Went salmon fishing yesterday and as it was clear low water i thought i'd try the induced take method.

Managed to rise 3 fish. The last fish 4 times and i saw it take the fly but not hook up at all. I kept pulling the fly out of its mouth?

Is this due to it being at such close range or bad luck?


1st time ever salmon fishing by the way.

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With my silken line and delicate hook,i wander in a myriad of ripples and find freedom!

Hi Wesdev

I am busy reading Francis T Grant's book; Salmon Fishing the Dynamics Approach and he talks about the same thing. He says that the salmon is not closing its mouth on the fly, just sucking it in and blowing it out; in some cases even slapping the fly with its tail. From what I recall he suggests striking as soon as you see the fish go for the fly, just as you would for a trout taking a dry fly.

I hope I get more from this book for what it cost me

Johnny

Hi again

I just re-read your post and seen that it was your first trip.

99% of the time with salmon fishing you don't strike, allow the fish to take the fly and then when you feel the weight of the fish on the line lift into the fish. This is quite different to trout fishing and if you have spent years perfecting the art of "the strike" it is difficult to stop yourself doing it and pulling the fly out of the salmon's mouth.

If you were getting that much action on your first trip you should be pleased.

Johnny

The last two times the last fish took i waited until i could feel the fish but i like the first post said he took it and blew it out. I noticed the they nibbled the back end of the fly at close range..

Its actually putting me off my work today! Feel a bit gutted.

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With my silken line and delicate hook,i wander in a myriad of ripples and find freedom!

Could it have been the leader?

I was using a very short length about 18" of seagar flourocarbon on a 5ft fast sink polyleader. It was fullers earth'd but all it takes is a glint and they dont nail it.

Most takes apart from one were half hearted?

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With my silken line and delicate hook,i wander in a myriad of ripples and find freedom!

Salmon are not thought to be leader shy so I wouldn't worry about that. 18" is a bit short though. Even with a super fast sink poly I wouldn't be using anything shorter than 3ft, and usually around 4ft. But as you were encountering a few fish then there is obviously nothing wrong with your choice of set up. You describe the fish 'coming short' with the nicked wings or tails, and I would have immediately changed the size of the fly to one slightly smaller, then bigger if the fish still aren't hooking up, before going for a completely different pattern altogether.

Please take the time to watch this video. It shows you underwater shots of the salmon moving off their lie to intercept a fly. It also gives you an idea of the 'coming short' problem where you will actually see the fish come off the lie and engulf a fly yet still not hook up.

Very interesting. Thanks for that. Will look into it...

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With my silken line and delicate hook,i wander in a myriad of ripples and find freedom!

That vid was fantastic GFL

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Time is a stream I go fishing in.

GuyFromLaw spot on !

In low clear water I have come across salmon taking short or simply just following the fly with half hearted takes..the best induced method in my opinion is the 'riffle hitch' fishing the fly on the surface as a wake fly . hard solid no nonsense takes !

more about that at ..A GHILLIE'S TALE

Basically dragging the fly across the surface..pattern is irrelevant it's the wake created by the drag in the line that attracts...

Standard practice with salmon ..feel the fish take and allow him time to turn down and begin running back to his lye..then pull into him or if he stops pull into him.
To aid in timing the strike pull a length of line 6-8 feet from the reel after the cast is made and allow it to hang as a loop at your side trapping said line gently beneath your finger and rod handle [as you would when retrieving].
Fish takes allow him to take the loop then lift into him.
Takes are often quite confident as the fish feels no resistance until the actual strike.

Fish actually rises to the fly strike before you feel him ..it works !

A fish that slaps the fly as with trout wants to take it wet ie:drowned see this happen don't strike-the fish will turn and come at the fly with confidence...but you must hesitate the secret is to give the fish a few seconds to turn once he has taken the fly..

John

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I know the accepted norm is to feel the fish before striking, but there are also times when a strike can pay dividends. Looking at that Iceland video, there are a couple of times when the fish takes the sunray/frances solidly, yet ejects the fly before he's hooked. the fish has the fly in a (closed) mouth, therefore why would a strike not prove successful as in any fish?

I remember once sight fishing at a large salmon (later caught at 100cm or 22lb) i clearly saw him glide across the river and take my frances tube 100% into his mouth. I didn't strike as i was expecting him to return to his lie, but in fact he continued on his 'glide' toward me, even with the fly in his mush. If i couldnt see him as clear as day i'd have felt nothing. The fish blew the fly out as i struck (eventually) but took it again as soon as it hit the water next cast. again no 'pull' as the fish swam toward me with the fly in his mouth, (the water was so clear i could see the leader protruding from his mouth.) again when i finally did strike it was too late and he swam off upriver and out of sight.

Apropo of nothing of course, but interesting nonetheless.