How to select streamer sizes.

Yotrout

Yotrout

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Mar 22, 2011
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I purchased a bag of size six hooks and tied a bugger. This thing looks really big. Will a small trout take something this big? I wonder this about alot of streamers.

Oh, and whats the difference between a streamer and an attractor fly?
 
I've caught trout under 5 inches on size 2 buggers. Especially browns. If they can fit it in their mouth they will eat it. If not they will still try. I rarely ever fish a bugger smaller than a size 6

An attractor pattern is really any fly that is not made to imitate a specific bait food.
 
I'm with bps. If they even think they can get it in their mouth they'll often hit it. I use size 8 mostly but tied a bunch in 6 4 2 to try and 12 brown hammered the 2 sat. Oddly enough 18 inch brown same hole on a sz 8 diff color.
 
I tie from 6 down to a 12. I like the looks of the smaller ones but I dont know how the trout feel about them. I have only been at this a about 2 years now and havent really used them a lot but am going to start this year when the water up north here is fishable.
 
bigger the meat, bigger the fish... didn't you read last months edition to fly fisherm an dude? get with it..

na, in all seriousness, with the water as high as it has been, I've resorted to the biggest flies in my box just to get down. Have caught large and small fish... they are all dumb.

Macro2.jpg
 
Yo,
Streamer flies can be "attractors" as this usually implies a rather brightly colored fly that really doesn't look like anything natural but catches fish because it gets their attention. I think, nowadays, the term "attractor" is often associated with dry flies. Streamers are almost always fished below the surface with some sort of movement to imitate swimming prey.

Regarding size of streamers: it's a crap shoot based on conditions and personal preferance. Yes, small trout will hit large streamers - for example, a 8" trout hitting a 3" streamer - but that doesn't mean you should use flies this size when targeting trout this size. When little fish hit big streamers they often miss the hook. Also, big streamers tend to be more wind resistant and heavy and thus harder to cast. Personally, I enjoy throwing enormous streamers but I also use a 7 or 8WT rod when doing it and am not targerting small trout but rather very large trout or warm water species. For your typical small PA stream, like Pennypack Creek, that has average size stocked trout I'd recommend a streamer 1" to 2" long.
 
Lots of info. Thanks a bunch.
 
If you're fishing for stocked trout, go with an 8 or smaller. I'd stay in the 2-8 range when fishing for wild fish... unless you expect them to be 6 inch brook trout. Imo, you'll get a lot more stockies willing to chase a size 10 than a 4. With wild fish, size won't matter as much... unless you're trying to match a specific size bait.
 
stevehalupka wrote:
bigger the meat, bigger the fish... didn't you read last months edition to fly fisherm an dude? get with it..

na, in all seriousness, with the water as high as it has been, I've resorted to the biggest flies in my box just to get down. Have caught large and small fish... they are all dumb.

Macro2.jpg

Steve..

You have a pic of that fly in the mouth? Looks like a bugger with rubber legs but what the rest of the pattern?
 
drews wrote:
stevehalupka wrote:
bigger the meat, bigger the fish... didn't you read last months edition to fly fisherm an dude? get with it..

na, in all seriousness, with the water as high as it has been, I've resorted to the biggest flies in my box just to get down. Have caught large and small fish... they are all dumb.

Macro2.jpg

Steve..

You have a pic of that fly in the mouth? Looks like a bugger with rubber legs but what the rest of the pattern?

here ya go... best I can do... dl it and zoom if you'd like.

(if you don't know, click to enlarge, or go to my photobucket for a larger version)

direct link:

http://i734.photobucket.com/albums/ww341/jtberez/Macro.jpg

Macro.jpg


It was tied by a guide in Alaska... sculpin pattern with rubber leggs, very elaborate, very heavy. I threw every color possible down from 12, then I just started throwing my bigger spey flies with the sink tip.. it was the only thing I could catch fish on the first day. Wind screwed up my nymphing...

 
Im going to tie in the tail a little closer to put me around 1 3/4". As i tied before its dead on at 2"
 
I have streamers that are 5-6 inches for trout, and I still catch trout that aren't much bigger than the fly itself. 90% of my streamers are 2's or 4's, not to mention the huge articulated streamers in my boxes.
 
My experience in the west[Montana]the 2s and 4s are best used in the fall during the spawning run as the trout hit them both out of anger and hunger.The rest of the year 6s would be a better choice as any trout that would hit the bigger flies will take the 6s if presented right so why make the fake more obvious.
Muddy waters -if I bothered I would use big black nymphs,not streamers.
 
pete41 wrote:
My experience in the west[Montana]the 2s and 4s are best used in the fall during the spawning run as the trout hit them both out of anger and hunger.The rest of the year 6s would be a better choice as any trout that would hit the bigger flies will take the 6s if presented right so why make the fake more obvious.
Muddy waters -if I bothered I would use big black nymphs,not streamers.

I think we're talking about different types of fishing, but I was instructed to default to size 2s in Montana in july. The reasoning is probably two-fold. 1: higher, muddier water from runoff and 2: pounding the banks from a boat.

My usual streamer size is 4. 2 in my limited MT experience.

If I am fishing small flies, I'd rather nymph. If the fish are taking small streamers, I fish it behind a large one. Throwing small streamers sucks, and I have no interest in it.
 
What JayL said, If I'm fishing streamers, I'm throwing big chunks of meat for big fish.
 
My smallest streamers are size 8 buggers and even then I gotta have a bead head on them or I feel out of my element.

Six is my go to then i go up as the water gets darker or as the sun goes down. Then the big guns come out. My cousin fishes the little J quite a bit after midnight. He spin fishes with rapalas and crank-baits/jerk-baits that most guys would consider bass lures (in the 4-6 inch range) and HAMMERS fish over 16 inches til daybreak. he does make some minor alterations by replacing the trebles with singles that he pinches the barb on. I went along with him twice using big streamers and i caught big fish, but he caught way more and I also caught some 9-10 inchers. His were all bigguns. I now have a 10 ft 8 wt and tied some bigger, heavier streamers so I can't wait to try it again. I couldn't believe how many big fish we caught. This was not down in the pellet hog trough either. I fished this same place in the daytime with smaller buggers and nymphs and didn't get one over 12, but once the lights went out the babies went to bed. I will ever be scared of a streamer being too big, especially in low/no light conditions.
 
I spent thirty years being a streamer nut and learned somethings by trial and error..
Going up to 1/0s reduced the number of trout caught[nite or day] but did NOT decrease the average size one whit.
I am not going to go to the mat over this but honestly believe the "bigger is better" crowd haven't tracked their results to validate this.
The other thing-in my case moving up to ten pound tippet from eight reduced the catch noticibly.
I didn't mic the mono unfortunately.
 
Build it bigger and you will catch bigger fish.
 
Just my personal experience with montana browns over 4 pounds and a few bows in that range also,Chaz.
Going up to 1/0 from 2s resulted in less catch but no difference in average size.
others experience may differ but the fly shops out there pretty much agreed there was nothing to gain size wise by monster flies and a loss in numbers of fish taken.
 
I saw some guys on the oak in Western NY using 1/0 streamers. But what they were doing was not what I nor anybody here would call fishing. I agree with pete and alter my statement. I think what most people think too big is not too big (size 4/2 even some articulated streamers).
 
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