What is the verb used when we pull the fishing rod when a fish takes bait, for example, "yank the fishing rod out of the water"?

Question

I am teaching my child to fish

-Put the bait on the hook

-Let down the fishing rod into the water (I am not sure "let down" is a right word here)

-When you feel a fish takes the bait, yank the fishing rod out of the water onto land (I decided to use "yank" because it is a hard quick sudden movement)

Do we say "yank the fishing rod out of the water onto land"?

Answer 1

When he gets a bite (he feels the line tightening, or sees the float bobbing), an angler strikes...

Striking is the process of sweeping the fishing rod backwards when a bite is detected in order to securely set the hook in the mouth of a fish. _{britishseafishing}

In this context, to strike is almost always intransitive - you might occasionally encounter The fisherman struck his line, but we almost never use strike the rod with this meaning.

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EDIT
Votes and comments suggest that this sense of to strike may be primarily a British usage. I can't see any easy way to compare prevalence for this exact meaning, so I don't know how true that might be. But at least I can cite the relevant definition in the AmE-focused Merriam-Webster dictionary...

strike
11a: to pull on a fishing rod in order to set the hook
11b (of a fish): to seize the bait

(I don't recall the second of those senses being used in my childhood angling days in the UK.)

Answer 2

You can jerk the line. This is called

Setting the Hook
Pulling the rod in a jerking motion in order to lodge the hook in a fish’s mouth. Has to be done at just the right time.

Please see Fishing Terms Every Angler Should Know

The reason for yanking the line is to make the hook bite into the fish, which must then be landed with skill, rather then pulling the fish directly on to land with one big tug.

Answer 3

The act of bringing the fish to the shore or to a boat from the water is called landing a fish**, whether with a reel, net, or by whatever other means.

A lot of fishing is done with a rod and reel. If you're fishing with a rod and reel, you might also say that you were reeling in** the fish. This more specifically means using the reel to get the fish near to the shore or the boat using the reel. You could reel in a fish but fail to land it, for example, if the fish got away at the last moment.

The other answers here are talking specifically about setting the hook, which is often done with a sharp jerk on the rod. At this point the fish is still in the water, however, and is not yet landed. It sounds like you're talking about a single motion to haul a smaller type of fish directly onto shore, which is better described by the general term landing.

** No affiliation with the links - just a convenient example

Answer 4

Below is a dictionary for fishing, written in the UK with the differences in terminology for BrE/AmE. That said, the first thing is whether this is saltwater or fresh water fishing.

A rod with a fishing line is said to be cast into the water. (cast, cast, cast). "Oh, that was a great cast!" "Where did you learn to cast like that?"

In freshwater fly fishing, the nice broad motion of getting the line into the water is considered an art and it is called: casting. That is because a spinning reel is not used. If using a spinning reel in fresh or salt water, casting is very easy. Without a spinning reel, it is not easy and you have to learn how to handle the line and reel.

However, in both cases, a fish is said to strike (go for the bait), whether in fishing in saltwater or freshwater on both sides of the pond. At this level, there really is no difference in terminology.

fishing terminology with BrE and AmE terms

Strike: this is when a fisherwoman or fisherman gets a bite from a fish and lifts his or her wrist upwards with a snap in an arc in an attempt to set the hook into a fish

Setting a hook: striking at a bite to set the hook into the fish's mouth.

To set a hook you snap your wrist upward which will lift the line. The line (the rod) is then lifted as a result of the wrist motion.

Please note: When you get a strike, you never, ever yank or jerk the line. That is a sure-fire way to lose a fish. The hook will not set. You raise the rod from your wrist in one single motion. You snap your wrist to set the hook. (Please note: the word snap is tricky as when a line breaks it is said to snap).

Basically, when you get a strike in freshwater fishing, or angling (fly fishing), you raise the rod from a 45 degree or slightly higher angle in one motion of the wrist. This is called setting the hook. In ocean fishing off a boat, when a fish strikes, they usually start to run so the hook sets itself. This can also happen in fresh water when you are fishing off a boat.

setting a hook

Answer 5

For starters, if the rod is in the water, you're not in with a good start to 'learn to fish'!

When a fish 'takes the bait' it's nibbling at it. That causes the float (when attached to the line) to bob in the water. At that stage, you have not hooked the fish. For that to happen, the rod (in the air!) needs to be sharply swung away from the fish's direction. That gives the hook impetus to penetrate inside the mouth of said fish.

That's the strike. More often than not, the fish will remain in the water - unless it's a tiddler - and will need playing as the line is reeled in, until the fish tires and is close enough to be landed, hopefully in a net.

With no real clues, it's difficult to determine whether the terminology should be explained in U.S. or British English. Maybe 'Yank' is a clue..?