[Plecoptera]

So far its been another great cutthroat season in the rivers around here. However one recurring problem that I always have is keeping them on after the initial hookup. Once they feel the line pressure, most cutts seem to immediately start with headshakes which always throws the hook out.

I've had spots where I hook into 3-5 fish in a row all with the same result. Line tightens, fish on, a few seconds of thrashing... hook pops out. Sh*t!

I've tried different hooks, flies, tail lengths, feeding line, horsing them in, etc. Using small hooks <#12 seems to help some and also applying side pressure helps too, but I'm still losing a lot of fish after hookup.

Does anyone else notice this with sea-run cutts? I realize losing fish comes with the territory of using barbless, but I don't seem to have this issue with any of the other fish species I target.

 

[Gone’r]

i feel you on that one! i've had a little better ratio using tube flies and a size 8 (smashed barb) owner hook. but i still lose/miss a lot of fish. the last float i did was pretty ridiculous. i boated maybe 15-20 fish and easily farmed as many or more either on the eat or seconds after. i generally fish 2-3" baitfish with a pretty erratic retrieve tho. and i think the problem is in there attack. not really the best at getting their mouth around it. even the big ones swing and miss a lot.

curious what your fly/retrieve is like? seemed my hookup % was pretty good with spiders and the like.

 

[Plecoptera]

I also use a pretty erratic retrieve. I like to swing/strip on a sinktip, which has produced a lot of fish but also results in the poor landing % I've been seeing. My go to hook is usually a #6 Octopus style as a trailer, but like i said, I notice this problem with other hooks too.

With small soft hackles & emergers my landing % goes way up, but I'm also not getting nearly as many looks. I still enjoy just seeing them come after it and feeling the jolt, but it gets frustrating missing/losing so many of them.

 

[KerryS]

Not sure how long you have been fishing cutts but I have been fishing for them for a number of years now. Their ability to throw a hook constantly amazes me and over the years I have never really figured out how they are capable of doing it. Another of the reasons I love fishing for them so much. A fish that is so accomadating to the fly angler with its eagerness to attack a fly yet can produce so much frustation with its ability to get loose and how it knows exactly where the nearest snag is to entangle your line.

 

[Smalma]

In my limited experience I usually land the vast majority of the cutthroat that I hook. Though there seems to be a fair degree of variation in the landing ratio day to day.

I have found that the best approach to landing a reasonable percentage is the coming together of a number of factors.

It starts with the fly (always barbless and sharp); if you are not getting good solid takes change - different color, profile, retrieve speed/action, size, etc.

By far the best advice I can give you is learn to set the hook with a line strip. After a quick sharp strip and hook up then lift your rod loading it up with the pressure of the fish. This way you are in a position to immediately control the fish and prevent any slack line. A side benefit is the if you miss the fish your fly one moves a short ways and I can't tell you how many extra fish I have caught when they come back for a second go at the fly

I very rarely "play" a cuttrhoat on the reel. Following the strip set and rod lift I hand strip line to keep constant pressure on the fish. If I'm fortunate enough to hook a large cuttroat, steelhead or coho that wants to run I will put the fish on the reel but only after either a run of the fish "takes" the stripped line or I have the fish under some control and can reel the excess slack in without any danger of creating slack line.

Kerry -
Funny you mention the fish getting tangled in the nearest snag. I was fishing this morning around a fair number of snags and actually found myself thinking about how I avoid losing fish in those snags. When I'm fishing around the wood I try to be prepared for (expecting) the fish to take and to be in a position to steer the fish clear. Today I found that after the strip hook during the initial rod lift I was sweeping the rod in which every direction best clear the fish. I used to conscious think about that situation so I was mentally prepared to deal the snag. I noticed today that preparation was on automatic pilot. I can not recall losing a single cutthroat this year on a snag.

Tight lines
Curt

 

[KerryS]

Curt,

You are getting to good at this. Careful or you will lose the spontaneity of fishing having played out all the possibilities of the hookup in your mind before the hookup actually happens. At that point why bother fishing at all?:hmmm:

 

[Plecoptera]

Ya i've been fishing for them for quite a few years and they always humble me with how well they are at throwing the hook.

I usually incorporate the strip-strike and immediately put the wood to them (or graphite in this case). Its when I get them on the hook after pressure is applied they start with the crazy headshakes which tosses my fly. I may just have to work on my technique or timing of everything.

 

[Smalma]

The style of the hook can make a difference and if you feel everything else (hook set, fish playing, etc) is as it should be a hook change may help.

With fish that roll or shake there heads a lot a hook with straight line pull from the shank (ring eye, turle knot, etc) will sometimes make a significant differences in hook/landed ratios). That said I had bad luck with low water salmon hooks in my cutthroat with the very worst hook being an Alec Jackson in cutthroat size. The Jackson produced great looking cutthroat flies and they seem to be a very nice hook for steelhead but for some reason I consistently landed less than 1/2 of the cutttroat I hooked using them (especially the larger fish). I think it may have been due to the "springness" of the steel.

The Gammi drop shot hook is a great hook to use in situations where fish "tossing" the hook is common. While I use it in some fisheries I have not found it necessary for cutthroat. Since I find that my catch rate on river cutthroat is closely correlated to how close I fish to the wood lost flies are part of the game so I tend to rely on fly patterns and hooks the require little investment in time or $$.

Kerry -
One of the joys of the cutthroat game is that every fall there seems to some sort of new wrinkle to keep me challenged. That is especially true since I have aged a bit; I seem to forget a detail or two from year to year so there always seems to be "new" puzzle. Somehow I think there will be enough challenges in the cutthroat game to keep me more than interested until I can no longer wade the river.

One of the things I have learned is that if I'm prepared to catch fish and expect to catch fish I seem to catch fish; or to put it another way the more in "tune to the game" I am the better my "game".

BTW -
It looks like Mother Nature has done us a favor with this dry weather and we may have a chance another cutthroat or two before the fall/winter rains ends the game.

tight lines
Curt

 

[orangeradish]

I had some good results swinging an EHC on the Cowlitz. I'd dead drift, then skate them a bit, then let them hang. I hooked up using all 3 methods, but the hangdown produced the most fish. I'd leave the rod tip pointed just upstream of the line, and as soon as I felt the hit, I'd just sweep the tip upstream a few degrees, parallel to the water to set the hook. Way more often than not, I'd get a good hookset. Then all that remained was to maintain line tension, and strip 'em in. I got tons of 8-12 inchers, and a handful of 15"+ fish. I was amazed at how well this worked. It also works well with a soft hackle.

 

[John Wallace]

I always tie my flies about a size smaller then the hook size I'm tying on.

 

[T Bag]

I'm new to Washington and i want to try fishing the Cowlitz for Sea-Run Cutts.... does anyone have any recommendations for locations or fly patterns that will hopefully give me some success? Do egg patterns/leeches/egg-sucking leeches work at all this time of year? I'm trying to learn how to tie and these are the only "flies" I've mastered so far. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Guys