Hooksets and Fighting the Fish
Fly Rods are Different
When it comes to hook sets there are just 2 ways to set a hook in fly fishing. The two methods used depend on what you are fishing for. The Trout set or raising your rod tip is a method used for trout fishermen of course and any fish freshwater with less of a boney mouth. The smooth drawing up of your rod will help to set the hook in the fish's
mouth with ease.
Be sure to set it too
hard as you can pull
smaller fish right out of
the water.
Now for saltwater or
boney jawed fish like
most saltwater and
some freshwater fish like Pike or Bass you don’t want to use the above method. To raise your rod tip you will most often pull the hook out of the fish’s mouth. For these fish and conditions you use a strip set. As you are stripping in your line and you feel the take you should strip the line fast and hard. This will provide you the best opportunity to get that hook set in that tough jaw. Another factor in the hook set and should I use a trout set or a strip set is the hook you are using. In most trout fly fishing you are using small diameter hooks. This makes it really easy to get the hook into the lip of a
fish. Of course most
saltwater fly fishing we
are using larger hooks,
they are sharp but can
be tougher to set in the
mouth.So besides the
target fish you should
also be thinking of the
hook you are using
when deciding on what
hook set method you
should be using.