streamers...

[ryguyfi]

I'm trying streamers more and more. While stipping a streamer this morning I got a LOT of action. However most fish weren't hooked. They'd simply flash at it, but not take it. I tried casting from different positions, change speeds of retreival, short jerks, pauses, twitches, etc... had one real hook up and lost him soon after.

all you streamer guys out there, what do you do to get your best chance of a hookup in these situations, or just general streamer info.


Was fishing a sz 14 marabou streamer in white, the tail was about as long as the hook, with bead chain eyes. Kept it about 6-10 inches under the surface.


Thanks,

Ryan

 

[mbaker]

Well, were the hitting it and not getting hooked or just chasing? If they are hitting at it, I usually cut a little tail off and that solves the problem. Other wise looks like you tried everything I would recommend.

 

[jayL]

I fish slumpbusters all the time, and they usually hit it solid. The key is that I only use it in high or off color conditions.

If you're getting short strikes in those conditions, you may be out of luck.

 

[mikeman27]

If I am fishing streamers and the fish are flashing behind the fly but not hitting, I usually try a different streamer. Either a whole new pattern or a different color but the same pattern. This often triggers a solid strike when they are just chasing. One other thing I do in this situation is, if I can see the fish coming, try speeding up your retrieve when the fish starts to chase. This often triggers a solid hit for me. Hope this helps.

 

[GreenWeenie]

Generally when trout are actively feeding they take the baitfish headfirst. 95% of the trout I catch on streamers completely inhale the streamer and hook themselves on the first shot. Very rarely will I hook a trout with a streamer if it has been chasing or nibbling at the tail. When a trout is chasing a streamer and/or nipping the tail, it usually means the trout is either playing around and having good time or the trout has become wary and “tests” it first by nibbling short on the tail to see if it is food. I’ve fished large sculpin patterns and watched as a monster trout will charge the fly, stop short, and then gently pick up the fly by the extreme end of the tail, realize it's fake ,drop it and then just swim away without ever coming close to the hook. But the one’s that I do hook completely inhale the fly without hesitation.

But all is not lost. When you get a fish to chase your streamer but not take it, watch him and see where he’s hiding. You now have found a fish so use that it to your advantage and take off the streamer, tie on a nymph or scud or wet fly or maybe even a dry fly and drift it by him. I guarantee you he will take it.

 

[tomgamber]

what streamer are you fishing? I think you tried all the right sorts of things. Sometimes its way you "strike" Instead of the usual lift...try a strip strike...as soon as they hit, take a big long strip of line to set the hook as you do your normal lift.

 

[pete41]

A streamer hopefully will compute to our pea-brained adversary as a wounded ,easily caught meal-, so across stream cast-get it down to bottom -natural drift-palsy twitch and they usually take as the fly starts to speed up and -rise on the swing.
I never stripped a streamer except to get it in for the next cast-TETO

 

[mute]

I also dont have much luck with streamers. I caught a few here and there, but 95% of the time when i cast a streamer ill get the same fish to follow it closely 3 times then turn around. After that nothing. Unless i switch up to a differetn oen where ill get another fish or 2 to follow once or twice then nothing

 

[jrcll]

sounds like your doing everything right , the only thing that i might suggest is when stripping hold your rod tip low that way when you feel the strike you can lift the rod and set the hook , or like others have said try a different color streamer

 

[mute]

Wouldnt you feel the strike better if your rod tip is moving upwards? So thereed be no slack and as tight as could be since youre actually pulling hte fly by moving it up

 

[GreenWeenie]

A wounded or distressed baitfish does one of two things, bounces and tumbles on the bottom or pokes and rolls at the surface and distress/easy meal is what triggers a predatory response. So if the water is 3 feet deep and you’re fishing a streamer 1 foot below the surface, it resembles a healthy fish and more than likely won’t trigger the predatory response. I’m not saying it won’t catch some fish but it’s not representing a fish in distress.

It’s not so much the streamer pattern that does this but rather how you fish it. For surface fishing I’ll fish a deceiver style fly or some other type of sparse marabou or bucktail streamer with no weight. For bottom bouncing it’s a weighted muddler or sculpin or woolly bugger or zonker pattern. A streamer stripped rapidly across or upstream does not imitate a distressed or wounded fish. Yes these methods will catch fish but not as well as other methods.

Also, response to a streamer all depends on where you fish, as wild trout and stocked trout give two completely different responses. A wild trout is a predator that generally ambushes its prey or attacks an easy meal while a stocked trout is not a predator (unless it’s been in the water for quite some time) and may hit anything for any reason. Try different techniques and see the results and remember the trout may have fooled you more than you fooled the trout. Once you start getting consistent takes on a certain technique then you’ll know you’re on the right track.

 

[Brownout]

I like your choice of streamer. One retrieve that is absolutely deadly is twitching a marabou. You don't strip. What you do is twitch the streamer back to you by almost shaking the rod tip to one side. Use your idle hand to just collect the excess line that is created. Instead of the long streaking movements of stripping, you get twitchy, micro-short movements that makes a marabou tail look like a real minnow swimming. I have driven fish mad with this method. They will bolt around like maniacs knowing it is bad news and then assault the streamer.

A micro Mickey Finn is great with this method as well.

The hook set with this method is great, because by the nature of the retrieve the line is always taut. If the fish commits at all, they will get impaled on the twitch.

 

[Hook_Jaw]

Yeah you get alot of follows denies last second miss alot of fish not hooked it's fun though

 

[Acristickid]

ry- if you read books I would let you borrow Kelly Galloup's book Modern Strat for trophy trout- but since you don't- I recommend listening to him on a podcast from the Itenerant Angler website.

I like articulated streamers with a 4-5 ft sink tip. Started last year getting a little more serious about it. (some buddies fish with a full sinking line- but just never wanted to spend the money)

Streamers had been a thing I did when I was lazy, killing time or when nothing else is happening or high water.

Last year I commited myself to fishing with streamers all day. I rigged up a loop to loop connecting my short sinking tip with heavy stout maxima leader material maybe 3 feet and attached maybe 2 feet of 2x. Of course I lost several big fish.

Look at Schmidt outfitters fly shop in MI or Kelly Galloups shop the Slide Inn in MT for streamer pattern ideas. Some streamers are 6-8 inches long.

My experience has been that I would get a strike with in the first 5 feet of my retreive. Also seemed that if the fly did get a short strike or follow that casting again at the fish was futile. Seemed like if they got a look at it once- they were'nt gonna take it.

I did more pounding the banks type streamer fishing then the dead drifts. I will try more dead drifting to see if that might be more effective.

Streamers to me seems a way to catch some bigger than average trout but you sure are not gonna catch many of them.

 

[pete41]

I honestly believe a no-2 on standard streamer hook is big enough during fall prime season and 4 is ideal rest of the year for streamer fishing even in the west.If you are going to get the big one-that will do-bigger will turn some off.Go down to sixes and eights where that is the size of normal baitfish-Yellowstone park firehole river for example.
As an avid streamer fisher for for 30 yrs.[seldom fished anything else]
I feel strongly that woolly buggers and flash a buggers are as good away to go as any-especially where sculpins are present.
Its self defeating to use streamers that require a lot of weight to sink in good flows.
Not to argue with the kid but definitely recommend the reverse-3 foot tippet,two foot leader-in streamer fishing where the fish take and turn downstream a three foot tippet of MONO has enough stretch to act as a shock leader-you won't lose the fish of a lifetime that way.8# heavy enough.you won't need heavier for stream trout and you want to keep the flexibility.[sp]
In smaller water sink tip might be okay-bigger water go with sinking head and amnesia running line-some say-no,no but really serious streamer all go that way as you make longer casts and can load up much faster-the lure is in the water-not air.
and its cheaper-one should last a year and the running line for ever.
By big water 50yds across.
Nothing in trout fishing more EXCITING than the solid hit of a big brown in the fall when they are reinvigorated by cooler water and rammy to mate-Smash-damn I miss it.You know its a brown or a mack truck-lol

 

[pete41]

"Streamers to me seems a way to catch some bigger than average trout but you sure are not gonna catch many of them.'

true you won't catch a heck of a lot of bigger than average as there aren't a heck of a lot of bigger than average around-think of a pyramid.

But Mr.Kid a good streamer fisherman in the West[Montana] will fish circles around a good nymph or dry fly fisher in all but the smallest streams because sculpins are the favorite food of anything worth catching[18" and up].
Streamers are just enlongated wet flies-visualize how much more water you will cover and going downsteam
of course if you are the type who likes to sunbath while fishing-have fun with the little guys-in wintertime mid day is best.

 

[afishinado]

Streamers work weel many times, and the fish tend to be bigger, but I seldom fish them, except in higher and/or off-colored water. Fishing with streamers reminds me too much of casting and retrieving when spin fishing with a lure, very boring to me.

Streamers however a good way to fish for a beginner since there's no need to worry about getting a dead-drift, and strike detection certainly isn't an issue. A wooly bugger really can't be fished wrong (drifted, swung, or retrieved) and it's a good place to start.

 

[wetnet]

Streamers do work really well, but you can't play with a streamer. You really need to fish it. Do not let the fish have time to look at it, You want them to react. Plain and simple you strip them fast.( you need to sink them first) You can dance them but you really shouldn't give the fish time to decide if it wants to strike. Either it does or it doesn't, but you didn't shut it down giving it a good look. The first time I ever outfished anyone was on a grey ghost. It was also the first year I learned to fly fish. I am planning to tackle two things this year, streamers and dry droppers. Dry flies, I still can't see them, but have an eye appointment with a Doc who fishes. I cannot follow a fly with slack. Am working on it though. Maybe bext year.

 

[pete41]

Guess there is a big difference between East and West thought[probably size of river].and fish.
A.As westerner I never stripped except when drift was done
B. it is as much if not more of a skill technique than any other
C.favored by the top Western fisherman such as John Bailey.
D.nothing boring on a big river-tough to get a natural drift
E.truth be known its a step up from dry fly,nymph.On appropriate rivers.This is true-think guides out there will agree
But this is a Pa forum-can't wait til Paul and ernie report back-lol

 

[ErnieBall]

I am not a big fan of stripping streamers. When I fish streamers, I like doing a dead drift, or letting them sink and takinig LONG, drawn out strips at fast speed... but I am not a fan of short, fast strips... I feel like it doesn't make the imitation look like a wounded baitfish. I have had some success using the dead drift, which, in my opinion, looks the tastiest if you jig it at the beg, mid, and end of the drift.

I will agree that if you were getting fish to turn on your streamer, just switch it up and see what is working. Generally, I think if you see fish turning on a streamer and not taking, they probably ain't takin it, period.