Author Topic: Foul hooking fish in the mouth (Read 728 times)

Philip Short · « **on:** December 21, 2010, 08:04:54 PM »

Over the past couple years I've foul hooked many fish on the outside part of the mouth( while nymphing). I was just wondering if anyone new of a way to tell if the fish went for the fly or if it was foul hooked. I know for a competition it doesn't matter but the whole point of fishing is to fool the fish.

Bill Steudler · « **Reply #1 on:** December 21, 2010, 10:46:44 PM »

I would imagine the fish ate it. Maybe just a little slow on the hook set? Not every cast has perfect contact. If you think about the size of a fish, the head would be about 1/6-1/8 of the total length. Probability says you would snag it somewhere else on its body than the head. I have watched fish move out of the way of my flies so that they do not get hit with them. I would imagine they probably do the same thing in deeper water. I haven't talked to a trout lately, so take that for what its worth. Haha

Philip Short · « **Reply #2 on:** December 21, 2010, 11:40:32 PM »

I guess if the fish is hooked anywhere around the lip you can be sure it went for your fly. Since the head is a very small part compared to the whole body and the mouth is even smaller

Paul Bourcq · « **Reply #3 on:** December 22, 2010, 02:18:01 PM »

I suspect you were late on your hookset but still got the fish. When a trout eats something it doesnt like it expells water out of its gills and shoots water out both sides of its mouth. I find that i "foul hook" fish in the corner more than anywhere.

If you watch "The underwater world of trout" they show you a trout feeding and spitting stuff out. I was surprised at how much stuff a trout eats that isnt food.

Chris Puchniak · « **Reply #4 on:** December 22, 2010, 08:28:59 PM »

Quote from: Paul Bourcq on December 22, 2010, 02:18:01 PM

If you watch "The underwater world of trout" they show you a trout feeding and spitting stuff out. I was surprised at how much stuff a trout eats that isnt food.

That is indeed a good video, and it reminds me that I have to get my copies back from Todd... Todd, where are you?

Hooking fish on the outside of the mouth is a big issue in BC here with regards to salmon fishing. It's referred to as "flossing", and it's typically done (knowingly and not) by gear fisherman (but also by fly fishers) who are bouncing the bottom and much of their line is dragging horizontally along the riverbed. What ends up happening is that the salmon are sitting on the riverbed (naturally as they move upstream), and due to the fact that they cannot close their mouths well (especially males with the larger kype), when the long leader floats downstream, that leader often floats right into the open jaws of the fish. Now, the fish can see the fly and the fly line, so can avoid those pretty readily, but a good FC leader it doesn't spot quite so well (especially in turbid or dirty water) - so when the leader slides into it's jaws, it feels the leader and reacts by racing forward or turning to the side, which the angler feels as a tug or "resistance" on his line. When the angler reacts and sets the hook, he pulls the leader across the fish's mouth (with the leader still in the mouth - so in a sense is "flossing" the fish's teeth) and the hook ends up embedding itself in the outside of the jaw. A good snagging.

Naturally, hooking fish in the outside of the jaw also happens by accident when the fish misses the target slightly, etc...

What may be happening with the case of trout is that the fish (since it doesn't have the same large mouth as a salmon) is going after a dropper fly, misses it, but bumps your leader - and when you set the hook, you're pulling the leader through it's mouth and hooking the outside jaw. Or if you are swinging a nymph at the end of a run, you are flossing the fish ocassionally as well. Of course, it can also be that the fish are just missing the fly on ocassion too.

I am assuming though that this doesn't happen a lot, does it? I can't say I've snagged very many trout on the outside of the mouth (less that 2% I am sure, especially when czech nymphing). With salmon, it can be much more common.

Brett Silber · « **Reply #5 on:** June 26, 2011, 06:50:30 AM »

I was wondering if anyone has any specific ideas why i foul hooked three fish in the stomach and side. Caught about 12 fish and foul hooked three of them using a nymph dropper 15" off the bend of the first nymph. They were hooked by the dropper only not the lead fly, both were size 14, and only foul hooked stocked rainbows that aren't stocked in the tailwater section. The only thing i could think of was that i felt them on the first fly and somehow foul hooked them with the second when they spit the first one out.