A Swing and a Miss...

Nothin goin on, water temp 43 degrees, and it's nearly May...

This is the other part of streamer fishing, the long days throwing big junk on bigger rods and getting... nothing, or next to nothing. Like maybe a 14 or 15 inch Cuttbow on the Yellowstone?

We headed out and fished from Loch to Pine on the Yellowstone and were the only boat on the stretch for good reason, there aren't any fish! Well, that might be a stretch.

Rick, my friend who fished an 8 weight on Nelson's Spring Creek and vows that he only fishes streamer's got caught red handed with a 5 weight and small dries fishing to a pod of 8-12" rising trout and whitefish... Busted... That's Rick bow legged trying to quickly release an 8" rainbow he caught on a size 18 baetis, way to go. Good thing I had my camera in hand before he got rid of it.

This is Why We Do It...

A lot of times other fishermen will look at me like I'm nuts, or have two foreheads or something... Afterall, it's not every day that you see guys slinging 8" flies for trout, but that's what I like to do when I go "hog huntin."

A few of the culprits...


I figured most reading this will understand the obsession, but for those of you who don't I thought I'd introduce to you a couple of photos of reasons why people like me do what we do....

Meet my friend Chuck. I've known Chuck since before he was a figurehead at the Grantree back in the days when you would call the Grantree and no one would tell you he was staying there, but that's a story for another day and another blog, right Chuck? Chuck is a streamer junkie as well, but like most of us enjoys the occasional foray into dry flies for rising fish, hoppers, nymphing when it's slow etc etc. Don't think that just because I have a sickness it's confined to only fishing a 8 or 9 weight, I do own another dozen or two rods and reels. But when chuck goes looking for big fish, he brings the 8 weight and the dredger line and the 6+ inch long flies - he knows what's going on.


So without further ado, meet Chuck and his friend, the 31" 11+ lb Brown that he caught on the Stone a few falls ago.

No official weight was taken but the dimensions and an FWP estimate put it between 12-14lbs and no doubt it's my favorite streamer fishing shot ever. This isn't a fish shocked out of the Big Hole and photographed and glorified all over the fishing publications, this is a trophy, a fish of a lifetime - probably a couple hundred thousand lifetimes for a dry fly purist. And you've gotta love the pose, cig, gardening gloves, and tape at the bottom of the reel seat, truly priceless. Atta boy Chuck.


For a final thought I'll leave you with this... when bait fishermen open the stomachs of all of the big fish over the years and examine the stomach contents there is a common thread, they all have smaller fish in their bellies. So if the 20+ lb Browns out there are eating 6-14 inch fish, aren't you fishing a bit small of a fly when you throw a size 4 bugger?
Ponder that thought and look this over and think if maybe you would be a bit more interested in something that looked a bit more like this.

Breakin 'Er In

We may never know how you found this, probably from a friend of a friend of a friend who fished with a buddy over in X and so on etc. etc.

Over the next few months here, me and a few of my buddies are going to start giving you a glimpse into the nasty, dirty, hot and highly addictive world of...

(no not sex, sorry wrong website!)

Streamer Fishing...

Although it's not the only thing we do when we go out on the local rivers and streams, it's definitely the weapon of choice for huntin' for the big boys...

So grab your 8 or 9 weight and join us as we search out the next big fish and ramble on about all things fishing in and around the Bozone that we call home.

Cheers,

Kris