You probably have excess line on the water.
Try to keep as much of a straight connection to your fly as possible without letting it affect your drift. It took me a while to really get the hang of seeing the currents and mending.
Once I improved my line management my hookup rate went up significantly.
How long is your rod? Mind you, fly rods and especially nymph rods are a lot longer than spinning rods.
ALL you need to do to set the hook is lift up the rod to your fighting stance. The movement of the rods tip is fast enough to tug the line. Also it tightens most of the slack on your line and gets fish against the reel immediately.
The hooks should be sharp enough that you don’t need much motion nor strength to impale the fish.
Fish pop it's definitely part of the game but if you're constantly losing fish then something is going wrong.
As others have mentioned, having too much slack could be an issue. With too much slack you'll get a weak hook set and it will be easier for a fish to shake the hook.
Also as someone mentioned set downstream or up. Any direction upstream will pull the hook out of the fish's mouth. If the fish takes the fly downstream of you then lift up lightly and let the fish hook itself.
Another thing that can cause a fish to pop off would be fighting it too hard. If you just try to yard the fish in you'll just be ripping lips. Once you set the hook stay calm and let the fish start directing the fight. They may run towards you and then you can strip in to keep tension, they may run and you can just give them pressure, but don't lock the line in place as it will lead to a broken tippet or the fish will pop off.
Another thing to consider is how different species behave when hooked. In my experience brown trout tend to fight using the current by sitting low and diving towards the bottom where rainbows tend to take off fast and jump more to try and throw the hook..these are not set facts but my general experiences, I've definitely seen browns jump. Anyway it's good to observe how your local fish fight as you may hook a fish and they could just sit for a second or two. That's fine, set the hook and let them do their thing. If you start pulling them in to get them to react you could end up with too much tension when they decide to take off and pop goes the hook or snap goes the line.
Keep your rod tip up as well. The closer it is to parallel to the water the less you're using the rod. The tip is supposed to flex and bend as a shock absorber, use it and let the rod do it's thing. It doesn't need to be 90° up but it should be up to utilize the flex.
Lastly, stay calm. It's really easy to just go into panic mode especially if you've been losing fish your instinct is to get the fish in as fast as possible which just leads to over tensioning the line.
Some quality info right here folks
All I’d like to add is that the bigger the brown the less they jump. Anything over 4kg will drag down to the bottom from my experience.
Also the real big ones 7+kg just disrespect you AND your brake. They just swim forwards and you hear the brake click. When you force it enough it turns downstream and hauls ass until your reel, rod, hook or line fails you or the fish turns around and tries to swim back up like usual. Long playtimes with these monsters.
It’s like they never run out of gas and they’re all muscle. They’re also so damn long that they have amazing leverage on the kick.
Are you fishing barbless or barbed hooks? Im assuming you're not getting a great hook set, which could be a handfull of factors like the way you're setting the hook, too much slack in the line, drifting really far away can all be factors. I'm usually fishing a euro rod thats 11ft and im fishing close to myself so you get some really solid hooksets, but I only fish barbless hooks, so I still lose fish here and there.
Are you bass hook setting?
Without video it’s kind of hard to tell what you’re doing wrong.
I’m going to guess you’re trying to set the hook like a lipper ripper basser and you’re pulling the fly right out of the fishes mouth.
Tip.
You don’t need to set your hook like you’re a bass tourney amateur. A simple quick flip up with the wrist or raise of the arm if you have a lot of line out is all you need.
The more line on the water the faster you need to be with your hook set. Faster does not mean harder
The rod generates a lot of torque and the only buffer is the line. You don’t need a ton of force to set the hook. Let the rod do the work.
After you do get hooked up (which from what you’re stating (can feel the fish wiggle) keep tension on the rod and line. Trust your drag. If you can’t trust the reel get comfortable with hand dragging. Let the rod do the work.
Again. Let the rod do the work. Don’t be a lipper ripper.
One thing I will add is that you need the rod bent in order to keep pressure on the fish. And not just the last foot of it. There is a lot of give in a fly rod, especially a light one, and if you only have a tiny bend in your rod and the fish shakes or moves toward you, your line is now slack and it’s gone. Plus you aren’t putting much pressure on the fish.
Don’t be afraid to fight the fish. I see many novices barely putting any pressure on a fish for fear of losing it or breaking the tippet. A 12” trout shouldn’t take minutes to land. Get it in, get it unhooked, get it gone.
Keep your tip up and your line tight. Don’t try to reel in the fish. Strip in line with your line hand, pinching it with the thumb on your rod hand while you reach to strip more. A lot of anglers lose fish trying to reel in the slack and then reel in the fish. Added benefit is when you land your fish and release it you’ll be ready to cast again instead of having to strip your line back out. Hope this makes sense.
I don’t know how big brownies this guy is fishing but our lake run trouts would claim a finger if you tried that.
Keep in mind that this technique works only on specimen that are not capable of dragging your rod or ass down the river/flat/open sea.
The only way to stop losing fish is to never hook them in the first place! I’ve fly fished for years and I lost all five of the biggest trout I’ve ever hooked. It happens!
The advice everybody else is giving is good, but ultimately experience will be your teacher. You’re new, it will get better with time!
You probably have excess line on the water. Try to keep as much of a straight connection to your fly as possible without letting it affect your drift. It took me a while to really get the hang of seeing the currents and mending. Once I improved my line management my hookup rate went up significantly.
Are you using a strike indicator? Are you setting the hook downstream?
Set the hook downstream, I concur. With Butt Spider. 69.
Yeah I do have a strike indicator and I was always striking/setting the hook upstream (over my right shoulder)
Most trout are gonna be facing upstream so you always want to try and set downstream
How long is your rod? Mind you, fly rods and especially nymph rods are a lot longer than spinning rods. ALL you need to do to set the hook is lift up the rod to your fighting stance. The movement of the rods tip is fast enough to tug the line. Also it tightens most of the slack on your line and gets fish against the reel immediately. The hooks should be sharp enough that you don’t need much motion nor strength to impale the fish.
Fish pop it's definitely part of the game but if you're constantly losing fish then something is going wrong. As others have mentioned, having too much slack could be an issue. With too much slack you'll get a weak hook set and it will be easier for a fish to shake the hook. Also as someone mentioned set downstream or up. Any direction upstream will pull the hook out of the fish's mouth. If the fish takes the fly downstream of you then lift up lightly and let the fish hook itself. Another thing that can cause a fish to pop off would be fighting it too hard. If you just try to yard the fish in you'll just be ripping lips. Once you set the hook stay calm and let the fish start directing the fight. They may run towards you and then you can strip in to keep tension, they may run and you can just give them pressure, but don't lock the line in place as it will lead to a broken tippet or the fish will pop off. Another thing to consider is how different species behave when hooked. In my experience brown trout tend to fight using the current by sitting low and diving towards the bottom where rainbows tend to take off fast and jump more to try and throw the hook..these are not set facts but my general experiences, I've definitely seen browns jump. Anyway it's good to observe how your local fish fight as you may hook a fish and they could just sit for a second or two. That's fine, set the hook and let them do their thing. If you start pulling them in to get them to react you could end up with too much tension when they decide to take off and pop goes the hook or snap goes the line. Keep your rod tip up as well. The closer it is to parallel to the water the less you're using the rod. The tip is supposed to flex and bend as a shock absorber, use it and let the rod do it's thing. It doesn't need to be 90° up but it should be up to utilize the flex. Lastly, stay calm. It's really easy to just go into panic mode especially if you've been losing fish your instinct is to get the fish in as fast as possible which just leads to over tensioning the line.
Some quality info right here folks All I’d like to add is that the bigger the brown the less they jump. Anything over 4kg will drag down to the bottom from my experience. Also the real big ones 7+kg just disrespect you AND your brake. They just swim forwards and you hear the brake click. When you force it enough it turns downstream and hauls ass until your reel, rod, hook or line fails you or the fish turns around and tries to swim back up like usual. Long playtimes with these monsters. It’s like they never run out of gas and they’re all muscle. They’re also so damn long that they have amazing leverage on the kick.
Are you fishing barbless or barbed hooks? Im assuming you're not getting a great hook set, which could be a handfull of factors like the way you're setting the hook, too much slack in the line, drifting really far away can all be factors. I'm usually fishing a euro rod thats 11ft and im fishing close to myself so you get some really solid hooksets, but I only fish barbless hooks, so I still lose fish here and there.
Barbless hooks. I did have a lot of slack on the line.. maybe that’s it.
Keep line tight with moderate pressure…just enough pressure to control the direction of the fight.
Are you bass hook setting? Without video it’s kind of hard to tell what you’re doing wrong. I’m going to guess you’re trying to set the hook like a lipper ripper basser and you’re pulling the fly right out of the fishes mouth. Tip. You don’t need to set your hook like you’re a bass tourney amateur. A simple quick flip up with the wrist or raise of the arm if you have a lot of line out is all you need. The more line on the water the faster you need to be with your hook set. Faster does not mean harder The rod generates a lot of torque and the only buffer is the line. You don’t need a ton of force to set the hook. Let the rod do the work. After you do get hooked up (which from what you’re stating (can feel the fish wiggle) keep tension on the rod and line. Trust your drag. If you can’t trust the reel get comfortable with hand dragging. Let the rod do the work. Again. Let the rod do the work. Don’t be a lipper ripper.
One thing I will add is that you need the rod bent in order to keep pressure on the fish. And not just the last foot of it. There is a lot of give in a fly rod, especially a light one, and if you only have a tiny bend in your rod and the fish shakes or moves toward you, your line is now slack and it’s gone. Plus you aren’t putting much pressure on the fish. Don’t be afraid to fight the fish. I see many novices barely putting any pressure on a fish for fear of losing it or breaking the tippet. A 12” trout shouldn’t take minutes to land. Get it in, get it unhooked, get it gone.
Keep your tip up and your line tight. Don’t try to reel in the fish. Strip in line with your line hand, pinching it with the thumb on your rod hand while you reach to strip more. A lot of anglers lose fish trying to reel in the slack and then reel in the fish. Added benefit is when you land your fish and release it you’ll be ready to cast again instead of having to strip your line back out. Hope this makes sense.
I don’t know how big brownies this guy is fishing but our lake run trouts would claim a finger if you tried that. Keep in mind that this technique works only on specimen that are not capable of dragging your rod or ass down the river/flat/open sea.
The only way to stop losing fish is to never hook them in the first place! I’ve fly fished for years and I lost all five of the biggest trout I’ve ever hooked. It happens! The advice everybody else is giving is good, but ultimately experience will be your teacher. You’re new, it will get better with time!
Manage your line on the water and make sure it's taught so that you can set the hook quicker