One of my New Year Resolutions for the coming year is to fish the streamer more on days when the top action has slowed. Fly fishing involves seeing a fish break the water surface and take a dry fly or popper which is the norm for most fly fishermen. Sub-surface flies are not the top choice for fly fishermen, because the visual aspect of seeing a bass, bluegill, or trout hit the fly or popper is missing.
After watching a number of streamer videos I'm convinced I can land fish in the middle of the day when a lot of fish are less active. Patience and trying different retrieves is the key to getting a hit from a fish that has gone deep during mid-morning or mid-afternoon.
Streamer fishing is not new to me, but as stated earlier in the intro of this post I can be lumped in with most fly fishermen who like to see the fish explode on a surface fly. Fish explode on sub-surface flies as well but we don't see it but we certainly feel the take.
The largest Spotted Bass I have ever caught was taken using a Wooly Bugger streamer in November of 2021 fishing Ryan Creek on Smith Lake. You would think that fish would have convinced me to fish more streamers, but I was hooked on the surface poppers instead. All my fishing buddies are into the surface action, but I am slowly convincing them that we need to give the streamers a try for the coming season.
I want to share some of the streamers I will be using for the coming season and I hope to report back in the Spring on their success.
