When To Use Streamers And What They Imitate (2 of 13)

I love fishing streamers because the strike is often explosive and visible. Streamers often take fish in high, dirty water when you can't catch fish on any other kind of fly. When you approach any given piece of water unless the fish are rising, it's usually a toss up as to what fly to use. Streamers can be a good choice, especially when the water is stained or dirty. Streamers are excellent searching patterns to find active fish. When you don't know the water and don't know what the fish are eating, a streamer could be your best bet. You can cover a lot of water with a streamer and because streamers are usually fished with an active retrieve on a tight line, you don't have to worry as much about drag and getting a natural drift or reading the water. Just toss your streamer in every place that looks fishy.

Streamers are often thought of as bait fish invitations, and we think that's certainly why fish take the most of the time, but there are other creatures that live in trout waters like crayfish, leeches, and even large aquatic insect larvae like giant stoneflies and hellgrammites. Trout probably mistake streamers for these creatures as well, but perhaps trout just take streamers out of reflex because they look like a big juicy bite trying to get away. In other words, a lure. Streamers are effective on trout for the same reasons they eat spinning lures. It's also possible that trout eat streamers because of territoriality or during spawning season because streamers look like something that might try to eat their eggs. Whatever the reason, streamers are just plain fun to fish and are the most active method of trout fishing and the closest to using lures with conventional tackle.