Why are traditional streamers not weighted?

[Letort]

I fish a lot of wooly buggers, etc., which I generally tie with lead wraps and a beadhead. Even with this, with the high and fast water levels early in the year, I also have to add some splitshots.

My question, why are traditional streams tied without weight? I am thinking of winged streamers (for instance, Black Nose Dace). Do you fish them with split shots to get them into the water channel, or using a sink tip line?

Just curious what your technique is.

 

[sipe]

I was thinking the EXACT same thing today when I looked at the BNDace in my box...I always pass it over for a conehead muddler or a long zuddler.

 

[blueheron]

Natural movement

 

[Festus]

I don't weight my streamers at all. My method, which works extremely well for both getting your fly down and easy casting is pretty simple. I use a knotted 7-9 ft leader and put a shot at each knot, and two shot above the fly. This setup is a dream to roll cast and gets the streamer down where it needs to be.

 

[Fishidiot]

Letort wrote:
My question, why are traditional streams tied without weight? I am thinking of winged streamers (for instance, Black Nose Dace).
.

It seems to me that if you look at traditional flies that are more than about fifty or so years old - the Muddler Minnow is another example - flies simply weren't tied with weight back then (Perhaps there were some weighted patterns but I can't think of any off the top of my mind). Folks fished higher in the water column.

Only in the last few decades has wrapping lead around a hook shank become common. And I'm even old enough to remember when dumbbell weights emerged on the scene in the form of the Clouser Minnow.

I weight virtually all my streamers today and don't really give it any thought.

 

[sandfly]

either tie them with weight or use a sink tip, I like 5 to 10 feet of lead core with the conditions we have this year. You can also tie them with a cone head too.

 

[JackM]

Rub them in mud.

 

[outsider]

My answer is somewhere between blueheron and festus' answer. add weight as necessary to allow the fly to appear and drift as natural as possible. I don't weight the fly, add split shot as required.

 

[Festus]

PLUS....the lead core version is OK if ya'd rather spend time and energy re-rigging and carrying extra gear when you come up on a coupla surface feeders. Me, I'd rather spend 3 minutes ripping off some split shot and retying a fly and catching fish then setting on the bank re-rigging up.

Simplicity is the key to efficiency.

 

[afishinado]

In the past, sinking fly lines and sink tip lines were often used. For hardcore streamer fishing, this is still the best method.

But today, the "easy button" is a sinking poly leader attached to the end of your floating line. A poly leader is not quite as castable as a regular sinking line, but a lot more castable than leadcore line or multiple shot since the PL is tapered.

Lastly, you can weight your streamers to get them down.

All the above works. You can try out and mix and match any of the above methods. Like always ymmv.

 

[geebee]

in the past anglers knew how to mend the line and swing the fly at different depths and speeds.

to slam weighted flies into the banks and stripped back, just wasn't thought of.

many people did fish the rangeley style streamers on lead core lines for salmon, togue and brookies but they weren't 'cast'

and of course on mountain streams unweighted streamers such as mickey finns, edisons, picket pins etc are still highly successful.

 

[takeadeepbreath]

Letort,

While there are some useful answers to your question regarding the unweighted streamers of the way back whens...please take some of the knowledge being passed around with a grain of salt.

First of all, nobody has bothered to ask what size or type of water you're fishing. You obviously would have different techniques fishing a big streamer from a drift boat than you would on the Letort. Every situation has a different approach.

In regards to your actual question, Geebee hit the nail on the head. Fishing older, un-weighted patterns like Black Nosed Daces or Mickey Finns required technical mending and PLANNING on how you would get the fly to the depth it needed to be at the time it needed to be there. The fact is, even a lot of modern streamers will NOT sink of their own accord without generous mending or lead eyes or cone heads and the like. The other thing that nobody has mentioned is the fact that we tend to fish these streamers on shorter leaders to make the casting more pleasant. There is a downside to this; the INSTANT you come tight to retrieve that fly, it's rising through the water column. So take all of these factors and have a plan. Maybe that plan is a weighted fly. Maybe that plan is a sink tip. It's your fishing on your water. I would suggest against rubbing the fly in the mud in order to get it to sink....

 

[JackM]

Well, sir, rubbing the fly in mud was a preferred technique in my day.

 

[sandfly]

streamers were tied with a slim body adding weight made them bulkier therefor they were not tied with lead. plus they swim better with out lead.. changing a piece of lead core out to a floating leader takes just a minute or so which is why I like lead core in different length's. a foot of lead core will get down very well.

 

[FrequentTyer]

When you think about it, stuffing lead/tungsten inside a fly that is designed to swim in a life-like manner is a pretty odd thing to do. Mud actually makes more sense. Mud also makes a good leader dressing. If it was sold in little plastic bottles everyone would be telling you its the only way to fish a streamer.

 

[Cold]

When you think about it, stuffing lead/tungsten inside a fly that is designed to swim in a life-like manner is a pretty odd thing to do.

Maybe. Another way of looking at it would be that a 2" sculpin (the fish) weighs significantly more than an unweighted 2" sculpin pattern, so adding weight helps it behave more like the natural.

Mud actually makes more sense. Mud also makes a good leader dressing. If it was sold in little plastic bottles everyone would be telling you its the only way to fish a streamer.

 

[gfen]

Cold wrote:

One of the few things I can garuntee you will find in abundance alongside any stream you choose to visit is mud.

Paying someone for a little tin of specially formatted gunk to smear on my tippet seems pretty stupid, really. But, its your money, I guess.

 

[Cold]

I don't disagree. Was just pointing out that it exists.

 

[nfrechet]

i dont think anybody will be breaking any fly tying commandments if you decide to add some wraps of lead to your "traditional' streamers and theres no justification required if you do

mud is also good to take off the shine on the leader and your human stink off of the fly.

 

[dubthethorax]

Weight the top of the hook with either lead tape, or those lead czech nymph corrugated bodies. Turn the fly upside down on the vise, then twist up your streamer. They'll ride hook point up, and you can bottom bounce them all day without snagging. (similar to a crayfish pattern). Either that, or Poly Leaders..(which I tend to prefer).