Fishing Forum

The answer to hard strikes/no hookups is to envision how a fish eats the offering you're presenting.
It's a slow-moving insect or crustacean, so it's not going to get away. The fish doesn't have to be fast or agressive. (In fact, he may swim along behind it for quite a while before he acts.) So he swims up behind it and just sucks it in by inhaling water and, presumably, the bug, then turns away. It's their natural way of feeding.
But the fly isn't free to be sucked backwards; it's tethered by your line. So you feel the hard strike as the fish inhales, but when you set up there's nothing there at all.
And, as you've observed, it happens most often when the fish are in a neutral mood. On days like that, almost all the fish in the lake seem to behave the same way.

The solution, unfortunately, is harder than the diagnosis. Some recommend dropping your rod tip as soon as you feel the strike. That permits the fish to eat the fly a second time. But that's a counter-instinctive reaction I've never been able to master.
Another approach is a small dropper. I've had the best luck on trout with a Rickards Stillwater nymph about 3 feet back.

But the best way is to tether the fly so that it CAN be sucked backwards: Put a large styrofoam strike indicator at about 1.5X the depth you want to fish, and add weight to the tippet above the fly. Now move along slowly, and when the fish hits, the fly is suspended from above, not ahead. It's free to move backwards, either along the pendulum line or by the submerging of the indicator, or both. This permits you to fish different depths, too, by slowing and letting the fly sink, then pulling it upwards.
Try it and see if it doesn't up your odds.
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Thanks Idlerick,

Some thought provoking insights there. I have a good friend who fishes an indicator all the time. He does seem to miss strikes a lot less frequently than me with my full sink line. Do trout flare their gills and suck in their prey the way a bass does?

I have teased lunker bass in gin clear water with almost static presentation of a rabbit strip fly. They will eyeball the fly for a long time without takink. If you have the patience to outwait them they will usually take. It is unbelievable how quickly they can spit out your offering resulting in no hook up. I probably hooked about 50% of the bass that eventually took. The others were absolute masters at rejection. NO WONDER THE PLASTICS WORK SO WELL ON BASS!
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[cool][#0000ff]I have watched trout on underwater cameras, just like the videos provided by Z. They can be just as "delicate" in taking and rejecting a bait or lure as bass. However, bass are more "ambush" predators, whereas trout usually cruise when feeding and are more likely to whack a bait from the side or going away. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]That being said, last winter I watched some video of trout under the ice, here in Utah. The big cutthroats in Strawberry are notorious for being "delicate" on some days. In the video I watched, guys were jigging with lures tipped with minnow. The cutts would sometimes "strike up"...taking the jigged lures from below. The angler above would feel nothing as the fish sometimes swam around in a big circle before spitting the fake food.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Of course, on other days, the fish would slam the jigs and almost pull the happy fishermen down through the hole. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I grew up fishing for trout in my native Idaho. One fly-fishing uncle used to tell me to count to 2 or 3 before setting the hook when a fish took the fly. That was to give them a chance to turn around and swim away and to get a more positive hookset. Of course, that is for visual and usually top water presentations. When they hit a sunken fly it can often be difficult to detect the take without an indicator. I have known fly flingers who would go fishless if they did not have their "foo foo bobbers".[/#0000ff]
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[reply]
But the best way is to tether the fly so that it CAN be sucked backwards: Put a large styrofoam strike indicator at about 1.5X the depth you want to fish, and add weight to the tippet above the fly. Now move along slowly, and when the fish hits, the fly is suspended from above, not ahead. It's free to move backwards, either along the pendulum line or by the submerging of the indicator, or both. This permits you to fish different depths, too, by slowing and letting the fly sink, then pulling it upwards.
Try it and see if it doesn't up your odds. [/reply]

Great thoughts that make sense. BTW, welcome Idlerick. Hope to see you contribute more stuff like this.

z~
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[cool][#0000ff]I have known fly flingers who would go fishless if they did not have their "foo foo bobbers".[/#0000ff] [/reply]

On other boards those would be fighting words. But I kinda like them. I also like to use "foo foo bobbers."

z~
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Wow,

This is the first thread I've ever started that made it to two pages. Keep it coming guys. There has been a lot of useful insight disseminated thus far. You have provided me with a lot to reflect on. Thanks!
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[cool][#0000ff]No explanations or apologies necessary, Z. I too are a fisher of "pocket lint" creations, and I too have been knowed to use those "cheatin' floaters". [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Actually, one can develop a whole new set of skills in presentation and fish hooking once one becomes attuned to the use of those little goodies.[/#0000ff]
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