Hook up to landing conversion rate

[pati]

Hi All,

When I hook up fish, I think that on average I land the fish 2 out of 3 to 3 out of 4 times (that’s out of fished hooked up, not out of takes, I wish I hooked up more than 30% of my takes, I d be a very happy angler then!!!!!) which I think is not too bad but I was wondering how to improve that.

I call hook up a fish that has given at least the beginning of a run, not just a take.

To be clear, I very rarely break up the line, most of my lost fish are somehow «unhooked ». Also, I fish barbless and won’t change that out of personal conviction (each to its own on that one, but for me C&R calls for barbless)

I fish only for fun, but I would expect competitors have come up with techniques to max up on this?

So my questions would be: for competition anglers what’s the typical hook up to landing conversion rate? And how do they achieve such (I expect) high ratios?

Thanks

 

[jdwy]

I'm not a competition angler but I'm sure I lost over 50% of my hooked fish this last summer. Can't blame it on my barbless hooks either. Some other local guys and I were saying we didn't have a great year fishwise anyway for some reason.

 

[dillon]

If I hooked and landed every fish I encountered, it would leave me without challenge and nothing to think about to improve. Then, I might give up on fly fishing and go back to golf.

Seriously, I may only land one or two nice fish a day and sometimes none. However, casting to a rising trout is totally absorbing, my presentation, the refusals, and lost fish are all part of the challenge that keeps me coming back...

 

[hiplainsdrifter]

I'm not a competition angler either. I would say my hookup to landing rate is most dramatically affected by my fishing method. Streamer fishing I would say it is well over 90 percent, euro nymphing about 75 percent, and dry/terrestrial fishing a little less, maybe 70 percent. Fish and fly size seem to factor in too. I have gone to almost all barbless, except some streamers I will lightly pinch the barb.

 

[patrick62]

Failing to land a fish is not "losing" the fish. Around here we call it "compassionate release."

 

[redietz]

In part, it depends on what you mean by "landed". I literally "land" (i.e bring to land) only those I intend to eat, and I haven't done that in a few years. If you mean successfully net, it's still well under 50%, because I don't use a net on smaller fish, or on fish that I can successfully unhook without the net. Even on better fish, I might just grab the leader near the fly, lift a bit, and see if the fish can just shake itself loose without having to touch it. If you mean fish that could have successfully put in the net if I were so inclined, then it's probably three out of four.

 

[sparsegraystubble]

There have been days when i got to practice my “long release” techniques multiple times.

Seriously, when fishing dries to rising fish particularly, I consider a take, let alone a hook-up to be a success. I don’t keep or photograph fish anyway, so it really doesn’t matter that much if I get it into the net.

I read an article some years back where a guy was advocating cutting the fly off at the hook bend and just fishing to get the rise or the take. I wouldn’t go that far and I enjoy fighting fish, especially when I get an aerial display.

But there is sure no shame in having a fish escape.

Don[HR][/HR]

 

[pati]

In part, it depends on what you mean by "landed". I literally "land" (i.e bring to land) only those I intend to eat, and I haven't done that in a few years. If you mean successfully net, it's still well under 50%, because I don't use a net on smaller fish, or on fish that I can successfully unhook without the net. Even on better fish, I might just grab the leader near the fly, lift a bit, and see if the fish can just shake itself loose without having to touch it. If you mean fish that could have successfully put in the net if I were so inclined, then it's probably three out of four.

By landing I mean the angler unhooking the fish voluntarily(be it by hand, in the net or not, or with tools like Ketchum release stuff, pliers , hemostat or equivalent, or even using the tip ring of the fly rod-a dangerous for the rod yet very effective method)!

 

[ArcherA]

But there is sure no shame in having a fish escape.

Don[HR][/HR]

Personally, I many time prefer that. They got what they wanted, and I got what I wanted. I do at least prefer we've seen each other, though, to at least come up and shake the hook and make a big splash.

 

[jzim]

For me, it depends on the fish I am targeting. In the summer, fishing for smallmouth bass my landing rate is probably 90%. When I fish for steelhead in the fall, winter, and spring my landing rate is probably between 40%-50%.

I use landing rate instead of success because I consider any day on the water a success.

 

[trev]

I think lots of fish that "get off" are never hooked in the first place, I think they just grab and hold on for a while stubbornly. Sharp barbless hooks always seem to be buried to the bend.

 

[benglish]

Are you talking BC (before Coors) or AC (After Coors)?

 

[Ard]

All of my fishing is with some type of streamer fly here in Alaska and once fish are actually onto the hook for over 5 seconds the completion rate is very high. It is those fish that strike a fly but don't get themselves hooked that always puzzle me.

 

[pfetz]

I was once told by a very knowledgeable and savvy guide that the landing ratio is similar to a MLB batting %; if you are batting 500, you are an all star, 250 or less, you are a pitcher

 

[trev]

All of my fishing is with some type of streamer fly here in Alaska and once fish are actually onto the hook for over 5 seconds the completion rate is very high. It is those fish that strike a fly but don't get themselves hooked that always puzzle me.

In the very clear water here I have watched many fish grab the tail of a streamer behind the hook and swim away with it putting a bend in my rod for a moment, or more. Don't know if that's possible with your tubes or not.
I've also had fish come within feet of me before opening their mouth and spitting the dry or nymph, it's why I said I believe many don't get hooked (hook themselves, as I think most do).
I did read somewhere that as the fish closes it's mouth the hook lays over flat and only as it starts to slip out of the mouth does it bite in. As hard as it is to get hooks out I can't really imagine that once well hooked the hook just comes out.

 

[satyr]

Most of the time I prefer to LDR fish so that I don't have to touch them. As such, I will pull them in close and then give them some slack to see if they can get free. Most can. If not then I net them and release them. I would say that I hook at least 75 percent of the fish that I raise (where they actually took the fly and didn't reject it at the last moment) and of those I probably LDR over 50 percent. I only net the ones that I have to.

 

[Ard]

Hi Trevis,

I think that with the larger fish it's all about how you handle things once one is hooked. We read so much about "the fight" but I don't have any of those. I'm all about keeping a fish as calm as possible right up to the point where I know it's time to bring them in to my net. One thing I think is true with all of them is that when I have them coming straight toward me under tension of the line they don't have a decent reverse gear to use.

I express opinions or relate experiences that I have been fortunate to have been able to gather. I fished a lot right up to age 50 living in the lower 48 and because of the life I lived I caught many a trout and salmon or so I thought. Now for 15 seasons I've been able to catch a lot of truly big fish here in Alaska and it is that ability to practice with real life action on a daily basis that allowed me to develop an actual technique for catching a fish after it got hooked. I had many come loose 15 years ago and 13 years ago but I had the ability to go try it again the next day and that made the difference.

I think that if a person is loosing a lot of seemingly hooked fish it is time to examine they way you are handling things after they seem hooked. Most of what I've seen people lose while fishing with me happen while that are in that Orvis Logo position. You know the one with the rod straight up in the air and the fish at the surface, that one. I stopped doing that back in the early 90's when I figured out I was losing a lot of seemingly hooked fish. It looks cool, even feels kinda cool while you're doing it but it's not what you wanna do when you have the fish of the year on the hook.

I'll leave it at that I guess.

 

[redietz]

I think lots of fish that "get off" are never hooked in the first place, I think they just grab and hold on for a while stubbornly. Sharp barbless hooks always seem to be buried to the bend.

Or are very lightly hooked. If I'm fishing downstream, many of the fish that I bring to hand are just hooked "by the skin of their teeth" and the hook will fall out either by putting it the net or by letting it shake itself loose. Or sometimes I can just flick the fly with my fingernail and it will fall out. Fish that I hook when fishing upstream, where I'm pulling the hook into the fish's mouth instead of out of it on the hook set, are usually much more solidly hooked.

 

[pati]

Hi ARD

By all means don’t leave it at that and tell us more please ! Very interesting to read your opinion and conclusions on mistakes/bad habits and how to remedy them!

Thanks

 

[flav]

I went barbless years ago and I think a lose a few more than I did with barbs, but not many more. I would guess I land about 2/3 to 3/4 of the fish I hook. Most fish come off in a few seconds, but if they're on for longer than that most make it to hand.
Sometimes I go in streaks, though, losing a large percentage of the fish I hook, then for some unexplained reason I won't lose a single fish for long stretches. I don't worry about the bad streaks, I figure it all evens out in the end.