Dry Fly Hook Setting ...

[tbone]

Man Ive been having a hell of a time hooking fish that have taken my dry fly as of late... My take to landing ratio when nymphing is usually very good. I've been using a chernobyl ant the past few times out and have got a bunch of takes on it but when I set the hook I end up just barely stinging the fish or missing it completely. I think I'm too fast on the trigger??? Does anyone else have this problem? Any tips? Thanks.

[bhurt]

Man Ive been having a hell of a time hooking fish that have taken my dry fly as of late... My take to landing ratio when nymphing is usually very good. I've been using a chernobyl ant the past few times out and have got a bunch of takes on it but when I set the hook I end up just barely stinging the fish or missing it completely. I think I'm too fast on the trigger??? Does anyone else have this problem? Any tips? Thanks.

 

When I am setting the hook on a dry fly I usally say "Gottacha" before I set the hook. What you gotta remeber is when you see the take the fish is going down with the fly and can spit it very quickly so usally a 1 or 2 sec pause when you see the take then set the hook.

 

This should improve you hook to land ratio.

[Guest Jeremie]

me to i say buttmuncher and set the hook and if you still dont set it then you might be waiting to long!

[reevesr1]

tbone,

I had/have HUGE problems with setting the hook when fishing dries. First off, I hit them too hard (nymphing hookset) and too fast. When I try to wait a second (gottacha or whatever) and then lift the rod like I'm trying to cast it tends to make me too slow. I practiced on some willing small fish yesterday and seem to be getting it down better as my hookrate was much better at the end. I mentally said "take" and then lifted the rod like I was trying to cast. Seemed to work pretty well. Also, keep control of your slack! If there is too much it will slow you too much I think.

[Keith]

There is definitely a strong difference between dry and nymph hook setting, and it can be a real problem when you fish dry one day and nymph the next.

 

I try to make a real conscious effort as soon as I'm on the water to start setting the hook correctly for the type of fishing I'm doing. If you start off setting it wrong then it's harder to get yourself to adjust. At least it is for me.

[Din]

just make sure with your large foam patterns that the fish starts to turn its head, or takes your fly under water before you set. With dries I find you don't really need to set the hook, just lift your rod tip up and tighten your line on the fish.

[tbone]

I think my problem is that my anticipation is so high, as soon as I see the fish come up, Im snapping the rod tip back with a "nymphing hook set". I seem to connect much better with the caddis emerger than the big foam patterns....but its fun fishing the hopper / dropper this time of year. I'll work on my timing, thanks!

[adams]

Extra challenge I find is when fishing a hopper-dropper (dry on top, nymph on the bottom). You have to be ready for two scenario's..... a take on the nymph (in which case you can't set the hook quick enough) or a take on the dry (in which case you need to let him turn to go down). The advice used to be say "God save the Queen" really quickly, but I think that came from the Brits. Requires some intense concentration at times and sometimes it's difficult to tell whether movement/disappearance of the dry was a nymph-take or the dry.

 

Neil

[reevesr1]

Extra challenge I find is when fishing a hopper-dropper (dry on top, nymph on the bottom). You have to be ready for two scenario's..... a take on the nymph (in which case you can't set the hook quick enough) or a take on the dry (in which case you need to let him turn to go down). The advice used to be say "God save the Queen" really quickly, but I think that came from the Brits. Requires some intense concentration at times and sometimes it's difficult to tell whether movement/disappearance of the dry was a nymph-take or the dry.

 

Neil

 

Man, I sure agree on the hopper/dropper thing. I find when I get tuned into the dry, when I get a take on the dropper I tend to be slow and vice-versa. I missed two really nice fish the other day that hit the dropper after several on the dry because I was too slow. It is particularly hard when you see the flash of the fish taking your nymph and wonder "was that the nymph or the dry??"

[Brookie]

Chernobyl ants are a tough pattern for hook setting. Lots of trout are attracted to Chernobyls but getting the whole thing in their mouth is another matter.