Hooking Fish With Soft Hackles

[stinger160]

Love swinging soft hackles through riffles but my hookup percentage is very low, less than 50%. Any suggestions for how to improve?

[Chris Barclay]

Soft hackles are my favorite. What kind of rod are you using? I've found the responsiveness of some rods helps me to hook up better than others. Also, using a strip set rather than a tip set helps me immensely.

I'm curious to hear others thoughts on this.

[fishinwrench]

Depending on where you are swingin' alot of your misses may just be chubs or the like. When a game fish eats a compact fly like a soft hackle on a tight line it usually gets hooked. Broken tippets are usually more common than missed strikes but if the trout are truly just half-heartedly nipping at it as it goes by I'd try changing patterns or sizes. Or maybe add a little bit of weight to the leader or try a beaded SH to get the fly a little further below the surface.

You could also try "kirbing" the hook in the downstream direction (slightly offset the bend).

[dennis boatman]

...I usually tie in a "hot spot" near the bend of my hook...pink is my fav, but chartruese works equally well...and a short tail...dominate with the hackle...but not to long, just right...I'd guess hook-up percentage at 80% or better...today I was 2 for 2...river was up and leaves were everywhere...mostly on my fly...still a great day...

[stinger160]

Thanks for the feedback. I've got a medium action, 9 ft 5 weight. Will try the strip set and get some flies tied up with the hot spot. FYI, most of the strikes I got were very hard, even had one break off at the strike. Makes you really want to see what hit that hard!

[RSBreth]

Another thing to pull the rod in the direction the flow is going (downstream)- helping the current to use the belly of the line to set the hook instead of going against it.