What
Without insulting anyones intelligence and with hopes of increasing others ,in a nutshell streamers are baitfish patterns that imitate a wide range of food that fish eat.This includes Baitfish,Sculpins , Leaches and Large Aquatic Insect Nymphs re. Dragon and Damsel Flies . Compared to other foods re. Aquatic Insect s that trout eat ,Streamer Patterns represent a mouthful and then some ,making it very tempting for large fish to chase ,after all why bother with an insect when you can eat something that will provide more calories ?
Where
Of course all Salt Water patterns are streamers , when it comes to freshwater Fly-Fishing for Trout and Bass you can fish streamers anywhere .From Lakes ,Rivers ,Freestone Creeks to Spring Creeks .Streamers will often catch the largest fish and produce on those slow days when nothing is happening .On the rivers and Lakes I frequent , I fish streamers all the time .
Why
As I mentioned already Streamers imitate large food items re. baitfish and leaches that are found in both flowing and stillwaters .This is what large predator bass and trout feed on so why nit imitate them ? Besides imitating food items , fishing a streamer though a fish’s zone or invading it’s territory can lead to pissing the fish off resulting in strikes. This is especially true during a pressure change when trout or bass are not actively feeding .My streamer selection is pretty straight forward ,Lots of Clouser type patterns , then there is The Buggers and it’s Variants ,followed by patterns that are going to push some water like a Bow River Bugger or other Sculpin imitations . Color wise , I go by the bright fly -bright day ,Dark Fly -Dark Day rule. I stick with flies that I have confidence in,that is half the battle .
