Dang I am shocked that jboy hooked a fish

That's what I love about fishing you never know what or how big it's going to be!
I haven't caught any striper on fly but It's on my to do list.

He foul-hooked it and never got it closer to him than 30'.

I thought all he ever did was throw wind knots!!!

I think most of us believe you and I'll bet most warm water and salt water folks have straightened a hook or two. The fish are less leader shy so we tend to use stronger leaders/tippets. So, if you crank down on the line when the fish is running you can straighten a hook, when trout fishing with lighter tippets, you're more likely to break off the fly. Learning how to manually apply drag to slow down a fish without breaking off or straightening a hook is just part of learning to fly fish. But it sure is fun to hook a big fish.

Yes sir it is.

One other comment on hook straightening, I've found that tempered hooks are worth the extra money, especially if you tie your own flies. Not all fish hooks are tempered.

In simplified terms, tempering basically means hitting the side of the hook with a hammer after forming the bend. It is a form of cold forging and it significantly strengthens the hook. A tempered hook is less likely to straighten. The easiest way to tell if a hook is tempered is look at it, the sides of a tempered hook along the bend are slightly flat.

Well its only straightened once,the others just broke or came out.Thankyou for the info.My buddy just texted me and said he just caught a bruiser of a striper on fly down there so maybey it was a striper after all!!!!He said hardly any water coming out though.

That's usually the way it works for me. J.

I haven't fished for stripers here, but I've caught plenty of hybrids in Ohio ranging from 5-10lbs. I would use a TFO 6wt. Axiom and a 14-16lb. leader paired with 1/0 hooked baitfish patterns.