I don't tie flies...yet. I have a thesis to write. I am intrigued by the act of tying flies. But, if I am to be honest, I am little worried about my fine motor skills. While, my Montessori education has maximized my fine motor skills, I think the apex of said skills is quite low (see ability to fold napkins for thanksgiving celebrations). I started fly fishing in April of 2009. Over the past year and a half(ish), I have learned to appreciate and enjoy the delicate art of presenting tiny dry flies to rising trout, the systematic approach of nymphing, and slapping large hoppers or stones next to the bank. But, I have fallen for streamer fishing. And I have fallen hard. I now prefer to throw gobs of weighted rabbit fur at browns, bows, cutties, and bulls. I particularly like double hooked articulated streamers. The aggression and size of the fish that a streamer attracts, attracts me to streamer fishing. It also attracts
Alex at 40 Rivers to Freedom to streamer fishing. So in the spirit of the holiday season, I have decided to share some of the patterns that have had great success and some of the patterns that have not. Note: All of these patterns were skillfully purchased at fly shops.
Stars of the Great Bugger Barn of Glory (or the GBBG)Officially, the three streamers seen above are known as double screamers. My friend Bucko and I have devised our own names for each color variation. We refer to the pattern itself as "it". "it" is an articulated, approximately five-inch long conehead streamer available in a wide variety of colors.
The Original - black, olive, and silverThe Original killed the browns during the pre-pre-spawn period of a wide variety of in western and southwestern montana. This streamer has dark and flashy elements. I surmise these elements make it irresistible to large brown trout. I lost one of these in a card game. Quite possibly, the saddest night of my life.
The Modified - red, yellow, rainbowy goldThe Modified enjoyed success on the Big Hole during the brown trout pre-spawn period. At one point, when fishing it in some backwater, I had three 16 to 19 inch browns following it. The 17 incher won.
The Rasta - white, red, yellow, green, and seasonally shiny tinselSomeone in the fly shop where this fly was purchased, referred to it as The Traffic Light (red, yellow, green). We dubbed it The Rasta. I think Jimmy Cliff or Marley was playing on the way to Ennis. This color scheme saw great success on the Madison in November (see
yukon goes to the madison). It was only recently discovered by myself and has not been used during any other period of time.
Flies that havent made it out of the GBBGofficially known as the Clarke's Rat - known personally as the 5-weight destroyerBased on the amount of rabbit fur involved with this fly, I should love it. I secretly do. But, it shattered my 5 weight redington red2fly rod on the first cast. Not a clean break either. The rod suffered vertical stress fractures immediately above the cork handle around the entire circumference of the rod. Admittedly, I shouldn't have been trying to throw this massive fly with a five-weight. Probably a good-to-great fly for large trout, I suspect the bulls would love it, but it has not been used since it shattered my rod.
Globs of GreenNever used it. Never will. Don't know why I bought it.
Kind of BrownLike the great Miles Davis album, except brown, not sonically pleasing, and terrible at catching trout. I used it once on a late August morning. This late August morning turned into the day that the Original became the Original. This fly hasn't been used since.
Articulated Rubber Legs of CrapAs I have expressed, I am enthralled with articulated streamers. Not this one. This has to be fished with sinking tip or a full sinking line. I like a streamer that I can fish on both floating and sinking line. This is not one of them. It stays high in the water column, often breaking the surface. Like the rest of the streamers of doom, I haven't given it much of a chance.
Excluded from the list of greatness are Kelly Galloup's famous streamers like
the sex dungeon,
the boogie man,
the heifer groomer, and the
articulated butt monkey. This is not a function of the gobs of animal fur not working. I just haven't had a chance to purchase any. Missoula's local shops do not carry his streamers and his shop was closed when I went down to the Madison in November. One of these days....one of these days.
What about your streamer box? What are your go to patterns? What do you regret buying or tying?
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