When to strike

Several summers ago, I was on the Travers River at the head of Lake Rotoiti, Nelson Lakes National Park, with Marcia, a friend from the USA who casts a fly beautifully.

On this particular day, we had hiked upstream for a few miles. The first pool was a beauty, and sure enough, a good brown trout was feeding in the pool’s eye. Marcia cast a green stonefly nymph. It’s a big pattern as befitting the natural Stenoperla, and being November when the nymphs are about, the fish took it with no hesitation.

“Tighten!”

I spoke sharply, and Marcia brought the rod back in a savage strike, as if she were big game fishing. The tippet parted and the fish was gone.

The same thing occurred on two more pools upstream. Marcia was disappointed. I consoled her, and then explained she was striking, not tightening. After that she went on to take a couple of fine brownies by ditching ‘strike’ for ‘tighten’.

I’ve found the same applies to saltwater fishing for species such as tarakihi, snapper, blue cod and others. I have been using lighter gear since back in the 1970s, when most rods were like broomsticks. In the process I found species such as tarakihi and cod can, at times, take quietly, almost sucking the bait. The slight pressure from such feeding can only be detected by light gear. Today’s soft-bait rods are ideal for this.

One day, at Cable Bay near Nelson, fishing from a dinghy with a trout-spinning rod, I found myself detecting the subtle take of tarakihi. In this case I ‘tightened’ by raising the rod, ‘feeling’ the fish, and then tightening further. That day I caught a score of tarakihi while two boats nearby, filled with anglers fishing heavy ‘broomstick’ gear, caught nothing.

I never strike with snapper, always tightening instead. In fact, the word ‘strike’ should be banished from an angler’s vocabulary. When spotting for another angler on trout, if a fish takes the nymph, I never say “Strike!” just a “Yes!” or better still, “Tighten!”

Quite by coincidence, while browsing some old copies of the New Zealand Fishing and Shooting Gazette, I came across an article by Joe Frost in the September 1935 issue.

Just to digress for a moment, Joe Frost was a legendary figure on the Tongariro River. In the early 1920s, He was first employed at the trout hatchery and then as a ‘gillie’ (fishing guide) at Taylor’s Lodge, providing dry-fly casting tuition. Eventually he opened his own tackle shop, which he operated until 1950, when Geoff and ‘Pop’ Sanderson took over.

Joe Frost was an exceptionally successful angler and guided Lord Jellicoe (Admiral of the Fleet and Governor General from 1920 to 1924), the new Governor General and his wife, Lord and Lady Bledisloe, and then the next Governor General and his wife, Lord and Lady Galway.

Back to the 1935 issue of the New Zealand Fishing and Shooting Gazette. The article by Joe was titled ‘Forget the word strike’. In it he wrote, ‘Might I suggest that the word “tighten” be used in preference to the word “strike” — more often than not the hook is torn out by striking.’

Then in a 1940 issue of the same magazine, a letter quoted various authorities, even going back to the 19th Century. For example, 19th Century trout author John MacKeachen in The Sport of Fishing (1867) said ‘tightening of the line is all that is necessary’.

Joe Frost was so strong on the point of not striking that he spoke of ‘the evil arising from striking’.

With sea fishing, vicious striking is more likely to whip the bait away from the fish, thus often scaring the more wary species such as snapper. However, a subtle lifting of the rod and tightening of the line will either hook the fish or, if it doesn’t, at least it won’t spook the fish so it can be encouraged to take the bait again.

This practice is even more important if using circle hooks. That ‘hell strike’ only denies the hook the opportunity of rolling into the corner of the fish’s mouth, as it is designed to do. Similarly, when softbaiting, it is best to wind rapidly on the fish and take out the slack, rather than striking.

If the fish misses the hook initially, winding hard will most likely entice the fish to have another shot at the escaping meal, while striking hard pulls the lure out of range immediately.

So remember, tighten, don’t strike for better hook-up success, regardless of what species you are targeting.