Streamer Junkies?

[sarce]

I’m interested to know what your leader set up is for streamers for typical trout fishing? Anyone use poly leaders or just a typical leader with 3x mono or Fluro? I use a poly leader but I’m not fishing streamers very often.

My largest brown (25") was caught while using about a 4' leader with 2' of 16 lb hard mono tippet. Bright, sunny day in low and clear conditions. This was a small stream where the big fish hide under rock ledges in deep plunge pools and usually take the streamer on the initial drop. In a larger body of water where I need more depth and where fish can see farther around them in all directions, I'll go a little bit longer with the leader/tippet and will use 1x or 2x on the size 4-6 streamers. Any flies bigger than size 2 I'll use 0x or 1x. I haven't tried using the poly leaders with big trout streamers yet. I also haven't caught one over 20" in 3+ years...so take that FWIW.

 

[Fish Sticks]

My usual set up day time is 3ft 30lb 3ft 25lb 3ft 20lb tippet ring and about 18” of anywhere from 15lb to 10lb depending on the situtation

Night time

2 feet 30 2feet 25 2 feet 20 to tippet ring and 18” of 15lb test no lighter.

Daytime is a little longer not because i worry about spooking the fish with fly line but just so i can hold over more current if i feel like tight lining a sculpin helmet jog fly. My day time jig streamer rod is 10 foot 4 weight fast action with cortland spring creek like where the first 4 feet is like a euro line then jts just essentially a normal fly line after that

non jig streamer rod is 9.5 fr still 6 weight TFO with wf floating line (glow in dark for night fishing too)

 

[shakey]

Sometimes, for weamer or streamer fishing, I use straight mono.
More often I just use whatever leader I use for wets or dries

 

[Fish Sticks]

I will fish streamers on a mono rig sometimes especially if I am in really fast deep water in a narrow stream or if trout are really spooky and i am going straight upstream with micro jig streamers

 

[gulfgreyhound]

I've had my best luck with a simple bugger tied with a gold tinsel body , an olive marabou tail and olive hackle for the body. It produce browns in the Lake Ontario Tribs as well as Salmon. GG

 

[DomR]

I’m interested to know what your leader set up is for streamers for typical trout fishing? Anyone use poly leaders or just a typical leader with 3x mono or Fluro? I use a poly leader but I’m not fishing streamers very often.

I use a 6’ furled leader and just adjust my tippet to 2-3’ of 4x

 

[salmonoid]

Streamers are definitely effective in muddy water. But they work quite fine in cold, clear water too. The past two Sunday afternoons, I fished streamers in those conditions and caught eight fish. The streams only have wild browns (at least as far as I've ever caught over the years I've fished them). In the wintertime, I fish micro-buggers like big nymphs (often on brookie streams). On the streams I was fishing the past few weeks, I was fishing a bigger streamer and it's a lot of fun fishing a lower, clear stream and watching the bigger browns come out of their hiding places and chase a streamer in some cases right to your feet.

 

[edword02]

Streamer folks, what do you love about streamers?

Easy one. The eat!!!!!!!

 

[Silent Ocelot]

Yes, they really shine in muddy water as the streamer is a bigger profile so the fish can track it down more easily. Really the best way to fish muddy water is with a streamer or in warmer water, a noisy topwater fly like a gurgler. I have had an incident in muddy water in Valley Forge where trout have hit my nymphs, but the wild browns in Valley Forge are sentient!

As with fishing streamers, I typically fish mine with a poly leader with some 8-12 lb. fluorocarbon (Orvis Mirage) or just attach the fly directly to the tippet already attached to the poly leader.