Streamer Fishing for Trout (From "Basic Stream Flies")
Excerpt from "Basic Stream Flies" by Jim Schollmeyer and Tracy Peterson
Streamer Fishing
Baitfish and small trout that leave sheltered areas due to injury, disorientation, or migration are often eaten by larger trout.
At times you may see large trout curising the shallows or edges of sheltered areas looking for careless or wounded small fish. But most often, bait-fish are taken when they venture into the main flow of the river and pass close to a tourt's holding position.
Even though baitfish and small trout are not found in open waters often, they present too big a meal for trout to pass up.
A streamer pattern is used to imitate these small fish and fishing one through riffles, runs and pools is an excellent way to catch large trout.
Streamer patterns are normally large and weighted, so use a rod and tippet strong enough to fish them. A 6 weight rod, with 7 1/2 foot leader and 3x or 4x tippet is a good choice.
You can use a floating fly line for most streamer fishing, but on big rivers it may be necessary to use a #2 or #3 sink tip fly line to get the fly down close to the trout.
There are three ways to fish a streamer pattern during its drift: with motion, without motion or a combination of the two.
To imitate a swimming fish, add motion to a streamer by twitching the rod tip during the drift or by stripping in line. To imitate an injured or dead fish, just follow the fly's drift with the rod tip, adding no additional movement. Fishing a stream with a combination of movement and pauses imitates injured or disoriented baitfish. Alternate the three methods, and let the trout tell you which they prefer.
1. Take a position upstream and across from water you intend to fish. Cast straight across the water and lower the rod. In faster or deeper water cast farther upstream to give the fly extra time to sink.
2. Follow the fly line downstream with the rod tip.
3. As the fly drifts downstream it will start to swing across the current. In faster flows mend the line upstream to slow the speed of the swing.
4. When the fly swings downstream from you, let it hang there motionless a few seconds. Then strip in a foot or two of line to allow any trout that has follow the fly one more chance to take it. After you have fishing the water, take a few steps downstream and repeat the cast. Motion can be applied to the fly at anytime during the drift.
Just one small excerpt from this amazing book!
