Setting a 24?

[jasalvas]

Hello everyone.

I was fishing a Norther California river the other day and caught a small Callibaetis hatch. I tied on a size 24 BWO, I had plenty of takes, but could not land a fish! Is there a certain technique to setting such a small hook?

Any info is appreciated!!

 

[MoscaPescador]

Say "God save the Queen," then lift the rod tip up gently.

MP

PS: Were you on the Fall River? That's a nice fishery, but those trout can be darn selective.

 

[ant]

MP is right. 99% of my missed hook-ups are because I try to set the hook to early.

 

[yatahey]

Were you fishing down stream to these fish? Often fishing down stream to fish you have a tendency to yank the fly out of the fishes mouth when going to set the hook. Best is to fish up river, second would be cross river. But always try to set the hook in a down stream lifting motion when possible. Fish face into the current so when you set the hook down stream you pull the hook into the corner of the fishes mouth which is where you want it.

 

[jpbfly]

Say "God save the Queen," then lift the rod tip up gently.

MP

:thumbsup:

That's a great piece of advice Dennis...please repost it in the "little tricks to share" thread:icon_wink

 

[Sage & Abel]

Yep. Trying to set it too fast no doubt. Happens to me quite a bit when I'm dry fly fishing small flies. Take a bit of time to allow the take. IME, they don't spit the dries as fast as a nymph.

Cheers,
Mike.

 

[mojo]

A nice glass rod will set the hook by itself. A crappy glass rod will to. But if you don't have a soft rod, I'll second what the others have said. All good advise. I fish with 32's during the winter and use bamboo, glass and an Orvis 4w One Ounce. Along with timing, a soft or slow actioned rod helps set the fly.

 

[FrankB2]

You guys should see my wife fishing a dry fly. She recites the Gettyburg's Address, takes a nap, and still won't lift the rod. It's kind of funny, actually. She's good with nymphs for some reason, however.......

Pulling a #24 hook out of a fish's mouth should be fairly easy. The smallest I fish with is a #20, with #18's accounting for 90% of my #16 and smaller flies. I suppose rod action could play a part in this equation, with faster rods lifting more line faster. Yatahey's comments about fishing upstream match my experience, but I do fish downstream when required.

EDIT: Mojo posted rod action comments while I was typing. Sounds like my experience, and it's tough to pull hooks out of a fish's mouth with a nice bamboo rod. I have a fast 5wt rod that does well with streamers, but have never used it for dry flies.

 

[jasalvas]

Say "God save the Queen," then lift the rod tip up gently.

MP

PS: Were you on the Fall River? That's a nice fishery, but those trout can be darn selective.

Thanks MP... I saw your post this morning and thought... Oh, another smart ass![poke]
Timing... YEs!! I was a little eager to set that hook. I was fishing the Upper Sac. They were all smaller fish, but some beautiful wild trout!! I was fishing downstream. I would yank the hook, or I would fight them for a second and lose them. I dont think I landed any while fishing a 24. I switched to a 22 and landed a couple. Not as many takes, but some were in the net.

MP, Ever fish the Pit or Hat Creek? Im thinking about taking a trip Friday.

---------- Post added at 06:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:00 PM ----------

A nice glass rod will set the hook by itself. A crappy glass rod will to. But if you don't have a soft rod, I'll second what the others have said. All good advise. I fish with 32's during the winter and use bamboo, glass and an Orvis 4w One Ounce. Along with timing, a soft or slow actioned rod helps set the fly.

Hi Mo,

I cant imagine fishing a 32... Now I am going to have to give it a try. Do you tie your own flies?

 

[MoscaPescador]

I still have yet to fish Hat Creek.

I normally fish between Pit 4 and 5. Be careful wading. It is the toughest stream that you will ever wade. You never know about the next hole that you could be stepping into. Wading staffs are recommended. A inflatable PFD might not be a bad idea, too. Anyways it is Isonychia mayfly time. Trout will be keying in on them. I'd fish Mercer's Isonychia followed with some sort of PMD nymph.

MP

 

[jasalvas]

The Pit is worse than the McCloud? The McCloud is a beautiful river but was crazy to wade. I didnt do much of it.

 

[MoscaPescador]

The Pit is also like the McCloud, but there are more hazards to deal with. The river is choked with brush on the sides, steep banks, lots of boulders, pocket water.

MP

 

[Jackster]

Just wondering if the fly you're using itself is part of the problem. It is very easy on a fly that small to crowd the hook gap with ill-tied or bulky materials.
I fish this as a dropper to a M-80 tossed downstream. This is partner fishing. Your partner handles the net down river. :tongue:

Fly tied by Bob (Plumbob) Schreiner. Thread twister extraordinaire!

 

[FrankB2]

Good point, Jackster! I should mention that there's a huge difference in hook gapes between manufacturers. A Tiemco dry fly hook has a much larger hook gape than a Mustad, and that's unfortunate because I have a lot of Mustad hooks. I only use the Mustads in #16 and smaller for flies that have a thread body, like chironomids, etc.

 

[wjc]

A nice glass rod will set the hook by itself. A crappy glass rod will to. But if you don't have a soft rod, I'll second what the others have said. All good advise. I fish with 32's during the winter and use bamboo, glass and an Orvis 4w One Ounce. Along with timing, a soft or slow actioned rod helps set the fly.

Absolutely. Sharply setting a hook, especially with a very fast-actioned rod will actually send a smal but very sharply-pronounced, slack-line wave down the line before the line comes under tension. This is so hard to believe that you will have to follow the directions below to see for yourself.

Put your rod together - no reel, no line. Rest the tip-top on a soft sofa back or put a pillow on a chair back. Lift the tip-top an inch above the pillow, then strike quickly upward, jerking the tip up as sharply as posible with a quick wrist rotation- just like an adrenaline rush had hit your muscles causing a rapid twitch. Do it a number of times

So, you wind up with a hook "snap" not a hook "set" at the fish's mouth, with results similar to those you get when snapping a leader between your hands as opposed to slowly pulling on it. More force in a very short time span.

When combined with the other points brought up in this thread about hook gap and so on, it is very easy to pull a hook.

Cheers,
Jim

 

[dean_mt]

Jackster, that has to be the most insane fly I've ever seen - what is that, a size 42 Royal Wulff?

And I think I could have used that last weekend! Along with a 2 WT and 8X flouro. I put down these fish with a #24 Trico spinner on a gin clear still-water back channel...insane fish. Or insane fisherman, rather.

 

[Bigfly]

We could probably stretch this thread a ways....
After seeing many fish come off of clients, as well as my own line,
I have learned to exterminate my habitual, (classic) straight up set.
The very slow (save the queen) sweep-set down stream is the start,
then keeping the rod at an angle (45 deg) to them helps greatly.
If they change direction you need to change too, maintaining the angle (Always opposite).
The lift-set also brings them up out of the slow laminar flow on the bottom, into fast water near the surface. This set will often lead to a lip hook (outside), where the sweep set hooks the corner inside their mouth. The vertical set combined with the extra current pressure makes it easy for them to shake free, or break off.
Very large fish, on very small flies, is the high bar setting.
If you do hook solidly, don't apply heavy pressure, just become their shadow, break their fishy will, not your leader, or the hook..
Tying sparsely on an over-sized/gape hook is a good strategy too.
Catching a heavy fish, in heavy water, on small stuff,
makes me as happy as a first time fisherman hooking up..


The Pit River, is the only water I absolutely use a wading staff on. Beautiful, fishy, but treacherous!
Not to mention poison oak, and rattlers too.

Jim

 

[ant]

Two questions Jim:

"The very slow (save the queen) sweep-set down stream is the start"

Does this mean that you say that and then set the hook, or that you say that while your setting the hook to slow down your hook set?


"then keeping the rod at an angle (45 deg) to them helps greatly."

Is this 45 degrees horizontal or vertical to the fish?

Sorry if these are silly questions, but when I read your post I thought these might go both ways so I'd ask for clarification.

 

[FrankB2]

"The very slow (save the queen) sweep-set down stream is the start"

Does this mean that you say that and then set the hook, or that you say that while your setting the hook to slow down your hook set?

LOL! I realize it's a serious question, but it reminds of the buddy cop movies when they ask, "Do we go after the count of 3, or on 3?"

 

[ant]

I always go after the count of 3. That way if they meant to go on the count of 3, they volunteer to be the target.