Fly Fishing with Chris Dore

'Chuck n chance' or is it more technical than that?

and

I think theres more to it than chuck n chance.

On rivers where trout display predatory behaviour or smaller fish make up a substantial portion of their diet, streamer fishing can be uber effective. Why throw a small size 18 hares ear with precision when the fish may move two or more metres to hit a size 2 woolly buggar?

I use flies such as the Double Bunny or my purpose made 'Mr Glister' streamer, which is pretty much just a conehead rabbit type thing with a magnum zonker strip and a bit of flash. Designed to be durable, quick sinking, and easy to cast, Im embarrassed at how much time I spent playing around with this pattern before settling on this basic, and rather common tie.

Due to the size of the streamers I favour I use a 7wt rod and a floating line with an aggressive front taper to ensure energy is transferred right to the fly. The Airflo EGO line or the SAGE performance taper 2 are ideal. My leader is simply 8 - 12 feet of 10lb maxima mono.

Techniques? Fish them upstream as you would your typical nymph, either dead drift (the rabbit provides oodles of movement) or strip it a little faster than the current. Maybe pitch them slightly upstream, mend as desired and fish them on the swing. If you want to catch a large trout, simply find a river that holds big fish, and pitch a streamer through the pools, along cut banks, and up into the fast water at the heads of pools. Big fish love big streamers, and you will be suprised at the results.

Streamers also come into play for hitting those 'hard to reach' places, maybe across a heavy current, or other places where getting a natural presentation is tough. Smallfish are expected to swim across the current, and so drag is not a problem with a streamer.

Its all fun.