Ray,
It has always been my thought that a trout/bass or any species that intends to eat another fish/minnow, will try to hit it at the head so that when they swallow it the dorsal fin will lay back and go down the throat without causing any injury. I think trout, which are usually in moving water, strike short because they are coming up from behind the fly. When I get a short strike, in fast moving water, I drop the rod to the fish for a second and then pick up the rod and slack and will usually have the fish on. I can visualize the trout coming up fast behind the streamer, striking the tail, and then when I drop slack to the streamer I can see the trout just opening it's mouth and taking the fly. Another thought that I have been thinking about is that there are several times I lose fish, during the fight, when it just seems to come "unbuttoned". I am thinking that a longer hook shank will lose more fish during the fight because it gives the fish leverage to "pop" the hook out on turning against the line pressure. I visualize the hook half way in the mouth and half out and when the fish turns the pressure from the rod and line pulling against the mid point of the shaft "pops" the hook out. If this is true, then one would think a shorter shank hook would be better since more of the hook would be inside the fishes' mouth. Just thinking out loud here. Any thoughts from others would be interesting to read.

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Warren