Articles

5 Tips for Better Streamer Fishing

by Chad Shmukler - Monday, Oct 20th, 2014

Photo: A.J. Swentosky

Once anglers achieve success with streamers, they often focus intently on fishing big flies. The reason is simple and well known: big flies catch big fish. There's also a rush that comes with streamer fishing that doesn't come with other brands of fly fishing. Streamer fishing is distinctly different than dry fly fishing and nymphing and in most respects is more dynamic and varied terrain. Unlike these other tactics where following a few basic rules can lead to consistent success, the streamer fisherman needs to approach the water with a more predatory, evaluative eye in order to produce results.

Streamer fishing is about the world of swimming prey. Whether that prey is smaller trout, baitfish such as minnows, sculpins, leeches or something else entirely -- it swims. And imitating a swimming creature requires a different skill set and approach than imitating a drifting or floating one. Beginner streamer anglers will often try to apply the rules of the dry fly and nymphing worlds to that of the streamer fishing world and end up frustrated when the results don't come.

Hawks and Doves

by Todd Tanner - Friday, Oct 17th, 2014

As the elections of 2014 approach, I have a question for you. Are you a hawk or a dove?

Hawks are vigilant, passionate and protective. They tackle problems head-on and advocate for strong, direct action. That’s true across the board, whether we’re talking about military hawks, fiscal hawks, foreign policy hawks, deficit hawks or conservation hawks.

Doves usually fly in the other direction. They’d rather discuss a problem than do something concrete about it. They want to study a situation, and then, once they’ve studied it, study it some more. They’re worried about the possible consequences of their actions, and they almost always favor a more passive approach.

Tell Your Steelhead Story, Win $1,000

by Ben Kryzinski - Thursday, Oct 16th, 2014

Steelheading isn't for the faint of heart. Merely hooking up with a wild steelhead typically requires healthy does of patience, persistence and possibly a tendency towards obsessive compulsive disorder. These "fish of a thousand casts" don't come easily, but when they do the long hours -- often in lousy conditions -- and hearty effort required to bring a wild steelhead to hand typically breed some good fish tales.

Chances are, if you're a steelheader, you've got some good ones to tell. And Trout Unlimited wants to hear and share them as part of an effort to bolster its upcoming campaign that will seek to improve wild steelhead habitat and angling opportunities.

Trout Unlimited is offering $1,000 to the winner of its wild steelhead contest, which it announced yesterday. The winning essay will also be printed in an upcoming issue of TROUT magazine.

La Bomba

Permit and depth-charges on Ascension Bay

by Chris Hunt - Wednesday, Oct 15th, 2014

Anglers flock from all over the globe to seek out the permit of Ascension Bay. The bay is widely regarded as the finest permit fishing destination in the world, due to its bountiful populations of permit (photo: Chad Shmukler).

Antonio is a tiny man. He might scratch 5 feet 4 inches. And he’s not the shortest fly fishing guide working the flats of Ascension Bay. That honor belongs to Fabian. If Fabian mousses his hair, he’ll tickle 5 feet. Tony’s senior guide, Jonathan, might be an inch taller.

So, as I stood in the green water up to my armpits listening to Tony trying to calm my nerves as a pair of cruising permit approached from 12 o’clock, my mind inadvertently switched from panicked pleas urging myself not to screw up the pending permit shot to wondering how Tony was keeping his head above water.

“Just keep your line clean,” Tony whispered, almost soothingly in his heavily accented English. My bare feet were buried in a foot of soft mud at the bottom of the bay, leaving me to assume Tony was treading water. “Don’t worry. Just cast. Don’t think about it.”

I cast.

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