For many trout anglers, fall means streamer time. Streamers are arguably the most versatile flies out there, and if you’re not fishing streamers using a variety of techniques, odds are you’re missing out.
We’ve posted in the past on streamer techniques that go beyond the classic ‘cast and strip’ method, and today Alaska West guide, Jason Whiting, presents us with a great write-up on a super deadly technique for feeding streamers to big, deep holding trout.
Dredging Streamers – Micro Mends to Give Action
Have you ever fished streamers in deep water, hoping to pull Walter out of the depths, only to watch your fly shoot up to the top of the water column and out of the zone as soon as you begin to strip?
At Alaska West, we spend a lot of time fishing large sculpins, leeches, and flesh flies for hungry leopard rainbows. So, today we present you with a different idea for presenting your fly to those hard to reach fish in deep or faster water.
While fishing any type of streamer we have all become accustomed to the classic “Cast and strip” routine. To switch things up, we would like to present you with the “Cast and micro mend” routine to give your fly the action needed to elicit a strike.
How it Works
When you make your cast, give your line one big mend to let the fly sink down deep. When it gets in “the zone,” begin using small mends to give the fly action. Use a strip after each mend only to recover any slack in the line that has developed, but allow the mend to be the only thing putting action into your fly.
Continue to put small mends into your line throughout the entire drift, and repeat the process throughout the entire run. The benefit the mend has over the strip in deep and fast water scenarios, is that it not only puts a fishy “jig” into your fly, but also slows down your fly and allows it to drop right back into the fishing zone between each movement.
So, the next time you’re stripping that “big nasty” down through a run and feel like your not quite working through the zone long enough, try switching it up and let your mends really work for you..
Especially in deeper, faster, waters it’s important to use weighted flies. Cone heads, lead/brass eyes, and tungsten beads not only help to hold your fly in the strike zone, but these front-weighted patterns add to the “jigging” behavior of your fly. This is especially useful on silvers as they seem to really prefer a fly that jigs.
Good advise.