Salomone: Advanced streamer techniques | VailDaily.com

For fly anglers that can stray off the purist path for a bit, streamers are the dirty, meaty morsels that Colorado trout crave in the autumn. With the coming winter and its corresponding lean months, both rainbow and brown trout are putting on the feedbag. Anglers adept in presenting large, weighted, articulated streamers open up a whole new set of challenges and rewards.

There is no denying that large-bodied streamers create a chasing scenario in the fall that attracts the big cats from their lairs. Undercut banks hold brown trout trolls who will come out to smack your streamers, but it will take more than just the average conehead and a little special mojo to do it.

Streamer fishing requires a good cast to begin with, obviously. I’ve seen too many piercings to allow shoddy casting strokes in my boat. Setting up your gear for the added weight and stress applied to your rod provides helpful assistance. There are numerous specialty lines in every fly shop made for streamer fishing. Hitting the river with your same old weight forward floating line will make the angler work harder. A standard WFF does not present a streamer fly with the same productivity and efficiency as a line made to cast heavy flies and turn them over effectively.

The large hook creates one danger. A weighted streamer can smack with the force of a rock thrown at you. A double haul cast is necessary for proper streamer presentation. Anglers needing casting instruction can find help at Vail Valley Anglers fly shop. A good double haul is a crossover skill that is necessary for any saltwater fly fishing, pike fishing with large flies and top water poppers for bass.

Large arbor reels pick up line on the retrieve quicker than smaller reels. They also store the oversized line used for streamer fishing more efficiently. Small diameter reels will jam with the fat line consuming more space than thinner lines.

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Streamer fishing is the realm of the six-weight fly rod at minimum. Streamers require more backbone to turn over heavy fly lines and weighted flies. My personal streamer rod is seven-weight with a large arbor reel and a weighted line that has a gradient, meaning it is a fast-sinking tip with a slow-sinking middle and an intermediate running line. The line cuts through the air with little resistance, sinks in the surf and carries large bodied streamers with ease.

The normal approach most anglers use for streamer fishing is to cast at an angle to the bank, work a few strips of line in to regain contact with the fly, swing it downstream and strip it back. It’s effective but mundane and gives the type of presentation trout have seen before. Think of it this way — this is the “Mary had a little lamb version” — very basic. Now, mix it up on your retrieve with long strips, short pauses and redirection. This is what old Tony G. used to give us — real cool jazz. Strip in streamers with a jazz timing and now you’re looking good.

Dead drifting is an effective way to fish streamers from a boat. A large, wispy-haired streamer seems to breathe in the water when dead drifted. Steered around boulders, drop-offs and stair steps, a dead-drifted streamer is too good. Trout have to eat it.

The most innovative streamers are articulated. The body of the fly is constructed of two flies tied together. This creates a large silhouette, but more importantly, the fly begins to swim in the current. The flex point in the middle of the fly gives a wounded, hurt or disoriented look to your streamer — a desirable trait that no large trout can ignore.

Autumn provides the backdrop for our most active presentations. Casting streamers is not only taxing on the angler but productive from a fishing standpoint. With winter on its way, trout are bulking up by eating meat. There is no better way to present large, articulated flies than with a designated streamer rig. The rewards angler reap from casting streamers in the fall can carry you through the frigid months until spring opens up our rivers again.