I have, along the way, brought attention to streamer patterns that imitate assorted smaller fish in the water and to the fact that big fish are quite predacious toward little fish.
The below photo at THE BUG PARADE speaks volumes toward the gluttony of aggressive, big fish. Check out her site for some very nice photography of nature and fish.
The Bug Parade Image
Erratic stripping of a streamer pattern,whether on a river or lake rarely fails to produce a strike. The streamer pattern could be swung cross current on a river or trolled at a uniform speed on a lake. The addition of jerks, pulses, pauses and streaks in the presentation will lend more life to the presentation, beyond a swinging or trolling fly.
Dry Flies, Nymphs, Streamers and Wets (forget the eggs, worms, terrestrials and mouse patterns for now). As a beginning fly fisher, I would suggest the inclusion of a few wet flies and streamers in your arsenal. And, as you hone those skills on a drag free drift for the dry and watching for the strike indicator/sighter to dip for the nymphs, don’t forget to learn how to present a wet fly (it is more than just down and across swings) and the streamer.
Slow your presentations down to move with the current speeds and dissect the holding lies to move the fly via mends into prime holding spots. Simply swinging the wet or streamer through a stretch of water will catch some fish, but you will up your odds if you guide the fly’s path through the water. Learning to correctly present these two pattern styles can also greatly enhance anyone’s efforts to learn traditional fly fishing for steelhead or salmon too.
MIDCURRENT ARTICLE BY Gary Soucie re Woolly Bugger’s Workings
Many of us solely fish Buggers on stillwaters and even more of us do little more to impart life than kicking about in a tube or rowing one behind the pontoon boat. I have enormous faith in the pattern’s worth, in a variety of color combinations. I have vowed, this coming year, to fish more streamer patterns. I have a large hole in my repertoire of presentations when it comes to fishing streamers in rivers. I really wasted a lot of time last year prospecting over quiet waters with a dry. Laziness and short windowns of opportunity. Combo’s of Woolly Buggers will fit nicely into my Streamer arsenal along with Sculpin patterns I am experimenting with.
Soucie highlights excerpts from his book on how to use a stalwart pattern.
I have been researching an area of fly fishing/tying that I admittedly don’t utilize enough…streamers on rivers (a staple in many areas of the country). I do fish them for Browns on Oregon stillwaters. But, otherwise they are rarely considered. So, I recently remarked upon seeing Sculpins darting about in a river. More research suggested Sculpins might be a reasonable Winter pattern to swing and dart along the bottom to entice those sulky Rainbows.
While researching Sculpin patterns I came across a style of hook that, when weighted, allows for a Hook Eye Up (HPU) presentation. Heavy lead eyes tied on the top of the hook shank are known to cause the hook to flip over and ride hook point up. But, the piece here uses a different hook..an off set worm hook.
The HPU presentation provides many options in tying (freshwater/saltwater). Fox Statler of Willow Ford, Ark. offers up pattern suggestions and kits for preparing HPU Streamers/Shiners.
I posted re this pattern a year or so ago (6-19-08). This pattern accounted for a large rainbow from a Central Oregon lake on a cold, windy day. I couldn’t launch with the winds, so I walked the shoreline, getting out the best cast I could, letting the Intermediate line sink, then strip back with moderately fast strips of 6″ or so. The fly seems more attractor that bait fish. The paired wing (hackles) if paired and tied in correctly, will provide a flexing of the wing and suggest life.
Traditionally, the tail on this pattern is tied with peacock swords (shorter, more vivid colors). I used red hackle barbs from a Schlappen feather. I used red floss (can use silk or tri-lobal/1 strand) for the body. The tedious part for me is wrapping a tapered body. I wrap the body up and then part way back up and this creates a somewhat tapered body. I did not rib this pattern. The thorax is comprised of good quality peacock herl. I tie in 2 herls. I wrap the two herls to create a nice plump thorax. Do not crowd the eye of the hook. You have to leave space for the wings to be tied in as well as a hackle collar.
Now the important part is matching the Badger wings. The lesser used Badger hackle is used. The tier wants to select two feathers on the cape that are side by side to assist in matching the length. Take the two feathers and match them for shape and curvature first. Equality is important here. Align the two feathers by starting at the tip then make sure they match progressing toward the butt.
Each feather has as a dark side (top) and a light side. Each feather has a slight curve (concave-bottom). To pair the feathers place the two feathers dark side/convex side together. Measure the feathers for length with the feathers not extending beyond the tail. Now lay the paired feathers along the top of the shank and at a point at least a hook eye’s width back from the eye. The butt sections will extend out over the eye. Eye the tie in point and snip off the excess butt sections. Tie in the paired wing feathers, but make sure they don’t rotate and misalign here. Tie in, inspect, unwind and straighten them up if necessary until you get it right because this is the important part of the pattern….the correct alignment allows for correct movement.
Next tie in a larger Badger hackle with longer, webby barbs. Wrap the hackle 2 times. Trim the excess. Create a nice thread head to cover the materials. Add head cement if it suits you. If you study capes, you will see Silver Badger hackle suggested for the wing and collar. Furnace hackle is more common and just as good as the harder to find Silver. Don’t put on a bead head. If you weight it (I never have), then wrap a weighted underbody at the thorax area and then over wrap with the peacock
Hook: Sizes 6, 8, 10 on a 3x long streamer hook of your choice.
Simple Streamer
Streamer~Simpler Yet
Attraction
I have tied this fly for years. It has caught Chinook, Silvers, Steelhead, Chum, Rainbow Trout, Brown Trout, Atlantic Salmon (Hosmer/East L’s) and it may seem too simplistic in its’ appearance to work. Yet it has, whether stripped, swung, tumbled or retrieved in lazy, daydreaming 6″ pumps. I have sometimes overdone the bilious blue over wing like an over made up whore. But, it does not matter, too much makeup or not, the lines are pretty good. Extend the overwings a bit, but the same obvious colors have remained.
Check out the link below to the Minnow Bugger. This is also a great minnow pattern in more subdued tones.
Minnow Bugger
https://swittersb.wordpress.com/2008/07/19/minnow-bugger-minnow-dragon-or-damselworks-great/
http://www.flytyingclips.com/MM1.html (great way to see all aspects of the fly, rather than just lateral view)
http://www.fishingwithflies.com/LuresFromNewZealandPartI.htm (3 part piece, nice streamers)
