"2 Second Set"

[Dejon Hamann]

A simple yet advanced technique many anglers are practicing today is the "2 Second Set".  Simply put this entails casting your flies into the appropriate type of water, counting to 2, then setting the hook.  Repeat.  The age old principal is that trout are so fast they often pick up your flies just as they are hitting the water.  This method looks to counteract the difficulties of maintaining direct contact with your flies and detecting strikes upon water entry by "blind setting".  The ideal water type for the technique is classic "pocket water" where multiple areas of hydraulics are creating "stall points" - areas where your fly will not move.  You know those spots where rushing water converges behind an exposed or hidden rock.  Cast your flies to the "pocket", count 2, set.  Very often you will find a fish there.  Obviously, some streams lend themselves to this technique more then others.  So much so, that you can often employ this technique solely on some stretches of rivers to great success.  However, there is almost always a few areas of each river where this technique has it's place. 

This is also a great "test" and "training wheel" tool to let you know if A) You are gaining immediate contact with your flies upon delivery, and B) If trout are reacting to the "plop" (the trigger effect your sounds make when entering the water).  In this regard, it's good to try this technique every X number of casts throughout the water you are working. 

The technique can be employed with any arrangement of flies and leader system, but is classically effective with light flies on a french leader setup.

If you have some experience with this or take it out for a test run report back with some of your findings. Cheers!

[Rich Strolis]

Funny you mention this.  I think I have inadvertently been doing this all summer, maybe as some pockets you only have a 2 second window of drift.  It still amazes me how many trout are taking my flies on the drop sometimes aggressively sometimes just a stop of the line

[Daniel Vuono]

Definitely going to try this out next time I hit up small streams!  There are so many plunges behind rocks that can't be drifted but I know there are fish there.  You cast to these spots and your flies and line get lost in time, they just don't move.  I was doing my best to maintain contact with my flies but never thought to throw in a little hook set.  I'll be sure to post pictures of fish that fall to this technique in the thread.

[Rich Strolis]

I bet Loren might have something to add to this thread.....

[Mark Hanes]

This technique has bee counting for a lot of extra trout for me lately.  I will post some of my findings on this tonight.

[Loren Williams]

Many of you guys know how valuable I deem a) immediate contact and b) the effect of the "plop" on both moving and still waters.  I am largely fishing a single nymph these days simply because immediate and sustained contact is that much better.  I am speaking of long leader style fishing typical of what we do in the US.  I would certainly use multiple flies on a short leader CN or Polish style or where I expect doubles to play a prominent role.

Blind setting is nothing new and many guys have been using it with great success for many years.  Vladi teaches it, Jeff Currier speaks of it in his great Podcast about European fishing techniques, and lots of guys I know use it.

I do blind set-sometimes, no, usually simply because I think a fish should have my fly.  Using it in a quick drift situation like steep pocket water is a good idea.  I might offer the following observations:

1.  a blind set in a short drift setting can be aggressive and lead into your next cast
2.  a blind set in a long drift scenario; you might want to tone it down a tad so you can continue the drift if there is no fish present

[Rich Strolis]

Loren,
Thanks for the input.  I kinda like your 1 fly style and may try that out over the next few days.   It totally makes sense as I have been thinking that for a while my anchor is predominately the fish catcher in my setup, with the dropper(s) accounting for less than 25% of my catch.  It makes sense that as you go up or down the set up from your anchor fly that the strike detection must decrease to some degree.  The anchor is the fly that you keep in touch with so essentially the other flies are just accessories to the rig.  I will try this out over the next week or two and see what I find. 

I also think that from a teachers perspective, the hardest concept to convey as I am finding is the whole concept of immediate contact with your flies the second they hit the water.   The best thing that I tell people new to these methods is you have to have an open mind and clean the slate from the "dead drift" mentality.  Once you do that you essentially hit the ground running and it all clicks. 

[Aaron Laing]

This "immediate contact" with the fly is something I've been trying to do for some time now. It's tough to make the switch after years of waiting until the drift settles before drawing up the slack. I'm finding that with wet flies this is proving especially deadly. As of late I've actually been taking a quick strip even before the fly/flies hit the water. In fast water this is working really well--the fly hits the water moving at the same speed as, or slightly faster than, the flow. The takes can be savage and are usually quite quick. I still need to do more testing to see if the strip makes any difference--but it might be worth trying.

Aaron

[Dejon Hamann]

Aaron,

Along those same lines something I've found extremely effective is "drawing your slack line in the air".  Normally we are taught to cast and then correct what may occur.  It takes some serious muscle reprogramming, but I'm correcting my cast before it hits the water.  Basically lifting my arm up and back at some point after the forward stroke reaches momentum.  When executed correctly the flies hit the water and are immediately in contact.

[Rich Strolis]

A tuck style cast works for me, stopping the rod high with a quick snap puts the flies in the water first and in line every time. And I am already in position to lead them with my rod tip.  Once I started doing that my numbers went way up as well as the number of doubles I have tallied.

[Frank Muscente]

D,
I was taught that exact technique by Loren and it does make a world of difference. It's funny every so often after I give a quick wrist flip and the end of my drift there is a fish there.  Dugh!! I guess I should try it at the beginning and middle of the drifts too!!

[Todd Oishi]

Great tip Dejon! I often use this tactic while Czech nymphing during a strong head-wind (loss of touch with the flies)...

[Mark Hanes]

I would venture that lately almost half of my fish in swift or pocket water have been coming from this technique.  It is so simple to do but after testing I think if you are going to use this as your major technique the slinky sighter is not the best option. Yes I have been catching more trout but the amount of trout I have turned or lost in the early seconds of the fight is unreal. For me my next stage of testing is this tactic with a strait sighter so I can gain more solid hook sets and hopefully catch more fish. Don't get me wrong I am a huge fan of the slinky sighter but sometimes you need to set your system up for the tactic you are using.  

[Dejon Hamann]

You guys are passing this straight sighter thing around like a venereal disease First B has it, then B fishes with K now K has it, then B fishes with M now M has it!  Just cracking nuts of course.  I don't want to sound too much like my mother, but "as long as you try everything you can eat whatever you want."

[Mark Hanes]

I am still sold on the Slinky unless I am in heavy pocket water where I am going to be making a lot of blind hook sets!  Have you really seen me use a strait sighter much?  Nope!

[Rich Strolis]

I fish an in between curly, maybe 6-8 inches with only 3-4 open curls not real tight.  works well for me. 

[Loren Williams]

what he said!  It's there when I want to float it but it's not enough to get in my way when it's in the air.

I fish an in between curly, maybe 6-8 inches with only 3-4 open curls not real tight.  works well for me. 

[Mark Hanes]

Good point on the shorter sighter It would allow me to stick with my normal tactic yet make the blind sets more effective!  Why the hell didn't I think if that! 

[Rich Strolis]

Wow I did something good!   I have to say, that I haven't been as fortunate as some of you with this stuff having basically learned a great deal of these techniques through trial and error, reading and watching videos.   Although it isn't rocket science per say, there are a pile of little nuances that I am certain I could have picked up quicker if I had the tutelage from some of you here.   Like Loren and the rest of you said earlier, it is only one facet of the game, but a pretty fun one at that. 

Mark, sometimes improvising a bit to make it work for you is the ticket, that is the fun part too.

[Dejon Hamann]

I've actually been experimenting with a 8 foot coiled sighter.  It's rather difficult predicting fish as you have to get a running head start on the hook set... but once you hook em' they never bounce!

[Chris Topmiller]

Question:  If you are french nymphing the way you're supposed to be, aren't you doing the 1-2-3-set anyway?  Or have I been doing that wrong? 

[Loren Williams]

That is just one facet of FN.

Question:  If you are french nymphing the way you're supposed to be, aren't you doing the 1-2-3-set anyway?  Or have I been doing that wrong? 

[Chris Topmiller]

I probably shoulda guessed that.  Volumes could be filled with what I don't know about fishing. 

[Dejon Hamann]

I probably shoulda guessed that.  Volumes could be filled with what I don't know about fishing. 

Goes for all of us my man.  All of us.  That's what I love about this sport!