Streamer FIshing mountain streams

[scottross09 0]

A buddy of mine just turned me on to streamer fishing in our local river in North Idaho. I am curious about techniques that people have that are successful. I realize there is more to it than just throwing the fly and stripping in your line. Any help would be appreciated.

[ikerajala 0]

Scott, An excellant book I read at the east bonner county library was sea run cutthroat trout. by: les johnson? I know north Idaho is a long ways away from the sea, but the book was an inspiration to all cutthroat anglers and I decided I would try my hand at streamer fishing for the wiley cutthroat trout. The patterns in the book are for sea run trout, steelhead, and salmon. I decided a good source for streamers and wet flies to use for regular west slope cutthroats would be the classic fly tying forum.

 

The streams and rivers are swollen in north Idaho this time of year. There has been many memorial day weekends that I tried flies at the nose of cutthroats. Most cutthroats are tired from the rigors of spawning. The only time I ever had luck was using a caddis immitation on a size 12 hook. You know like a scud? That was only once many years ago. I keep reading that it is best to use brightly colored streamers and wet flies, but like I said no luck yet. But hell I will go out this weekend again like so many other memorial day weekends to try my hand at catching a cutthroat on a fly.

 

Hope you are having better luck than me down there. I will write a fishing report next week. I plan on fishing deep creek in boundary county, which opens for memorial day weekend. It doesn't have any cutthroats though. Hopefully I will release some rainbows and catch some brookies for a camp fire.

 

bye bye.

[troutguy 0]

Take a look at my Jacobs Fork post. That is a small Blue Ridge Appalachian stream. I did real well with streamers. I love a smaller weighted muddler or dace imitation. I will dunk and drift in really small pocket water.

[riffleriversteelheadslayer 0]

Mickey Finn short quick strips followed by pauses and rod tip lifts

[troutguy 0]

Use Rifleriversteelheadslayer's sculpin fished slow and deep.

[ikerajala 0]

This weekend I fished some diffrent mountain streams and had luck with a lead wing coachman. I tried a mcginty bee, and a black gnat, but the lead wing coachman worked best.

[rstout 0]

Scott,

 

What rivers are you fishing in Northern Idaho? I have fished most of them at one time or another. This time of year we have caddis and stones hatching which gives you a great opportunity for dry flies or nymphs. You posted this in February and that is a good month for nymph fishing. Trout rarely take dry flies on the surface in the winter unless you have a midge hatch coming off. Let me know where you are fishing and I will try and steer you in the right direction.

 

Rob

[scottross09 0]

Scott,

 

What rivers are you fishing in Northern Idaho? I have fished most of them at one time or another. This time of year we have caddis and stones hatching which gives you a great opportunity for dry flies or nymphs. You posted this in February and that is a good month for nymph fishing. Trout rarely take dry flies on the surface in the winter unless you have a midge hatch coming off. Let me know where you are fishing and I will try and steer you in the right direction.

 

Rob

 

Rob, I am fishing the North Fork of the Cda River at this point but will work my way over to the St. Joe and Kelly creek a few times this summer I am sure.

[scottross09 0]

I hooked into my fist cutthroat last Friday. Notice I said hooked. I fished a white skulpin pattern on a dead drift and at the end of the drift as I stripped it in a few times I hooked him. Unfortunately, no one had told me that it wasn't a good idea to fish a streamer on 4X tippet. As soon as he got out in the current at the head of the pool it was over. Lasted about 6 seconds.

[ikerajala 0]

This weekend I was using 10 lb test fishing line as leader and tippet. It was nice because most of the time I could just yank my fly out of branches and what not. I am on a tight budget, so using 10 lb test fishing line is a blessing. This way I save flies and land all my fish. But like I said I only landed a couple of 8" cutthroats. I caught a few larger brook trout. Including a 15" beauty who took a black wooley bugger. His stomach was packed full of salmon flies? Or maybe they were just really big golden stones? Any way a black wooley bugger proved to be a killing pattern last weekend. I should have gave a picket pin a whorl. That might have worked too. As for presentation, I just used the regular upstream cast with a drift and swing for the wet flies. But you are just intrested in streamers, no? I just used the wooley bugger like a nymph. The water was muddy, so I Watched the end of my floating line as a indicator while I slowly stripped it in. I hope this helps.

[bigbear54 0]

I have had luck with the Mickey finn also. I caught 2 nice rainbows [ both about 14"]in the saco N. Conway area in the white mountains of NH The water was high after a recent rain and a little cloudly.I used a 1/4 down stream cast ,let it swing below me then 6" strips in with a pause between.

[rstout 0]

I have been using big (3 inch) streamers representing bait fish because of the high water. Sculpin and minnow patterns in olive and white. The cutthroat are killing them. Also caught bull trout. Had a prolific caddis hatch come off on the North Fork of the Clearwater the other day. I caught 22 fish in approximately 30 casts (give or take). It was insane. Size 14 tan caddis. Caddis never fail on the St Joe, North Fork, Lochsa, Selway and Kelly Creek. Later in the summer when the water levels lower nymphing works great also. The St Joe fishes well on grey colored flies later in the summer. St. Joe Special, Grizzly sedge, Mosquito pattern, grey X-caddis.