violinjock

I forgot to mention the minnow belly dubbing over the body prior to tying up the front shank.

Forgot to mention that I tied these on a size 12 3X long streamer hook.

During the open season, I am out for trout between 1-4 days per week...We start in March and end in September. Easily over 100 days per season just on trout...

Iso, If not this year, then perhaps next year, I'm convinced you're gonna get him. Best wishes!

iso18, It really depends on what else is in the stream as far as food. I don't suspect you'll have to to get overly elaborate, but here are some ideas that work very well for me: 1) clousers tied with bead chain eyes and lava lace instead of bucktail, 2) sculpin patterns with grizzly marabou made to ride hook up, 3) wire shank articulated flies - I make my own shanks out of 105 pound American Fishing Wire single strand that I use for rigging dead bait for sailfish. Make sure the eyes are on perpendicular planes and if you want the hook to ride up (not a bad idea in tight places) bend the front eye up. A leech imitation can work very well. May I also suggest that the next time you hook the beast, tarpon roll the fish three to four times in a row to end the fight early and slam her into the net before she figures out which direction is up, as this has worked very well for me. I've had big fish in similar situations...I side pressure the fish immediately and occasionally also point the rod tip straight down if the fish tries to run too far to change the angle. This will confuse the fish and they will either stop their run or change their game plan. If you do it right, you can literally stand in one spot and end most fights with fish between 20 and 30 inches in less than 2 minutes. In case you're wondering, I only use a 9 foot 2 weight for trout and by using these salt water techniques I have yet to have a fish less than 28 inches take more than 117 seconds. I hope this helps!

Some guys have said their biggest trout have all come on nymphs and some guys claim their biggest fish are on streamers. I was hoping to get some feedback from some of you guys on whether your biggest fish have come on streamers or nymphs. I even have a buddy who made up a 20-20 club of a 20 in fish on size 20 or smaller fly. Any feedback is helpful. Thanks!!! :wallbash:

Actually, I've had plenty of short strikes from inland trout and the trailer hook seems like a decent idea....one reason I switched to tubes is that i can adjust where the hook rides. I've used loop flies before for steelhead, so I don't see why they wouldn't work well for inland trout. Something new to try this season!!

Bad fish rising, Those are some awesome looking streamers! The cabin fever is worsening here in wisconsin.

OMG, I just built a 9 foot 2 weight last fall for chasing trout! I've been thinking about drifting dries for big trout, but I have so much fun nymphing and yanking streamers that I haven't yet had a chance! Perhaps we should start a 2-20-20 club. I am truly intrigued!!!

Funny you should mention nymphing. I have a buddy who told me I need to join the 20-20 club.... a 20+ inch fish on size 20 nymph or smaller. I'm not quite sure that's my cup of tea, but after I finish my experiments on my tube streamers, I figure it'll be a good education for me.

voodoo, That's exactly the type of reply I was hoping for. Would you mind posting a pic of one of the tube double bunnies you use? I am incredibly interested. Esoxfeind, a 28 inch male is gigantic. i am hoping I can C&R a fish near that size this season! I was using streamers smaller than the #4 before I switched to tubes and I got some nice fish, but the average fish went about 12 inches. A buddy of mine started using bigger presentations and, if anything, he actually started catching more fish as well as bigger fish. So, I was a touch shy about joining the band wagon so late in the game!

esoxfeind, I am fishing Wisconsin's part of the driftless. About half the areas I like to fish require really long casts and the other half require very short casts...sometimes almost reaching around a tree and dapping. However, I have some streamer water I love fishing and that's what I like to use bigger streamers in. Only problem is that the water may be big, but it's calm enough I can't use spinning gear and drop heavy hardware in on top of the fish, so the fly it is. The tube flies I'm tying land really softly by design. I am just wondering if anyone else thinking outside the box has gone in this direction. If you're fishing #4 buggers, then my guess is that you're also finding some really nice fish!!!

OK, I've added dubbing in various colors to the back of the fly and it seems that a bright pink collar holds the most attraction. I've had a chance to try it on the smallies that still ahve open season on them, and it works great, but trout season here doesn't open until march, so we'll have to see! Thanks guys! Hoping more people will have more critiques for me to learn from!

OK, I looked up the string leech. My questions are a) does the strip tangle with the string at all? and how heavy does that fly get when wet? In my experience, rabbit strips become like a wet sock when wet so I am hesitant to tie big bunny flies unless I grab my heavier fly rod. Thanks!

I was wondering if I could get some tips and suggestions on improving my current sculpin pattern. I've tried it on some warm water species that live in a river near me that also has sculpins and the results have been promising, but there's always room for improvement. Thanks in advance!!! I apologize for the poor picture quality.