Pre-setting the hook on winter steelhead

[Snagly]

Fly guide Dennis Dickson's website features an article on how to set the hook on winter steelhead. His advice is to gently lift the rod as if the fly (drift bobber) had caught on a rock. If there's any resistance, THEN set the hook hard. If not, you've kept your fly/ gear in the fish zone by gently unsnagging it.

Sounds good in theory, but does anyone do this in practice?

[rcl187]

this works well after I've been fishing for a while but for the 1st 30 minutes or so I have troubles not thinking that every unnatural movement is not a fish. Its real easy to do that method described after you've been fishing for 8 or 10 hours without much success and start to tire. of course then when you do gently lift the rod and its slammed back down your to shocked to do much for a few seconds and lose the fish half the time...

[WheresMyBobber]

Although my steelhead flyfishing experience is entirely for summer steelhead, I used to do it a lot the West Fork of the Hood river before they closed it. Up there the water was off color from glacier silt a lot of the time, and COLD, so the conditions were similar to winter fishing.

I always do what you mentioned from this book. In fact, as soon as I think I'm getting a take I gently lift the tip of the rod so I can definitely feel the fish. But I differ on hook setting - instead of actually setting the hook I let the fish pull fairly hard, then I just give a firm tug. I've never had a problem hooking or keeping them hooked this way.

I have been lucky enough to actually see the fish take the fly on several occasions. It's quite a sight! They just follow and nose up to it on the drift or retrieve, and when they decide to "take" it, they slowly open their mouth and speed up just enough to grab the fly. They then slowly turn and head back into the faster/deeper water just like nobody's business. It's when they're back in the faster/deeper water that I give my tug to set the hook.

It's great to live in a part of the country where we can do and see these things.

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[Snagly]

Amen to both replies. We've all been dog tired at the end of the day, out of pre-tied rigs and basically going through the motions when there's yet another tug. And rather than cross any eyes, we move the rod a little and feel it load up. I lose well over half of these hook-ups. (Setting the hook a couple more times in mid-fight doesn't help much: I usually pull the hook.)

I've seen steelhead take and it's disheartening that the line NEVER moves the instant that they take it. These fish are swimming off a minimum of 3' on a direct swing, and more like 5' if you've got a lot of line in the water and a big bow. I sometimes think that the only fish I hook that I don't see take are the ones that hook themselves.

I simply have to spend more time on the water than 20 days a year to get better at detecting strikes. In the meantime, I sight fish as often as possible and use as little weight as possible to minimize the number of false-settos (not to be confused with the noises heard on the General Lee when "Deliverance" is screening on the on board DVD system).

[smilesforu]

Dennis has some very sage advise on setting the hook even though it is for fly fishing it also applies to drift fishing. I use bait alot and to set the hook with out a fish on the other end really cuts into fishing time. First you have to rebait besides pulling the gear out of the zone. If you fish with a tight line a little nudge will free it to keep it going. I use the hesitation to load for my baseball swing if it tugs again. Sharp hooks will go to the corner of the mouth if you use doubles and the fish will normally hook itself with a little tension. Hardest fish to hook are the ones straight below you on the light take. Since the current doesn't pull the line and hooks to the mouth corner.
Tight Lines