Slow Water Streamer Flies?

[littledavid123]

I have noticed on the river where I am learning to fly fish that everyone fishes the swifter water and the accompanying eddies, small pools and such. But I never see anybody fishing the long pools of very slow water, typically these pools will have weeds all the way to surface out to 3 feet in depth.

Since ALL of this is new to me and fly tying has become a real hoot, why not learn how to do something that no one else is going after. I certainly can't catch any less fish than what I am now and I won't have to rub elbows with the rest of the herd. (Ard, you helped me notice this trend)

So let me get to my question:

We have a healthy spawning brown population and lots of stocker rainbows, it is the browns I wish to concentrate on. I know that every area is different, but could you folks recommend a few good streamers to start with? Not interested in streamers for the monsters (gotta learn to walk first..right) Also would rather start with the easier patterns.

PS: Any hints on how to fish streamers would be most appreciated.

Dave

 

[Davo]

Dave

A patternI used to use on a small slow creek outside Reading, PA might work for you. It is easy to tie. Small browns liked it. Sorry I don't have any pics.

Take a 8 or 10 streamer hook and tie on a sparse tail of maraboo or hair in olive or black. Then for the body just wrap 3 to 4 peacock herl strands and palmer a grizzly hackle. You can add small lead eyes if you want depth. It was my first nothing fancy streamer and it did catch fish.

Good luck!!

 

[lancer09]

Mickey Finns, Small clousers, just browse some sights like charlie cravens and see what your capable of tying.

 

[nerka]

Being in Alaska, we dont have browns...with that being said the concepts are very similar or the same. By the description provided I would throw a woolly bugger, egg sucking leech, or any of the small minnow patters that exist that are mentioned earlier.

As for presentation, which really is the key to this game. I would cast upstream to the head of the pool and drift it through the pool while putting a little life into the fly. A slight twitch or effort against the current helps a bunch.

Forgive my ignorance but does anybody use flesh flies for browns?

 

[caseywise]

try a clouser minnow in a white/charteause color scheme. also try any zoo cougar pattern.


casey

 

[Rip Tide]

The difference between a fast current pattern and one for a slower current should be the stiffness of the material that they're tied from.
With a fast water pattern you want your fly tied from stiffer material that won't collapse in the current like deer hair and rooster hackle.
Slow current flies need to have softer material that responds to the action of the current. Think marabou and hen and game bird hackle.
An excellent example would be the Gartside soft hackle streamer

 

[MoscaPescador]

I fished this fly in slower water with success last fall. It can be fished effectively on the swing, but feeling the take on a fast strip is awesome.

MP

 

[peregrines]

You've got some great suggestions. And Riptide brings up a great point-- for slow water, flies with soft material that keeps its shape and waves around in slow currents like marabou or rabbit strips are a good choice--. Having some streamers that are unweighted and some with weights to fish different layers of the water column would be a good idea.

You could try a simple unweighted marabou wing streamer with an easy to wrap body using something like body braid:

Hook: any 3xl or 4xl streamer
Tail: none
Body: Gold body braid
Wing: Black marabou
Flash: (Optional) a couple strands of pearl Krystal Flash along each side of wing
Topping: (Optional) a couple strands of peacock herl
Another variation for bright days: use silver body braid and white marabou

For weighted streamers, in addition to woolly buggers, and the leech that Mosca posted, you could tie something like a Barr's Slumpbuster a simple tie using body braid and thin "Zonker" strips of pine squirrel-- http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/fly-patterns/60468-slumpbuster.html?ltr=S

 

[jpbfly]

Already got great advice...I only fish still waters with streamers....(can't find slowest waters)and I use fur ones .
here's the simplest to tie I know(with olive,white,black or orange rabbit strips)
Try it...it's a killer.

I'm very surprised nobody mentionned the world famous Mc Nerney's minnow(with nutria fur)

 

[Bigfly]

LD123, you seem to be on the look and learn program, as opposed to classes or guide influence. I think this is a great way to go.
Anything you learn on your own will be yours to keep.
I suggest capturing a minnow, or fry, to copy at home.
Put it in a vial next to the vise and dream about it a bit.
Hold it up to light to see profile/shape. Then look at color/reflectivity.
Spend some time watching them swim around too.
Put it all together and you will tye your own version of the "best streamer" ever.
Good luck, and post the outcome, we all want a new killer pattern!

Jim

 

[littledavid123]

Thank you for the help, the people who inhabit this site are ladies and gentlemen all and I feel blessed for having found this site.

Give me a few weeks to come up with the materials needed for the above recommendations and I will post some pics of the results and give you my personal opinion of how well each worked...(kidding)

jbbfly: I promise to work on my fly fishing terminology it's a southern thang

Dave

 

[okuma]

i use wooly bugger leeches. using a rabbit strip tail and some flash in the body. then wrapped with hackle. olive and or black

 

[JoJer]

Since you're targeting browns in pressured water, I'd also suggest you try to be on the water at first light/last light. The biggest fish get that way by being carefull, especially true of browns.

 

[Ard]

Since you're targeting browns in pressured water, I'd also suggest you try to be on the water at first light/last light. The biggest fish get that way by being carefull, especially true of browns.

This is solid advice, I could not make a better recommendation regardless of what streamer you use.

Ard

 

[ghostdncr]

I suggest capturing a minnow, or fry, to copy at home.
Put it in a vial next to the vise and dream about it a bit.
Hold it up to light to see profile/shape. Then look at color/reflectivity.

Excellent advice from Jim. Just remember when you're tying that the dry example sitting in your vice will look completely different when wet. Ard's "Answer" offers one of the best examples of this I've ever seen. If he hasn't forwarded that pattern to you, it's worth begging for.

 

[Joni]

My only take on this is, if no one ever fishes this slow area you are thinking about, there could be a reason.
Fish generally hang where the food is easy access. That is why I like fishing seams myself, but not seeing what you are, it could be frog water.

Other than that, everyone else has it covered with TIME slot being very important for Browns.

I would also offer, Nymph size wet flies (soft hackles) an Nymphs like Haresears, and Copper Johns.....

 

[littledavid123]

Ard's "Answer"...hmmm

Went to the big city of Little Rock and picked up a bunch of new fly tying materials, but my work phone has been ringing 24/7 so haven't had the chance to start tying some of the savory patterns suggested.

Did tie some wooly buggers though and couldn't figure out why the marabou didn't look right and it sure seemed like a waste of feathers after having clipped the ends off. (not funny guys...lol) When I figured out that you tear the feathers off the side.

Found two things this last weekend a brookie hole (strange but nobody fishes this spot either) and a hole in my waders so it's going to be a little while before I can wade past the weeds to fish that slow hole.

Dave