There's an old saying that was drummed into me (several times) by worthy old souls which went along the lines of
see the fish take, say 'God save the Queen' and lift into the fish note 'lift'.
Experience is the key IMHO, do I say 'God save the Queen' when dry fly fishing
Do I hell.... except
maybe when I'm dapping but that is a whole different ball game. I
maybe count to one and
lift into the fish when dry fly fishing but it varies between stockies and wild fish. Stockies are generally more 'forgiving' of the slow strike.
Without wishing to preach it's possible the fly wasn't actually taken, fish often come short or try to drown the fly. So a 25% success rate isn't all that bad. There are things that you can do to improve hook up rates and one of them is to make sure the fly is
in the surface and not
on the surface, you'll probably find your success rate will improve with that methodology.
I like and use circle hooks a lot for nymphs and dries, these are almost 'self hookers' and worth a punt.
Even the very best anglers miss fish on the dry, so perseverance, patience and practice will be your guide
H
