Three Streamer Fishing Techniques

Streamer fishing is great.  It can salvage a day when fish may not want to come up for a dry, and they work great for predatory fish.  Here are my three favourite ways to fish them.

Low & Slow – This technique works great when you’re fishing really cold water, deep tanks or down into tailouts.  You can cast straight across or even quartering slightly downstream, and once your line has begun to tighten and swing begin making a series of 6-8″ inch long, evenly timed strips.  The current is already moving your fly for you, but this just adds to its undulation in the current.

Twitch-Twitch-Pause – Hands down my favourite way to present streamers especially from a boat.  Drifting with your fly allows you to keep it down longer without being pulled out of the zone by the current.  Cast straight across or slightly upstream, and begin making erratic and short strips with 2-3 second pauses every 5-8 strips.  Fish will usually eat it either as it’s falling or as soon as you start stripping again.

Sub-Surface – Streamer fishing is usually associated with fishing heavy flies or tips, but when the conditions align it is a lot of fun throwing them on a floating line or poly leader.  Sometimes I will tie on an unweighted streamer like a Bow River Bugger and fish it just under the surface on a floating line with 10 feet of fluorocarbon, or a light tip.

Thanks for taking time to read our blog, if you have any questions or want to drop us an email click here!