006
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I remember a couple of weeks ago, a man was talking about his difficulty setting the hook on some fish. Well, I think I figured out a trick by mistake.
If you bend the point of the hook away from the body to the side, I think it limits the amount of times a fish hits the fly, but doesn't get the point of the hook. I think the off-set point penetrates easier without the obstruction of the fly itself. I have a luck with this idea with large streamers, as well as small midges.
I figured this out on day on a exteremly small brookie stream (were the fish don't exceed 7 inches). I saw some rising fish in a back eddy and threw them my size 14 adams parachute. The first 3 times it hit the water I had a strike, but no fish. So I switched to a size 14 emerger, that I developed, where I bend the hook shank with needle nose pliers. Often when I bend the hook it offsets the point. I managed to catch 2 fish out of this tub-sized hole and didn't miss another all day with the bent fly.
Give this a try and see how it works for you.
 
I agree that "off-setting" the hook works well w/ small flies, but the real key to hooking fish is having excellent line control. Too much slack, a product of poor line control is the true culprit in poor hook setting.
 
I noticed the same thing as MKern with off-set hooks. I usually buy Tiemco hooks for fly tying, but I had a $25 coupon from Orvis, so I bought their hooks. The Orvis scud/pupa style hooks are slightly off-set, and I can swear that my hooking percentage is higher using these hooks.

Also, be careful of heavily hackled flies. Heavy stiff hackle can interfere with hooking, especillly on smaller flies.
 
When I first realized it was because I saw how people tied emergers on caddis curved/scud hooks, and I was too cheap to buy those hooks then. So, I improvised and made my own.
 
I often do this too, on smaller flys (#20 or 22 and smaller). I'm not sure if I read about it somewhere or got the idea from scud hooks. I just put the bend of the hook in the vise when I get done tieing the fly and carefully push the hook shaft to the side enough to bend and off-set it.
 
I prefer mustad hooks but it seems to me that there is no "setting" the hook as with bass or pike. They hook themselves and there doesn't seem to be much I can do about it. I've had hooks bend and break(cheap or wore out), and fish come off when I almost had em. Then again, I've caught some hanging by the merest sliver of tissue. It depends on how they take it, I just pull slack up when they hit. Sometimes fast, sometimes slow. Quickness can be bad at times and I never set hard, They hook themselves. I believe its more a matter of timing.
 
The other day I missed about 15 fish in 2 hours; some fish multiple times, and I realized that I wasn't following my own trick. Another gentleman on the stream suggested that I didn't try and set the hook and let the fish have it. However, let's face it, we ofter don't set the hook anyway, the fish do. We mearly plant it in a little farther.
But anyway, as he was telling me this, I was bending the point of my hook sideways and continued fishing. I ended up catching 3 fish right in front of him, of which he took the credit. However, i thought it odd that he didn't catch those fish first!?!?
 
I had the same problem yesterday with hooking fish, I was using a size 22 or 24 fly . One of the problems I was having was I was hooking them but they would be on for about 2 seconds and then they would come off.The other problem was that I was trying to set the hook and wouldn't end up hooking anything . So I decided to let the fish take it longer and ended up getting the next 2 after missing 5 .But I'm going to try your trick next time MKern and let you know if it works for me. I was happy though I caught my first trout on a dry fly :-D :lol:
 
The major problem with off set hooks for flys is they will make the fly lay over on its side..thats why hooks for flies are straight...if not we could use any bait style of hook on the market..You might not notice it as much on smaller flies but its there. Also bending those small hooks will make them more prone to breakage. if you want to bend a hook a circle hook style will give better hookups. just tie on a larger hook (1 size larger but keep fly small aka; low water style)
 
Yeah I'm with sandfly on this one. I have hooks streighten out without bending them let alone when I do bend them. In my opinion it will make them too weak especially if you hook onto a decent sized fish. I do like the Dai-Riki caddis curve hooks because they are off set but I honestly can't say it makes all that much of a difference for me in hook ups. A lot of its a mental thing too, if you think it'll catch you more fish then a lot of the times it'll help you out...confidence is everything when it comes to fishing.
 
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