I was wondering ----------The other day ( on a Dry fly) the fish that I hooked were hooked on the side of the mouth. On some days they are mostly hooked inside the mouth. Does any body know the reason ???
JaD
You are most observant, and correct. I would rather you figure this out and tell us though. Knowing you are correct should be helpful.
JAd
Were you using the same fly pattern on both days? Or using a wet one day and a dry the next? Did you change to a bigger or smaller size hook? Were you fishing in faster water one day and slower the next? Was the hatch emerging or were there spinners on the surface?
And finally did-ja use a little worm on your hook, cause if ya did they tend to swallow bait?
You have to look at all the factors and find out what was different each day.
There are lakes and streams around here where I will not use certain flies because the fish swallow them down making catch and release a real gamble.
J castwell
The other week when you wrote------------
( Posted: Sep 23, 2006 8:04 am Post subject: How long should a leader be?
Lets try to learn something about leaders. This does not include tippets, just the length of the leader. If you really want to mess this up include furled, braided, twisted or whatever too. The main question is this. Does the length of the leader depend on the length of the rod or the weight of the line/rod? Should a leader for a 9 foot rod be longer than a leader for a 6 foot rod? How about an 18 foot leader on a 5 weight rod? Does the size of the fly matter? The smaller the fly = the longer the leader? Is there one real answer, or not?
Not one person wrote you and said----
I would rather you figure this out and tell us though. Knowing you are correct should be helpful.[/
Mister J Castwell if I knew the answer I would not ask the question And if I knew all the answers I might be like you.
Insulted
JaD
J castwell
The other week when you wrote------------
( Posted: Sep 23, 2006 8:04 am Post subject: How long should a leader be?
Mister J Castwell if I knew the answer I would not ask the question And if I knew all the answers I might be like you.
Insulted
JaD[/quote]
Insulted? I took his responce to mean that he didn’t know why, any more than you or I do.
I notice the same when fishing and don’t have a short answer for you either. I guess at the reasons like most do…and there is probably a wide variety of reasons.
I only get concerned when the hook sets are so deep it’s going to hurt the fish and its consistant. I look for a different fly. I know in still water, Boobies and Fritz flies are natorious for being taken deeply. Why??? Heck if I know, but I think twice before using them. (reserved for put and take fishing)
ok,
i’ll take a shot at this.
When a trout eats a fly(natural or artificial),it opens its mouth and sucks in the fly by propelling water through its gills. It sets up a little current and the fly flows into its mouth. The fish then turns and heads back to its lie.
I suspect as the fish is drinking in the fly and is starting to turn, you are striking a teeny bit early and taking the fly out of the fishes mouth as it is closing and turning.
Wait another beat before you set the hook; he should be firmly hooked in the jaw.
It worked for me. 
all the best,
Black Gnat
Thanks for the reply ,I have thought about this several different times. Sometimes a fish will hit a Dry Fly and not try to eat the fly.It’s as if they are trying to chase the fly away, on this particular day I was using a Coparadun that had been working for several days on different places on the river. I thought it might be the size so I went smaller but that didn’t help. .
Best Regards
JaD
Aaahhhhh!! I’ve seen that too. My gut tells me at the time it’s happening that the fish are a tad over pressured. They smack it out of instinct but having been tagged a number of times by a hook they start bumping flies instead of taking them. NOW this is all speculation on my part but I found that my gut is rarely wrong. LOL!! When this happens I move below the surface. If you want to stay on top, try a different fly that might be a different tie of the same bug you are fishing.
They could also be hitting tiny emerging midges and your fly is just close by. Keep experimenting or do something off the wall…like strip a caddis through the surface.
(JaD, JAd) (pick one) I was actually trying to be very helpful to you. Letting you know you were correct was to encourage you to investigate and think things further through. The direction you are fishing can make a big difference in where the hook ends up. Whether they are sipping (an imago), or grabbing an active (sub-imago) will change where they are hooked too. Many things can. I am sorry you did not understand when someone was actually trying to help you.
I had this happen just the other week. Was fishing a wooly bugger below the surface, a nice 14" bow took it and I was surprised to see the hook stuck in the outside of the “cheek” as opposed to in the mouth. As I unhooked the trout, I was thinking that maybe it was the way he took the fly and turned, e.g. the fish hit the “head” of the bugger and in turning to his left to get back to the log he was holding under(and from under which I saw him come shooting for my fly) the hook lodged in the “cheek”. If the bow only had the fly’s “head”, the turning would bring the hook back, along the outside of the mouth and my subsequent setting of the hook would bury it outside, rather than inside the mouth.
Just my speculation here… could be blowing smoke?
‘flossing’ is common with salmon which swim with their mouth open but does happen on others too.
I just looked up “flossing” on wikipedia. It suggests that some anglers do this and it’s considered “low-rent” and in the UK illegal. But I don’t think that’s your point… what it also suggests is that the fish isn’t hitting the lure, but the leader, the way it’s explained. Is that what you’re angling at, JC?
Meant to suggest nothing… The fish somehow gets the leader in it’s mouth. Misses the fly, just runs into it, no matter, somehow it gets there and gets hooked.
Is there an answer to the reason why that you’re keeping under your hat, JC?
did you read what I just wrote? did I say how? what part is a secret to you? things make a difference. upstream, downstream, dead-drift or swinging, one-eyed fish, blind fish, stupid fish, accident, fish eating leader, stripping really fast (as in SNAGGING!) purposely putting the leader in the fishes mouth. There may be more secrets, but, I am not going to tell you.