[Dry fly magic]

I have found a great brook near my house that I fly fishall the time, mostly withot success. Im not getting any drag and the fish are hitting my flies but I just cant get them hooked. Usually when they take it real aggresivly I get a good hookset but i'm having trouble with the fish just sipping in the fly. This is how they usually take so I try not setting the hook, slightly setting the hook, the big "bob izumi" hookset but nothing seems to work. Can anyone help me out here? Thanks.


P.S - This is probably obvious but the fish that are taking the fly are mostly browns and brookies

[Davo]

Originally Posted by Dry fly magic

I have found a great brook near my house that I fly fishall the time, mostly withot success. Im not getting any drag and the fish are hitting my flies but I just cant get them hooked. Usually when they take it real aggresivly I get a good hookset but i'm having trouble with the fish just sipping in the fly. This is how they usually take so I try not setting the hook, slightly setting the hook, the big "bob izumi" hookset but nothing seems to work. Can anyone help me out here? Thanks.


P.S - This is probably obvious but the fish that are taking the fly are mostly browns and brookies

Usually when I have clients that can't get the fish hooked it is due to too much slack in thier line. You have to have slack for a drag free drift but to much slack results in a missed fish. Your hook set takes too long to tighten the line cause it is pulling out all the slack before you connect to the fish. The fish have already spit the fly.

[Jose]

I'm with Davo on that one. When I first started, that's exactly what was happening to me. My buddy who taught me to fly fish had me reduce the slack, as Davo says. Keep that rod tip down near the water right after the cast. Maybe cast a bit further upstream than you think (if possible) to give yourself time to get the line adjusted and under your finger. Then when you see the rise- just lift that rod and smile

[Jose]

Hey Dry Fly Magic,
I re-read your post. You mentioned the trout "sipping" the fly. Are you dry fly fishing or wet fly fishing? Are you using an indicator if nymph fishing? I don't remember how good this info is, but I have this bookmarked and it might be useful: Fly Fishing : Techniques and Tactics of Nympyh Fishing

[tlcrep]

Originally Posted by Dry fly magic

I have found a great brook near my house that I fly fishall the time, mostly withot success. Im not getting any drag and the fish are hitting my flies but I just cant get them hooked. Usually when they take it real aggresivly I get a good hookset but i'm having trouble with the fish just sipping in the fly. This is how they usually take so I try not setting the hook, slightly setting the hook, the big "bob izumi" hookset but nothing seems to work. Can anyone help me out here? Thanks.


P.S - This is probably obvious but the fish that are taking the fly are mostly browns and brookies

Hi, Nice to see next generations of flyfisherman here! I had the same problem yesterday, and it was frustrating as heck as I could fell the hook in the fishes mouth (and was using good hooks). I finally caught one and it was like 4 inches. Later on I had no problem catching 12 inch fish.

Any chance you are having problems with baby fish whose mouths are too small to get their mouth around the fly? This is often overlooked.

[Dry fly magic]

Im using a dry fly, and also I actualy thought it very well may be baby fish. Once at a lake I fish I kept getting hits set the hook and behind me flys a 2 inch sun fish.

[BlueDun]

Do you lose them - at the hook set/immediately after the hook set or do you lose them after they've been hooked and you are trying to reel them in?

[Dry fly magic]

Im not even hooking them, its just hookset with no fish.

[Flyfisher for men]

I'd check the sharpness of your hooks. Maybe some sharpening might help.

Another possibility is the gap in your hooks. I think it might have been Lefty Kreh who suggested testing the gap by dragging the fly lightly across a screen door with your fingers. If it doesn't hang up, widen the gap with pliers till it does.

You might also try bending the hook so it's slightly offset from the shank. I don't know how that would affect the floating a dry fly, but it helps with glo-blugs. Perhaps try it as an experiment.

[Davo]

You may want to give this post a look.

Why am I not getting a good hook set?