On a recent fishing trip, I rounded a little mangrove point and spotted a tri-colored heron. The bird was a statue of stealth, neck cocked, eyes peering into the water. Like a cobra, the bird was alert, and poised to strike. When it made its move, it was quick. It was economical. Birds of prey trump anglers because they put themselves in per-fect position to make the kill.

If birds of prey were fly fishers, they’d set the hook every time.

Most of us work so hard on our fly-casting fundamentals that closing the deal once a fish takes the fly seems an afterthought. How many times have you heard a fellow fly fisher bemoan a botched hookset after a perfect pres-entation or a hair-raising strike? It boils down to poor fundamentals—how you stand, where your rodtip is, and what you do with your line hand.

Proper body positioning is paramount whether you are sight casting, and can watch a fish track and eat the fly, or blind-fishing where you depend entirely on feel to know when a fish has taken your fly. In either case, you should always face the fly.

Plant Your Feet Firmly

Face the fly, keep the rodtip close to or in the water...

...and set your hook with your line hand before side-striking with teh rod.

I once watched a friend (I will not mention his name, but we’ll call him “Michael Jackson”) tiptoe slowly in reverse on the front deck as a bonefish closed in on his fly. Not a good habit to get into, but far better than his other habit (which he finally broke years ago) of taking three small steps forward on the deck after making a cast to a fish, while his loop unrolled.

Boomp-boomp-boomp is not something a bonefish or redfish is accustomed to hearing just as its breakfast ap-pears. About the back-pedalling, maybe he thought he would be less visible to the fish? Maybe he would get in an extra strip or two before the fish saw the boat? I’m not sure which. He never did stumble back into the cockpit, I’m happy to report. Suffice to say, you don’t want happy feet, but what your feet are doing has a bearing on all phases of casting and fishing. That includes setting the hook as well as recasting, when you have the luxury of a second shot while sight casting.

I keep my feet close together while stripping my fly. It is just more comfortable to me. Also, when I sight fish, and see a fish track my fly, I keep my feet flat on the deck. That way, when I get “an eat” and successfully strip-strike and set the hook, there is little chance that loose fly line can sneak underfoot and ultimately pop off my catch as I attempt to clear loose line to the reel. I’m left-handed so I keep my feet positioned as I do during casting—my left foot is about six inches father back than my right, and my feet are about a foot apart. My weight is automatically shifted slightly forward on my right foot while I strip the fly, because I’m stooped at the waist ever so slightly to keep my rod tip low (we’ll get to that next). Should the fish turn off the fly, and I decide to re-present the fly, I am ready to go into a back cast without lifting and moving my left foot back, and chance stepping on fly line on the deck. I do the same thing when blind-fishing—it’s second nature.

Rod Straight Ahead and Down

There is little debating that the strip-strike is far and away the best way to set the hook with a fly rod in salt water. There is debate, however, to what degree, and just when to add a rod sweep to the equation. Most fly fishers agree that adding a slight rod strike (low and to the side) just after a good solid strip-strike is the way to go.

Keep your rod pointed at the fly at all times during the retrieve, and manipulate the fly with the line hand, not the rodtip alone. Failure to do so will decrease your chances of hooking up solidly. I know that some masterful tarpon fly fishers swear by “wagging” the rodtip slightly to manipulate a fly seductively, but add that to your repertoire once you get the basics down.

The poling platform provides a great view of a fly fisher’s fundamentals. That’s why guides can quickly point out (or sometimes berate you about) your shortcomings. When I guided newcomers to salt water, I noticed a common error made while fish tracked a fly. While stripping, an angler would strip the fly with fish in pursuit. Without realiz-ing it, they’d start to cock the rod to the side so that the tip ends up as much as 45 degrees off center. Of course if the fish eats the fly, the angler is now in poor position to set the hook. Even a proper strip-strike can’t overcome the cushioning effect produced by the bending rod.

I shared a skiff with an angler during a recent Bahamas bonefish trip, and he said he wasn’t even aware he was doing it. I know it spoiled a hookup for him at one point. When the fish pinned the fly to the sand, the fellow’s rod was pointed to the right, at least a 45-degree angle to the fish. When he strip-struck, the fish felt little resistance, and certainly didn’t “get the point.” It was goodbye, bonefish. I’m convinced that this habit is due to the fact that many fly fishers use spin and casting gear—with which you typically use the rodtip to move a lure and impart ac-tion. Anglers set the hook with conventional rods by sweeping the rod, either to the side or overhead, while reeling fast, which is totally opposite of fly fishing.

It’s also good habit to keep the tip low to the water, or even in the water, while stripping. That eliminates the sag between rodtip and the water’s surface that is simply slack that you must take up on the strip-strike to set the hook.

Sharpen those Irons

No matter how efficiently you strike a fish, dull hooks make it a moot point. Make it habit to sharpen your hooks. It's not surprising that many of us don't, given all the super-duper chemically sharpened, high-end hooks on the market today. I think it lulls us into a false sense of security. However, it pays dividends to touch up every hook out of the package. I typically sharpen my hooks after I tie a fly. That way, I don’t chance cutting my thread during the tying process.

Also consider crimping down the barb a bit to leave a “hump” that will effectively prevent the hook from falling out of a fish’s mouth. Some barbs are so long the do not penetrate the tough mouths of some species. Also consider using the smallest fly hook practicable for your fishing. It’s much easier to drive a smaller hook home.

Hands on the Line

With your rodtip pointed at the fish and all slack out of the system, a sharp strip should set the hook.

During a hot bite, repeated hooksets can leave a scar.

Sometimes a fish strikes a fly going away from you at a high rate of speed, and will set the hook for you if you have control of the fly line with your line hand. This is especially common when blind fishing, and with sinking lines in particular. When fishing a popper with a floating line you’ll usually have a visual indication that a strike is imminent; fish often push a wake before striking. Not so with subsurface flies. So you must control the fly line against the rod’s foregrip with your index finger when stripping. It’s good habit to snub the line lightly against the cork between fly strips in the event that a fish grabs the fly when you pause in the stripping cadence. In this case, do not re-strike the fish—get a bend in the rod right now and concentrate on getting the fish on the reel. These speed demons can also grab the fly and head at you, creating slack. Sometimes the only tipoff is a sudden lack of resistance while stripping. This calls for you to strip like mad until you come tight, and then make a solid strip-strike.

Many saltwater species are noted short-strikers. Bluefish, Spanish mackerel, false albacore, pompano, ladyfish and kingfish immediately come to mind. In this case, you must fight the urge to raise the rod to set the hook when you feel the hit. Don’t make long, exaggerated strip-strikes. All you’ll do is pull the fly from the water, or too far out of reach for the fish to relocate it. Simply keep stripping until the fish latches on.

SWA