Fly Fishing Tips: When to Fish Streamers

Streamers can produce aggressive strikes and are an exciting way to put large fish in the net. Under the right circumstances fishing streamers can be very productive.

However, there are other times that fishing streamers can do more harm than good. What do I mean? Well, it is possible for streamer fishing to be counter-productive.

Meaning, if streamers are not working, they can really disturb water and fish. The disadvantage is if you disturb water by fishing a streamer without success, you might turn fish off that you could have caught on nymphs or dry flies.

So, when should you fish streamers? There are three major times that I really like to fish streamers:

1. Higher Flows – When the water is up, it can put big fish on the move. High water periods can be very productive while fishing streamers. Streamers are also less likely to disturb uninterested fish during higher flows. Meaning, even if they don’t eat the streamer, they might eat nymphs after.
2. Off-Color Water – Regardless of what flows are like, anytime the water loses visibility, it can be very productive to fish streamers. Bigger flies are easier for the fish to find, and the largest fish usually lower their guard to feed in off-color water. Similar to fishing higher flows, streamers do not usually disturb other fish when the water is off-color.
3. When They Work – It sounds silly, but the best time to fish streamers is when they work. Meaning, regardless of conditions, if you like fishing streamers you can try them in a spot. If they work, use them. If they don’t work, it’s probably best to try other methods when moving to another spot.

When faced with higher flows or off-color water, it could be a great opportunity to draw an aggressive strike from a very large fish on a streamer.

If all this talk about aggressive strikes from big fish has you itching for a day on the water. Talk to Joel to get your fix. It’s that time of the year!