Technique Advice

[Jay Looper]

I have had success with dry-fly and nymph fishing. I have never landed a trout on a streamer, but have been doing a lot of research lately. I just read the Orvis pocket guide to streamer fishing. My problems were that I kept my rod tip high instead of parallel or lower with the water and I also had no rhythm whatsoever in my retrieves. I was just letting the line belly downstream and then do periodic strips with no rhyme or reason. I now know a bunch of other techniques, to strip in shorter sections (4-12 inches) and have some sort of rhythm be it fast or slow.
That being said, any other advice for a novice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance
AA

[Dejon Hamann]

AA,

I have a few ideas, but know that the best streamer fisherma regionally, by far, is Jim Guida at Gander Mnt.  He's an old school streamer fisherman that has perfected his technique over the years and has several patterns listed with Umpqua.  If you are really interested in learning the in and outs of streamer fishing, especially locally, you would do well to stop in and pick his brain for a bit.

Streamer fishing is a whole technique onto itself.  We practice is solely as a separate and effective tool in competition fishing.  Like so many of the broad stoke techniques there is enough information to write a book, but here are a few tips off the top of my head:
1) Utilize variable sinking rate lines, split shot aided leaders, OR rod tip dunked retrieves.  The main idea here is get your "team"(1-3 flies) at the depth fish are feeding. 
2) Muddlers.  Doesn't take much explanation.  Muddlers are deadly, time tested streamers that fill so many different situations.
3)  Fish at night if you want to experience the best streamer hit!
4)  Change retrieve progressively, especially on lakes, and learn the hand twist.

[Jay Looper]

Thank you Dejon. Those are all great tips.

I do however still struggle with the idea of the timing of the strips. Should they be one right after the other? Should I have a pause in between strips? If so, how long should the pauses be? Shoud I change the time interval between strips?

I do realize that every situation calls for different techniques. However, I do know that my technique sucks and the first thing I need to fix is timing. To this point, I have just been stripping periodically and randomly when I basically feel like it. I know that this is unproductive and has basically been a waste of time.

So, any insight into developing a decent stripping rhythm would be appreciated.

AA

[Nick Naclerio]

For stripping I feel it pays to try all kinds of differnent speeds and remember what you were doing when you got the take.

Also when I fish streamers I don't like the cast up stream and make a belly approach and I know this a favorite of most people. What I like to do is cast across stream and let in swing down for the most part keeping the line tight then strip in, I might throw a mend in to get the fly down. I don't like the the belly method for the reason that if you get a take early in the drift you have almost no way of knowing and almost no chance of taking up the slack and getting a good hook set.

Another thing to keep in mind is when fishing a sinking tip line use a short leader about 4ft in lenght to keep the fly close to the sinking part of your rig. Your leaders can be really simple I'll use 2ft of 10lb test (1x) and another 2ft of 6lb test (3x). You can get away with heavier leaders since you usually fish streamers in dirty high water and the trout are usually seeing the fly from behind. You also don't need to buy a sinking line if you don't have one. I use loop to loop sinking tips sometimes and for most river situations they get the job done. http://www.orvis.com/store/productchoice.aspx?pf_id=205Z&dir_id=758&group_id=10657&cat_id=5402&subcat_id=6011

[Nick Johnson]

I'm a self taught streamer fisherman and I think that I'm pretty dang good at it. When i first tried to use a wooly bugger i had nothing but short strikes and would constantly miss fish. I just wasn't able to keep my line tight enough to connect with the fish. I like to always be in contact with my streamer. I almost always start my retrieve almost as soon as it hits the water unless i am fishing deeper water where i want to allow a few seconds for the fly to get down a little deepr. Instead of using a strip retrieve I like use my rod to work the streamer sort of twitching it 3 or more times then pausing. Using the rod to give the streamer action allows you to keep your line in contact with the fly. The retrieve you use will depend on how willing the fish are to chase the streamer as well. If you are seeing that they roll on it but miss it, then slow down work the streamer by the fish then stop it let it flutter back in the fishes face and twitch a time or two and that will almost always trigger a strike.

Gah there is so much I could write about this topic it is endless. I almost always fish streamers though, you may not get huge numbers but you will get huge fish that will leave your arm sore after every fight.   

[Rich Strolis]

I tend to agree with a lot of what I have read in this thread.   There are loads of variables that come into play when fishing streamers; time of year, temps, water conditions, water type, water clarity etc etc.  I think when it comes to retrieves and the like, it sometimes come down to trial and error till you figure out exactly what makes them respond.  I think another idea that really isn't thought about often by the angler is the style of fly pattern employed and the relation to how the fly is worked in the water column to the anglers degree of success.  Essentially what I am talking about here in a simplified manner is this, there are several styles of streamers that are tied out there, the classic streamers, featherwings and bucktails for example are very rigid patterns that do not have a great deal of movement in them, other than that which is employed by the angler.  A simple marabou popsicle style fly when left to hang in the current, moves and breathes on it's own.  Deer and wool headed flies are flies that have a larger footprint and will send vibrations through the water column as they are moved.  Then there are flies with weight built into them with either dumbbell eyes, cones, beads etc that are most effectively fished actively making them work in a jigging manner or hopped off the bottom.    And obviously there are flies out there now that can be a mixed bag of all the above.  I think you need to ascertain what level of the water column the fish are feeding in, and likewise adjust your technique accordingly.  Start on the top and work you way down in the water column till you find that magic fly, retrieve and depth that connects regularly.  I would say about 75% of the time I am fishing flies that move and breathe on their own without animation from me the angler.  I like my streamers more often than not to be unweighted unless I specifically want my flies deep or bounced off the bottom, if that is the case then I will fish a fly that will invert and will allow me to hop it off the bottom.    The bird fur fly that I came up with quite a while back is a perfect example of a fly that has built in fish catching motion without any need of animation.  When the fly is paused in the water column it moves on its own, and I theorize that is what makes it so effective.  Add some weight, a deer or wool head, some flash whatever to adjust to the prevailing conditions and bam you have a fly in a bunch of colors and configurations that can take fish under most conditions.  I tie two variations of this fly with deer and wool that is one of my primary night flies, probably fish it 85% of the time and it equates to some really large fish.   

I can add the video if your interested, just let me know and I will embed it to the section.  So, all in all, mix it up, figure out the most effective approach for your outing and make note.   

[Rich Strolis]

Here's the fly in question, accounted for more than a dozen different species of fish, and is a true smallmouth bass killer:

http://www.vimeo.com/1985616

[Shaun Cmar]

With wooly's I have always had great success casting downstream at a 2pm angle. Then short, quick strips bringing the fly across the water. Had a brown on the main branch at the Clarion hit my olive wolly so hard it almost came out of the water. Always been a deadly tactic for me.

[Loren Williams]

Most often with streamers you are not feeding the fish, you are making them bite.  You need a very good understanding of what the fly is doing in the water when you a) strip line b) move your rod tip -different action than a strip and c) pause the fly.

I recommend starting with a floater and a short leader/cast and watching your fly and how it behaves--as well as how the fish respond.  Little nuances matter-just like nymph fishing.

How I rig depends allot on how much water I intend/need to cover with each cast.  No sense throwing a sinking line to work only the first 3 feet of a bank....conversely, probably not a great decision to attack the Delaware River with a little streamer and a floating line.

[Jason Hearle]

I found that the best way to work on my streamer techniques was to fish where I could watch the fish's reactions to different flies and retrieves.  Even better is when the fish are pressured and you really have to work to get them.  Most of this was done on a small spring fed trout pond that I like hit every now and then.  I also would work areas in streams that I found to hold good numbers fish. 

When I streamer fish, I pick an area where I think there is a fish and begin with aggressive retrieves with unnatural colored and sometimes oversized streamers (yellow, chart, purple) generally throwing caution out the door and pushing the streamer hard into the water  and imparting erratic and quick retrieves.  I found this is the best way to get aggressive strikes, the downfall is you may spook fish with this technique.  I then progressively work to a slower or more natural retrieve with more realistically colored, natural looking streamers.  You could certainly reverse the two if you like.  I have also found leading streamers downstream as one would euro-nymphing can be an extremely deadly technique.

You may want to check out the book Modern Streamers for Trophy Trout: New Techniques, Tactics, and Patterns from Linsenman  and Galloup.