Imagine you are in casting position on a large trout rising to an intense pale morning dun hatch. You see the fish slowly rise from the bottom and gently sip each dun that goes by. You make the perfect cast and lay the fly in the trout’s feeding lane. As it floats over, the trout tilts its fins and rises to your fly. Your excitement takes over, and as the fish eats your fly, you give it a hard hook set. The fly breaks off, and the trout spooks into the depths. Your heart drops as you just missed the opportunity you’ve been dreaming of.
If this sounds like something you would do, you’re not alone. I have been on the wrong side of this situation many times and witnessed many friends do the same thing. There is nothing worse, so I want to share some tips on the dry fly hookset that have worked for me when dry fly fishing the Greater Yellowstone Region.
The Dry Fly Hookset
The three key factors to consider when setting the hook using a dry fly are speed, force, and direction.
Speed
When I say speed, I am referring to the amount of time you pause between the fish rising to the fly and setting the hook. Many anglers make the mistake of setting the hook too quickly when a fish rises to their dry fly, pulling the fly from the trout’s mouth. It’s essential to give the trout time to close its mouth on the fly. Speed is especially critical when targeting large fish or cutthroat trout, as they tend to take their time eating on the surface. It’s best to wait until the fish takes the fly and starts back down before setting the hook.
Saying “God saved the Queen” before setting the hook on a dry fly fish is a popular technique among anglers. Counting to three also works. Whatever you can do to calm your excitement and let the fish take the fly.
An easy way to go about it is to match the speed of your hookset to the pace of the trout’s rise. A fish that rises fast and feriously to a fly is often hooked with a quick hookset, while a fish that rises slowly to the surface requires a pause before the hookset. If possible, take some time to watch the fish eat natural insects and anticipate the hookset needed before the trout takes your fly.
Force
The force that you put into the hookset is also crucial when thinking about the dry fly hookset. The story I opened with is a classic example of an angler putting too much force into the hookset, breaking the fly off in the process.
When matching the hatch and using smaller dry flies, we often use light tackle to achieve a natural drift. This means small hooks, long leaders, and light tippet. While this light tackle is stronger than many anglers think, it does not hold up when you set the hook like Kevin VanDam on an 8lb bass.
The trick when fishing small dry flies is to use a light hook set, trusting that the small hook will plant itself in the trout’s mouth with little pressure. It takes some finesse and patience, but it leads to more success when dry fly fishing.
Angle
The last aspect to consider in the dry fly hookset is the angle or direction of the hookset. There are many angles from which anglers approach rising fish (upstream, down and across, straight across, etc.), and one should have a plan for their hookset before making a cast to a rising fish.
The goal is to set the hook into the corner or top of the trout’s mouth. The most straightforward approach to do this is by fishing upstream to a rising trout. The trout is facing upstream, and when you set the hook, it theoretically sticks in the top of the trout’s mouth. It gets trickier when fishing across or slightly downstream to a rising fish, which is often required on many of our technical dry fly fisheries in the Yellowstone region.
When this is the case, a downstream hookset parallel with the water’s surface is preferred. This angle of hookset helps put the fly in the corner of the trout’s mouth (assuming it is feeding upstream) without pulling the fly out of its mouth. If you are directly above a rising fish, it is much more difficult to hook a rising fish, as the angle of your hook set is often straight out of the trout’s mouth.
Dry Fly Hookset Scenarios
Now, putting all three aspects of the dry fly hook set is key. Each plays into the other and can vary in different scenarios. Let’s look at a few examples that will help put it all together.
Salmonflies From the Boat
You’re fishing the salmonfly hatch on the South Fork of the Snake from a drift boat. You’re using a size 6 salmonfly dry with 2x tippet, fishing tight to the banks in fast water. A lovely 14-inch brown comes up and smashes your fly.
This is a standard dry fly hook set. Average to fast speed, strong force, and a hookset slightly downstream and up should be enough to put the fish in the boat!
PMD's on the Missouri River
You’re fishing the famous PMD hatch on the Missouri River near Craig, Montana, on foot. You’re fishing a size 16 rusty spinner with 5x tippet, casting upstream to a 20-inch brown trout that is rising subtly to spinners.
Since you are positioned downstream of the fish, casting upstream, you can feel pretty confident that the angle of a standard hookset will put the fly in the brown’s mouth. The trick here is that the fish is rising slowly and subtly, and this is a large male brown trout with a big mouth. If you’re lucky enough to get an eat, your hookset should be slow, pausing until the brown takes the fly and heads back down. I’d wait long enough to see the trout’s tail breaking the surface. Additionally, I recommend a soft hookset, one that is sufficient to set the fly but not so hard as to break the tippet. Now you have to figure out how to land him.
Yellowstone Cutthroat
You’re fishing the Yellowstone River in Yellowstone National Park during late summer, when terrestrial fishing is in its prime. You’re positioned slightly upstream of a 20-inch Yellowstone cutthroat rising sporadically to flying ants. You’re fishing your favorite ant pattern on 5x tippet because of the low and clear water. This fish has already been caught a time or two, and is rising slowly, barely putting his head above the water on each rise.
This may be the toughest hookset of all of these scenarios. If you’re lucky enough to get an eat, I recommend a substantial pause before setting the hook. Cutthroat trout take flies very slowly, and being slightly upstream of the fish means the fish needs to take your fly and turn, or the hook will be pulled out of its mouth. The force of the hookset should be firm, picking up the slack likely needed to achieve a natural drift. The angle of your hookset is crucial, as you are positioned slightly upstream of the rising fish. I like to set the hook to the downstream side of where I’m standing, moving the rod parallel with the water’s surface. Even if everything is done correctly, there’s still a chance the fly will miss the cutthroat’s mouth.
The dry fly hook set is an important skill to develop as a dry fly angler. To this day, I still botch my fair share of hooksets. Success comes with time and practice, and many failed hooksets along the way. Give yourself plenty of days on the water to practice, and you will begin to put together the speed, force, and angle.
I hope this article helps with your dry fly fishing. If you have any further questions about the dry fly hookset or fishing in the Greater Yellowstone Region, please let me know.
Thanks,
Nick
6 thoughts on “The Dry Fly Hookset”
Great info Nick! Keep it up
Thanks Joe!
Awesome blog and great tips. Really appreciate your blogs. Great information
Thanks Paul!!
Cutthroat are by far the slowest eaters. I found this out while on vacation last week in Wyoming. Happened twice before I figured this out.
So true Dan! One of the many reason I love our cutthroat!
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