Some days it
seems like you can do no wrong throwing streamers. You are seeing trout on
almost every cast, hooking more fish than you can count, and landing almost
more than you can remember. You wonder
why you ever bother fishing with nymphs or dry flies. On these days, you are a
streamer shaman. But what might you do on those days when you feel more like a streamer
charlatan? What follows is a combination of insights into trout behavior and suggestions
regarding streamer techniques and equipment. Even though we will be talking
about fishing streamers to trout in a moving body of water, much of our
discussion applies to fishing for trout in still waters as well.
Why does a trout
eat a streamer anyway? The answer to that question could be a thesis for a
PHD-dissertation paper. That said, a trout generally eats a streamer because of
either its prey drive or protective instinct. It either eats your streamer as
food (e.g. leech, sculpin, trout fry) or as a way to protect against an
intruder (e.g. a threat to a trout’s lie, an egg stealer, a food or spawning competitor).
We can generalize that streamer fisherman are appealing more to a trout’s
protective instincts during spawning
season and appealing more to a trout’s prey drive throughout the rest of the
year. On days when the trout are extremely predatory or protective, you can
have a magical streamer experience. On these days, almost any presentation of
your streamer gets the job done. But on those less than stellar streamer days,
presentation may be the key to triggering a trout’s prey/protective drive. A
trout is used to a certain behaviors from baitfish: baitfish flee if
approached, baitfish keep their distance from trout, and baitfish rarely
approach trout from behind or swim directly towards a trout. So as streamer
anglers, we want to mimic the behavior of the trout’s prey.
Most days
you need to convince the trout that your streamer is food. Throw your streamer
across, or slightly down and across, to the river’s flow. This will allow the
streamer to be presented to the trout in a way that is “expected” by the trout.
The streamer will neither sneak up on a fish from behind nor will your offering
swim directly towards a bewildered trout. In addition, since trout are almost
always faced into a river’s current, an across the current presentation helps
insure that the trout will be looking at your streamer broadside. A broadside
presentation is both very realistic in nature and the large profile provided by
the broadside presentation gives the angler a greater chance that the streamer
will be seen by a willing trout. We also want a fleeing presentation: a
streamer tossed to the bank that lies motionless, even for a few seconds,
doesn’t imitate fleeing prey. It doesn’t trigger a strike. So try to start your
retrieve as soon as it hits the water. A cast that fully extends and doesn’t
collapse is essential if you want to start moving that streamer as soon as it
hits the water. Even if you want to let the streamer sink some, a bit of a twitch
as it sinks may be enough to trigger a strike.
Streamer
selection is very important. We all have our favorite streamer. It is hard to
cut off your favorite streamer to try another one. Why not throw 2 steamers?
Just tie about an 18” piece of heavy tippet (at least 10 pound but up to 20
pound) from the bend of your favorite streamer to the eye of the one you want
to use in your experiment. Try varying your experimental choices by: length,
overall shape or “bushiness,” and color. Many guides favor trailing a smaller
streamer behind a larger one. Conversely, many guides want the smaller streamer
in front of the bigger streamer so as to simulate a larger predator chasing its
prey. Try using both the realistic looking streamers as well as the
impressionistic ones. Trout are also notorious for striking short which results
in poor hook-ups. Fly selection is important here as well. Try using an
articulated streamer with two hooks. The second hook should be hidden in the
“tail” area of the streamer for it to be effective. Or try adding a “stinger”
hook to your single hook streamer. In addition, short strikes are sometimes not
“short” at all but, rather, a product of lifting your rod on the hook-set. In
this case, the short strike is actually a miss on the angler’s part. When
fishing streamers for trout think saltwater technique; keep your rod low and
set the strike with a strip-strike instead of lifting your rod. Another remedy
for short strikes is to try leaving your streamer in place after a short
strike. The trout will often treat your streamer as a stunned baitfish and come
back seconds later to “finish the job.” Executing these two tips alone will
greatly increase your hook-ups!
Are you
fishing deep enough? Pros know that the depth of the fly in the water, and this
is true with both nymphs and streamers, can make a huge difference in the level
of success on any given fishing day. Many days, all that is needed to be a
successful streamer fisherman is using a streamer that is “close enough” in size
and color to trigger a strike. Some days the trout seem to be “looking up”;
they seem to prefer a streamer that rides high in the water. But on those days
when you aren’t having much luck “chucking and ducking” with your floating line,
think about using something that will get your fly deeper. Often, throwing two
weighted streamers will be enough to get your fly deeper. You can also add
split shot. But both of these remedies can get tricky to cast. A better option
is to use some variation of a sinking fly line. Rio’s “VersiLeader” converts a
floating fly line into a relatively inexpensive sink tip line. The “VersiLeader”
comes in 2 lengths and several different sink rates. It attaches via a loop to
loop connection to the end of your floating fly line giving you a sink tip that
can be easily removed for indicator or dry fly fishing. Of course, there are a
host of streamer tip lines, sink tip lines, and full sink lines available to
the streamer angler. Choosing the perfect sinking line for the conditions is a
matter of experimentation. However, just getting your streamer deeper “somehow”
is usually enough to improve your cast to strike ratio.
Are you a
“one trick pony” when it comes to your streamer fishing? We are all creatures
of habit; same flies, same river, same spots on the river, same time of day,
same retrieve, same clothes, same beer, same cigar. You get the idea. Pros
don’t always know what to do when the fishing slows down but they know that they
better try something different if they want to catch fish. Sometimes that
something different is simply switch tactics altogether. Maybe they try
dragging nymphs under an indicator or throwing dries tight to the bank. But if
you are committed to using streamers in spite of experiencing poor results try
to think outside your box. Try
changing up your game. Do you always fish streamers regardless of the light
conditions that day? Many pros feel that fishing streamers is more productive
in low light conditions. If you always fish streamers in high, direct sunlight
perhaps it is your timing rather than your technique that is at fault. Try
different retrieves: Long pause, short
pause, long strips, short strips, long and short strips linked together, let
your streamer swing. If you are only fishing only the 15 feet nearest the bank
try staying with your retrieve longer; perhaps even continue the retrieve until
it is at your feet. Conversely, if you are retrieving to your feet, but getting
the majority of your strikes near the bank, perhaps you should focus on just
the “fishiest” water near the bank. If you are getting strikes but few
hook-ups, try leaving your streamer in place like a stunned baitfish. Perhaps
the trout will come back to “finish the job.” Try covering more water. Since
you are having a tough streamer day already, you need to concede that, on this
day, the trout’s prey/protect instincts are not in high gear. Therefore, you
should cover more ground in order to show your offering to more fish. When the
streamer fishing is slow, don’t spend more than 5 minutes in water that you
have covered already. Also, try fishing water that hasn’t been very productive
in the past. Most likely, the reason you have “never caught fish there” is that
you have never really fished there; you gave up too easily in favor of your “go
to spots.” This is one of the huge advantages a boat angler has over the wade
angler. A boat angler can easily float miles of water and present a streamer to
thousands of fish. A float angler will throw a streamer almost anywhere because
float anglers will fish the water that is right in front of them without regard
to whether they caught fish there in the past. A boat angler can easily float miles of water
in a day and present a streamer to thousands of fish. A wade angler would do
well to cover a mile or two in the same time. A boat also enables an angler to
consistently present their streamer in the desirable “across the current”
manner. Try fishing streamers early or late in the day. We all know that the
biggest brown trout are low light feeders. Get out there. Even if you don’t
catch a monster trout you’ll experience little fishing pressure and probably
better than average fishing success.
I want to
leave you with the best piece of advice my father received during his fishing
life. Once, while visiting a famous fishing lure company, he came face to face
with the owner, and master fisherman, of the company. “Finally”, my father
thought, “I am going to know what to do when the fishing gets tough.” My father
didn’t beat around the bush. He blurted out, “Any of these lures you sell catch
all kinds of fish when the fishing is good. What do you do when the fishing is
slow?” The master didn’t miss a beat, “When the fishing is slow, I go home.” So
go fishing. But don’t forget to bring some different beer and different cigars.
