Four Fantastic Streamer Patterns

Alan over at Small Stream Reflections was having a contest back in December involving naming a streamer he had tied. The person who submitted the best name won the streamer. I was lucky to win because there were so many great names submitted. The name that won it for me was “The Red Baron”. I was really excited to win it because it was a streamer I thought I would try in the spring on the tailrace. I couldn’t believe how fantastic this fly looked up close after I received it in the mail. In fact, I will never fish it; instead, I emailed Alan and ask him if he would tie me three more of his streamers that he has shown on his blog. I thought these four streamers under glass would be the perfect Christmas gift for my son who is an avid fly fisherman. Needless to say, he was blown away when he opened the package on Christmas morning.

 Alan was kind enough to include a printed list of all the materials used to create each streamer. My photography does not do these streamers' justice. Jason said he is going to have all of the streamers framed under glass. I will have to post an image when the flies are framed. Alan is not only a superb fly fisherman but excellent at tying flies.   

Just wanted to share with you guys an image of the HUGE 3" snow we got this Thursday

To Fish With or Without a Guide

I was reading Kevin Frank’s great post from Feather Chucker the other day about fishing with his buddy Lance who is a professional fly fishing guide in North Carolina. It got me to thinking about guide fishing in general. My closest encounter with a fly fishing guide has been on the Internet and the owner of our local fly shop below our tailrace. I have often thought about using a guide when I am fishing the Caney Fork in Cartridge Tennessee. It is really a pressured tailrace with bank, wading fisherman, canoe, and kayak fishermen on the water daily. There is a number of guides who frequent the area and stay quick busy throughout the year. I know I would probably land more trout and learn a lot more about this tailrace if I had a guide. So to convince me I need a little guidance in unfamiliar streams and tailraces, I have listed a few advantages of fishing with a guide.

Become familiar with the hatch stages where I am fishing and what patterns work best during a particular time of day and month.

Learn to read the water, as to where the different species of trout hold

Since most of the feeding by trout is down under, learn to fish the nymph pattern better

Learn how to use the streamer more effectively in fast water versus slow water

Recognize hot spots and never forget where they are on a particular stream you might be fishing

And last—realize that a guided fishing trip for me is not all about landing a lot of trout, but more of a learning experience—in other words, think of the outing as a day spent in an outdoor classroom.
Feel free to list your own advantages