Set The Hook Fast

Myth 15 Fly Fishing Western Wyoming

Set The Hook Fast

I hear, and see, this philosophy being practiced on a regular basis. I believe there are at least six distinct hookups needed to cover various situations.

  1. Nymph with Indicator: In this situation, an immediate and decisive hook set is usually required. The reason is that your indicator only moves after a fish has taken out the slack between the fly and indicator. This slack is almost always, at least to some extent, inescapable. By the time we see the indicator and react to it, the fish is well on the way to spitting the hook. We need to set the hook as soon as possible!
  2. An Upstream Dry Fly Presentation: In this situation, there is often a need to hesitate a bit before raising the rod tip. Big fish especially are in no hurry to close their mouth around a fly. The Kiwi guides tell clients to say, “God Save the Queen”, and then lift. This is something I find very helpful when fishing for big cutthroats and flies lying flush with the film. Take your time!
  3. A Downstream Dry Fly Presentation: I do a lot of this type of fishing and find it very difficult for most people to hook fish. They set too fast and pull the fly straight upstream – right out of the fish’s mouth. On a downstream presentation, I tell people to keep their rod up 2 or 3 feet above the water. When they see the fish, they should drop the rod tip to the water, and then slowly lift the rod to the near side at a 90° angle away from the fish. (We are seldom directly above the fish.)

This does two things:

a) It makes the set late enough that the fish has time to close their mouth.

b) it puts the hook to the side instead of straight upstream, encouraging a better chance of hooking the fish. Give the fish time!

  1. A Downstream and Across, Just Below the Surface Swinging Wet or Soft Hackle Fly Presentation: I am doing more and more of this type of fishing. It can be quite deadly and is a ton of fun! This is similar to the downstream dry fly setting, with a couple of subtle differences.

I have no extra line below the reel. All of my lines are on the reel. When the fish hits, it is immediately on the reel. The Hams Fork fish hit so violently, that if your hands are in the normal configurations, they will often break you off immediately. The reel, set relatively loose, is very consistent and sooth – much more so than your hands. I let the fish pull the fly with no lift on my part. Like in the downstream set, I keep my rod tip two or 3 feet off the water and drop it on the strike. Let the fish hook themselves! Then I lift the rod and use the friction of the tip-top guide to applying additional hook setting. Let the fish hook itself!

  1. “Normal” Streamer Fishing: Here you need a “strip set”. This means your rod tip is down, right on the water. You do not raise your rod on the strike, you simply continue stripping! Then you lift the rod. In this situation, fish are eating the fly as it moves through the water. They hook themselves because your fly is moving under tension. There are two trains of thought as to how one imparts motion to the fly. The first, and most popular, is the rod is held at a 90° angle to the fly line, and the angler manipulates the rod tip to impart action to the fly. I don’t use this method because I believe the bend in the rod, at the time of the bite, causes a poorer hook set.

I like to impart action to the fly with my rod pointing directly at the fly and my various retrieve strips cause the action. By varying speed and lengths of retrieves, in conjunction with a well-designed fly, I can create action and still have a straight line from my hand to the fly – this ensuring a slack-free set. Try both ways and see what you think!

  1. Streamer Fishing with “Nibbling” Bites: This is difficult to describe, but I’ll do my best. I have experienced this on many occasions with Lady Fish, Blue Gills, and Trout.

You feel the fish take, you set the hook, and there is no fish! I have found that in this scenario the best thing to do after you feel the “take”,  is to immediately push your rod tip forward, wait for a second, and then strip. You will often have a fish. What I think happens is the fish is wounding the “fish/fly” on the first stroke, and then when you introduce slack, it eats it as it drifts aimlessly in the current. (That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.) In any case, it seems to work on a regular basis. “Wound” your fly!

One final note: As you can see, there are many situations where an immediate hook set is actually a handicap. This is why I don’t worry about slack in my fly line. I am much more concerned with a good drift than excessive slack. I can take 15 feet of slack out by simply rotating my wrist so the rod tip travels up and back. And, I have plenty of time to do that as I want to delay the set anyway! We’ll try and keep this series going through the winter, so if you have any questions or topics that you’d like to see covered, please contact us!

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