Continuing our series on streamers…..

Bottom line - streamers are flies that are thought to represent sculpins or bait fish, minnows, crayfish, leeches, and other food or irritants to trout (and other species too).  These critters share several common featues - probably the most important is their ability to swim through the water column. 

As noted above streamers can and do imitate food sources that are common to trout streams and lakes. The attractiveness of a streamer as food depends upon a lot of things - namely the availability of insects as food, water temperature, overall trout aggressiveness, and ambient light available. 

Think about it, with summer’s long days there’s lots of insect biomass drifting through the water column right to the fish, which can be consumed with minimal energy expenditure -  trout aren’t going to expend a lot of effort chasing bait fish (unless that baitfish is wounded or otherwise impaired, and right in their face).  Summer nights prompt less hatch activity, more widespread baitfish and trout activity, and therefore streamers are more effective.

In spring and fall fish are either getting ready for winter or recovering from it, water temps are cool, and they’re more aggressive in feeding because they have to be. 

Water temps play an important role also - water too warm or cold will dramatically impact a trout’s interest in a streamer pattern.

The irritant aspect of streamers fits more into the pre-spawn model - when fish are preparing their redd and defending their territory - streamers can be a devastating tool.  We encourage you to avoid spawning trout - they’re just too valuable to disturb.

More to come.

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