When to strike
The strike clock
Every take in the app sits on one axis — from 'tighten instantly' on a sighter to 'do nothing at all' on a salmon — and the dry fly sits in the middle: say LoughLogic twice.
You'll see
This page is the system behind every 'when to strike' line in the pillar — the four positions on the clock and why each take type sits where it does.
What it means
Strike timing isn't reflexes, it's classification. Subsurface takes you feel: the fish already has it and is already rejecting it — instant. Fast-water dries: about a second of mouth-closed time — quick. Slow, confident surface takes: the fish needs time to take and turn — wait, and use the phrase. Moving-fly boils and salmon: the fish hooks ITSELF on the turn — the skill is doing nothing.
How to fish it
INSTANT — takes you feel
Sighters, indicators, the duo dry dipping, line checks on upstream spiders: anything unnatural, tighten now. There is no such thing as striking too fast on a nymph.
QUICK — fast-water dries
Brisk currents give the fish about a second before it feels the fraud and opens its mouth. A short, controlled lift on the rise — a beat, no more.
WAIT — the LoughLogic rule
Slow water, big flies, confident sips, dapped mayfly, waking sedge: see the fly go down, say "LoughLogic, LoughLogic" — one to two seconds — check the fish has it, then pull into it. The delay lets the fish turn down so the hook meets the scissors, not thin air.
NEVER — let it draw
The boil at your wets, and above all the salmon: no strike exists. Keep doing what you're doing until the line draws heavy and TIGHTENS ITSELF, then lift into a fish that's already turned. (Night sea trout are the documented exception — meet those with an immediate firm tighten; don't import the salmon wait.)
When to strike
Wait — say LoughLogic twice
Classify first, then act: felt = instant · fast dry = quick · slow dry = LoughLogic twice · moving fly & salmon = wait for the draw.
Easily misread
The one-speed striker
The same lightning strike greets sighter stabs, sips and boils alike — great on nymphs, ruinous on everything slow.
Instead: Before the session, decide where today's method sits on the clock. The strike belongs to the METHOD, not the moment of excitement.
Treating the numbers as gospel
Counting exact seconds while the fish supplies its own timing.
Instead: The phrase is a discipline, not a stopwatch. Confidence of the rise stretches it; briskness of the water shrinks it. Watch the fish; the count just keeps your arm honest.
When you'll see it
- Read once before the season, again the night before every outing
- Linked from every take type's 'when to strike' line
Related
Sources & how we know this (4)
- House rule: dry-fly delay of 1–2 s — check the fly is down, check the fish has it, then pull into it; phrase 'say LoughLogic twice'; unified with the boil discipline
Alex Baker (LoughLogic), firsthand — decisions 2026-07-16 (report 10 confirmed no traditional Irish saying exists) · 2026-07-16 - Dry-fly timing scales with water speed and fly size: ~1 s windows in fast water, 2–3 s for slow-water sippers (rules of thumb, not thresholds)
Troutster — The Timing of Your Fly Fishing Hookset · 2026-07-16 - Salmon: do nothing at the pluck; wait for a steady draw before lifting — the fish hooks itself on the turn
Salmon Fishing Scotland — How To Hook A Salmon On The Fly · 2026-07-16 - Night sea trout: strike immediately on the take — do not wait for the fish to turn away (documented conflict with salmon doctrine, kept separate by design)
Fishing in Wales — Night Time Sea Trout: Tackle & Tips · 2026-07-16