I land 2/3-to-3/4 of steelhead hooked when fishing spoons with single, barbless hooks using Everyday's Dacron loop method and 1/0 Gami or Owner octopus hooks. Fishing a 1/0 or 2/0 Siwash on a split ring, my percentages drop about 10%. Every angler goes on streaks . . . 9-for-9 or 0-for-7 that have you higher than a kite or lower than whale dung, but if you're consistently landing less than 50% of what you hook, you have one or more problems.
The possibilities are many and others have mentioned several possibilities: dully hooks, too tight a drag, rod/line issues. Rather than add to the laundry list, let me describe what works for me:
1. Fairly stiff graphite rod described as "spoon rods" (e.g. Loomis, Rainshadow)
2. Braided mainline knotted to a 7' (2m) length of 15lb-20lb mono to introduce some stretch into the system. (Braid stretches 2% while mono stretches 20%, so that longer leader is an important buffer.)
3. Unlike many others, I strike the fish as follows (a) tight drag; (b) thumb off the spool; (c) once the fish is hooked, back off the drag by 50% so a hard-pulling fish will take line at will.
4. Put maximum side pressure on the fish: if it's not taking line, you are pumping-and-winding. Lay the rod parallel to the water at the angle that maximizes the bend in the rod. Don't baby your fish: the longer it's on the line, the higher the probability it will fall off.
5. Pay PARTICULAR attention to never, ever allow slack in the line. Many anglers pump-and-wind in a manner where they either drop the tip too fast, introducing 1-2 seconds of slack, or pumping the rod straight overhead (less pressure on the fish, easier to introduce slack and easier to break your rod).
6. If possible, net your fish (knotless mesh, please) or have your buddy leader it in 12" or more of water. "A leadered fish is a caught fish." Despite what I wrote about horsing the fish/applying maximum torque, that doesn't extend to dragging the fish into water so shallow that it's body is in contact with the riverbed. You'll lose a lot of fish in super shallow water: they freak when their bellies touch bottom, and they injure themselves on those rocks (plus gain leverage to throw your hook or break the line).