cant get them on the hook?

[TexUte Fly]

thanks for the help guys. i ended up going out with my 4wt the past two days and only bringing dries to make sure i wouldnt be tempted to switch to nymphs. well in 2 days i had close to 25 strikes in prob 4 hours of fishing (some were the same fish) 3 of these i popped the fly off and 1 was on, but i turned to yell at my dog, went to recast and there was a fish there. so i go to the fly shop to ask what i was doing wrong. they said i was pulled to hard and fast. i needed to be more gentle and take a small breath then pull. well today i was doing that and didnt even feel a fish on my line, nor did i loose a fly. so is the fish slapping my fly and not eating it, or me? i pretty much pull once the splash has stopped, i would think id atleast feel a fish even if i didnt hook it if it ate my fly. do i need to let it take the fly under? i just get really excited when i see that splash. when i founder fish i know you feel the tug count to 5 then pull, is it something like that with these trout? why am i not hooking any?

yesterday they wanted an orange stimulator in 16, and today a yellow sally size 18 was doin the trick. oh and we are speaking of brown trout here.

 

[branjg]

I had/have the same issues when I fish dry's on small streams, and a while ago I read a article by Kirk Deeter I believe called "answer the phone". He suggests that when you see a strike you should calmly set the hook/ pull the rod up like you are answering a phone call off a table or desk. This helped me alot and kind of broke a jerking bassmaster type set I had, although not perfect it worked. you might give it a try...

I'll be interested in any other posts on here as well

Good luck!

 

[Ard]

The actual action of a trout taking a floating item off the surface 'usually' involves the fish rising up to the surface and then returning to the previous holding depth in the channel. This 'action' alone will hook many fish if you merely do as the person who wrote the book has mentioned "calmly raise the rod tip" this will add just the right amount of tension to tighten the hold.

The knee jerk reaction to the visual disturbance on the surface at or near the floating fly is akin to jumping when you either think you've seen a snake or when you actually see one. It takes repeated experiences before the mind learns not to jump at what the eye shows to it. By the time I had became good at the dry fly thing the only fish I "missed" were those who had in fact missed the fly themselves, the rest got hooked when they tried to get away with the loot.

The best advice I can offer is this. When you cast out a fly 'expect' to get a hit, that's why you cast it out there right? This expectation will help to curtail surprise when the grab comes, things you are expecting seldom startle you.

 

[TexUte Fly]

so in my mind i feel like the fish will hit the fly and discover that its fake when it gets in the water then spit it. your telling me this is wrong? that the fish will most likely return to its spot before it decides to spit or not? i feel like i am pulling slow but tomorrow i guess ill go again and try even slower. i have heard of the picking up the phone thing before. guess i pick up the phone to hard

The actual action of a trout taking a floating item off the surface 'usually' involves the fish rising up to the surface and then returning to the previous holding depth in the channel. This 'action' alone will hook many fish if you merely do as the person who wrote the book has mentioned "calmly raise the rod tip" this will add just the right amount of tension to tighten the hold.

The knee jerk reaction to the visual disturbance on the surface at or near the floating fly is akin to jumping when you either think you've seen a snake or when you actually see one. It takes repeated experiences before the mind learns not to jump at what the eye shows to it. By the time I had became good at the dry fly thing the only fish I "missed" were those who had in fact missed the fly themselves, the rest got hooked when they tried to get away with the loot.

The best advice I can offer is this. When you cast out a fly 'expect' to get a hit, that's why you cast it out there right? This expectation will help to curtail surprise when the grab comes, things you are expecting seldom startle you.

 

[ryboyd]

Mac we need to fish sometime. I have the exact opposite problem. I'm fine fishing with dry flies, but I'm am horrible with fishing with nymphs.

 

[diamond rush]

In my experience, if the trout are hitting, but not taking, your fly is off somehow. Its close enough to the natural that the trout see it and react. But something throws them off and they pull their punch, so to speak.

During the caddisfly hatch, I had a similar problem. A dozen strikes and no hook-ups. I switched from a size 12 down to a size 16 and hooked up on >90% of the strikes from then on out.

You're really close, I'd recommend going 2 sizes smaller or bigger, changing colors, or changing to similar patterns.

 

[JoJer]

Mac, Are you controlling the line on the water? If there is too much slack between the fly and the rod tip, it can cause missed strikes on drys.

 

[TexUte Fly]

ryboyd where you live? haha

diamond rush- thanks ill order some more flies and make sure i get them in all sizes instead of just one. maybe that will do the trick

jojer-- i cast in all directions upstream, down, and across. do i have slack? yes but only enough so if my fly line gets pulled weird by the current it doesnt effect my fly. can i pull the slack out by just raising my rod tip? yes. is that still to much slack?

 

[TexUte Fly]

so got out today. have had like 35-40 strikes as of today, buuuuuut! i only missed 2 of the ones today! one was a big fish, i dont think he exactly hit it, just slapped it. and all the ones i hooked were 3-4" long and i got none of them to the net, but atleast im doing something right!