If you miss a strike or lose your fish with a strip set, what do you do?

[Wadin' Boot]

Based on recs from all y'all I long ago abandoned the hook set with a rod lift. Seems like the practice of strip setting puts your fly in play longer than a hook set with a rod lift, which may jerk the fly 9-10 feet away from feeding fish. Given when you're in a boat or yak fishing you can often see two or more fish following along the hooked fish, lurking for scraps, which brings up a matter of technique- if you miss the strike, or lose your fish, what is your standard response?

You can choose as many as you want....

 

[Stonedfish]

Boot,
It only lets you select two, but I did the first four this morning with an emphasis on #2.
SF

 

[ffb]

I usually yell, not mutter, an expletive. Loud enough that the waterfront homeowner of whatever house I'm drifting past probably gets startled awake or spills their morning coffee.

 

[RCF]

Cry

 

[Divad]

I like to do #3 and #5 (pause, strip in a different rhythm etc) then when some repeated attempts fail I keep moving and come back later if needed depending on catch rate.

 

[SteelHeadDave]

My go to is the F word every time.

 

[SurfnFish]

be encouraged, because it means my offering is in the ballpark...

 

[Wadin' Boot]

Boot,
It only lets you select two, but I did the first four this morning with an emphasis on #2.
SF

Sorry about that, first time messing around with survey function, not sure I can go back and fix it, oh well, fun to see what people do...

 

[Matt B]

My go to is the F word every time.

Me too! Fffffferruginous hawk!

 

[clarkman]

Why can't I choose up to 6? I need to choose 6 of those.

 

[Scudley Do Right]

Instinctively I pause. I'm not a bio but in my mind that would make sense. The fish attacks something then circles back to eat that dead/wounded something. If I see a fish following I speed up.

 

[Evan B]

Depends. Stripping in a float tube is difficult and takes a while. Stripping on my bigger boats can take but a few seconds.

 

[clarkman]

My go to is the F word every time.

same....sometimes phrases too...but usually those phrases still start with F.

or, "YOU F-------------"

 

[Stonedfish]

same....sometimes phrases too...but usually those phrases still start with F.

or, "YOU F-------------"

Mine is F...me or I channel my inner Samuel L Jackson…. Mfer!
SF

 

[clarkman]

Mine is F...me or I channel my inner Samuel L Jackson…. Mfer!
SF

That inner Samuel L Jackson voice is really the best voice. Even when you crush it!

 

[Smalma]

Experience has taught me that if I miss a take after a strip set it most likely was due to pseudo take (the fish turns at the last second bumping the fly) or the fish took from the rear and the hook set takes the fly away from the fish.

In that situation I continue with the same retrieve for several strips at the same rate. If there is no follow up take I roll cast the fly back just upstream of the take to see if the fish is rushing around looking for its lunch went in which case I expect a solid take. If no follow-up will follow up making the same cast as the one the produced the first strike. In those cases a good strategy is being prepared to wait a 1/2 a beat before setting on the next take; giving the fish striking from the rear to turn resulting in consistent hook sets. All of which sounds great but can be tough in the heat of the moment. With experience my typical response would be a hmmm and followed by the above.

Curt

 

[Nick Clayton]

I'm most likely to change speeds. My go to is a sudden pause, letting the fly drop/hang. I've hooked an awful lot of fish doing this. From the boat I'm often able to see what's happening in these scenarios and it's amazing how often a sudden stop in movement will result in an aggressive grab.

Sometimes the opposite is a great technique as well. Immediately after a missed grab try stripping SUPER fast. I've had some days where this is quite effective.

Ultimately it pays to experiment and try different things from day to day and throughout the day, but if I had to pick a single technique to rely on in that situation it would definitely be the pause/drop/hang.

 

[PhilR]

Mine is F...me or I channel my inner Samuel L Jackson…. Mfer!
SF

It takes me a lot of swear words to get it out of my system

 

[Porter2]

When that happens …Oh definitely stop fishing and go to the local fly shop and buy a new high end rod, reel and $100.00 new line. Use the same fly and go back and it changes everything.

 

[jasmillo]

I usually do the same exact cast and strip speed, followed by the same cast and various modifications of the strip. Followed by a fly change…usually darker and smaller.

All while muttering “eat it you son of a b….”.