Louis Cahill Photography
Trout fishing
Gink & Gasoline
It’s important to note, before I provide you with my list of streamer patterns, that I should probably inform everyone that I tend to lean more towards fishing streamer patterns that are weighted heavy at the head. I prefer this style of streamer for two reasons. First, because a weighted head provides a nice up and down action in between strips, which trout seem to love. Secondly, because the extra weight allows me to get my streamer down into the strike zone quicker and also stay there throughout my retrieve. That in turn, maximizes the amount of water I can effectively fish with my streamer per cast.
I also love articulated streamers for their great action, but you can often save time and tie streamers non-articulated that will catch just as many fish, and provide close to the same action. Just make sure you tie your streamers with materials that breath well in the water (eg. marabou, rabbit, arctic fox, racoon, bucktail, craft fur, etc). Lastly, tying streamer tube flies should be considered for their great action, high hookup rates and durability. I just haven’t gotten into tying and fishing them much yet, so you won’t find them on my list.
That being said, I will also showcase streamers that are tied unweighted or lightly weighted. I prefer to use these streamers when I’m dealing with low water, spooky fish or slow moving water conditions, where depth is not needed. Occasionally, I’ll also use them when I’m using full-sinking lines on a short stout leader or with an intermediate fly line for fishing wiggle/diving streamer patterns. There are some streamer guru’s out there that prefer to fish unweighted streamers 24/7 on sinking lines. I’ll concur that some days the specific action they provide in the water can prove to be more effective than weighted streamers, but day in and day out, I’ve personally found weighted streamers to work much better for me.
Below is a list of examples and variations of streamers I like to fish. Many of the patterns I’ve chosen to showcase, are tied by well-known commercial fly tiers that you can purchase at your local fly shop or online. I’ve done this because there are a lot of you out there that don’t tie flies. If you do tie, you should be able to tie reasonably close replicas of your own, by reviewing the pictures provided. (Click links for more information or to purchase the patterns.)
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