Casting Streamers?

[ironfly]

Not even close to true in my experience. I rarely use tips for streamers on the Bow aside from winter, where I use tips maybe 60% of the time. One of my most productive techniques on the Bow river is swinging Bow River Buggers or Muddler minnows in choppy, 3-5 foot deep mid paced water first thing in the morning, or in the evening. Often when drifting the Bow, if there isn't a pile of dry action coming on, especially in the morning, casting a dry line with a large streamer on 4-6 feet of 8 lb tippet hard at the banks, what we call "bangin the banks" so the streamer actually hits a rock on the edge, or very near, let it sink for 1-2 seconds and then give it 3 or 4 good strips, repeat, can produce amazing results, vicious takes, always big fish. Also, the streamer doesn't always have to be on the bottom, even in winter. There is a good overwinter hole that I have fished a number of times where the current is fairly slow to the inside, but the fish seem to lay out along the edge of the thalweg where the current is significant. I have fished it many times with a dry line and a slightly weighted large streamer, and I have fished it with a tip on (today actually). I generally do better in this particular hole in winter on a dry line, with an unmended swing. The fish that I take from this run are predominantly large browns, and they are definately moving up to the fly, as it is swinging fast and occasionally one takes right off the cast. I suppose what I am saying is that if you are presenting a swing and dependant on the type of water you are fishing (I personally don't generally fish streamers in fast currents), a 5-6 foot leader can do just fine. That is just the observations me and my crew find.

I take it from your post that you don't contest the depth, just the effectiveness. I gues I mis-spoke, because now that you mention it, I've had my share of luck "bank-robbing" myself. The water's pretty shallow there, though. A longer leader wouldn't do any harm near the banks, and gives you the option of going deeper without re-rigging. Or am I wrong?

 

I envy your success at fish rising to your streamer. Maybe I do too much blind-casting, but fishing that way might as well be steelheading, for me. I consistently have many times more success getting the streamer down deep. I guess I need to find better fishing spots. On second thought, I do just fine.

 

Always big fish, eh?