The strip strike and other hook sets

“Trout fisherman,” yelled the guide. Not a bad name to be called, unless you’re fly fishing for bonefish in Belize.

I will say, in my own defense, that I had landed at least a dozen bones before old muscle memory surfaced and I raised the rod tip high when I felt a bonefish suck in my Crazy Charlie.

Veteran trout fly fishers know the most common method to set the hook into a fish’s jaw is to hold the line securely, then quickly raise the rod tip. Let’s call it the jerk strike. In most cases, the fly line is tightly held by the non-casting hand, but pinching the line against the rod handle also works.

Raising the rod tip may work for surface-feeding and shallow trout, but tough-jawed saltwater fish require a strip strike. In a strip strike, the rod tip is pointed towards the fish with the fly line tightened. Then the line hand is pulled sharply and quickly, sometimes even violently, to set the hook. The strip can vary from about a foot long to as far as your line arm can pull.

And the strip strike isn’t just for the saltchuck. Use it in freshwater when fishing deep-bellied sinking lines or rivers with heavy current. Remember, the strip strike works only when you keep a taught line from rod to fish.

Here’s some other strike options:

• Full body strike — raise the rod tip and swing your body to the side at the same time.

• Slip strike — during the jerk strike, allow some line to slip through the fingers of the line hand. Good hook set for small fish with tender mouths.

• Scissors strike — quickly pull the rod to one side of your body while the line hand pulls line exaggeratedly to the other so your body opens like a pair of scissors.

Next time you miss fish, try a different hook set. You might hook the fish and, more importantly, you add another weapon in your fishing arsenal.