In this Streamer Presentations series, the focus is on how a streamer can move. Instead of starting with the gear first — with flies, leaders and lines — the chapters in this series consider the movements of a streamer. The equipment necessary to achieve those...
** NOTE** This is part of an ongoing Troutbitten series that gives me a chance to answer some of the many questions that I receive. Sometimes these are questions that come up frequently, and other times they’re just great, thought provoking questions. Keep sending...
My favorite streamer presentation and my best trick for convincing trout to eat a streamer now has a companion video. I first wrote of the Head Flip almost five years ago. Since then I’ve shared this with many friends, and we’ve talked about the tactic on the...
You can’t change a trout’s mind by showing him a streamer five times. If a trout doesn’t take the streamer on the first cast, he’s probably not going to eat at all, so streamer fishing is best when you show the fly to hundreds of fish every hour. It’s a different game...
You can move the fly ten inches across seams. You can jerk strip, jig and twitch the streamer with jumpy and choppy motions or you can do all of it super smooth. Which do the trout prefer?
Show up on time, do your job and have a little fun while you’re at it. Then go home and do it all over again tomorrow. That’s a blue collar worker. It’s a Pheasant Tail with a CDC collar. It has a little disco for the rib and a hot spot collar. It’s simple, reliable and effective . . .
By mixing jigging into our streamer presentations, we add a new dynamic. We no longer just slide and glide, cross currents and hover. Now we dip and rise, dive and climb through the column. It’s another dimension to be explored. Offer it to the trout, and let them decide.
You do not need a jig hook to jig streamers. Can you jig a big articulated fly? Absolutely. And while the up and down motion may not be as pronounced as a smaller, thinner, head-heavy fly, jigging works with big and bulky flies too.
Rolling the bottom, gliding mid-current along a knee-deep riffle and slow-sliding off the bank — these maneuvers are just as enticing and catch just as many trout as do flashy retrieves. But we tend to forget them. Or rather, we might not have the discipline to stay with an understated look for very long, because the modest stuff isn’t as exciting as the razzle-dazzle.
This handful of subtle moves requires an angler with restraint and commitment. Otherwise, the rod tip and line hand are back to big motions and brash, bold movements in no time . . .
The kid was ten years old and small for his age, but his legs were strong and he waded without fear. He fished hard. We shared a passion and a singular focus, so I enjoyed having him on the water. He stood just tall enough not to lose him in a field of goldenrod, and he weighed less than the family dog. But like the shepherd, he was sturdy, tough and determined, with unwavering perseverance keeping him focused during the inevitable slow days with a fly rod. . . . He only talked of fishing.
Make that fly swim. Give life to the streamer. Convince the trout that they’re looking at a living, swimming creature.
That’s what this podcast conversation is about. How do we move the fly with the line hand and the rod tip, with strips, jigs, twitches and more? We talk about head position, depth, speed and holding vs crossing currents and seams. We touch on natural looks vs attractive ones. Should we make it easy for them or make them chase?