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Big-Flies-Big-Brown-Trout

We all know Trout of all sorts and sizes will eat flies and bugs of all varieties, and you can catch some big fish during the big hatches of Salmonflies or Green Drakes.

Everyone loves a good day of fishing their best trout streamers.  Some of the fish you can drum up fishing your standby trout streamers such as Woolly Buggers, Grey Ghosts, and Zoo Cougars can hook some of the biggest fish you catch all season. There is no doubt that trout streamers in size #6, #8, and #10 will catch their fair share of fish, as well as big fish. These flies have earned a spot in everyone’s fly box. And come this time of year, we get our best chance to put down the #10 Black Ghost that will tempt even the biggest Trout in the river…

However, when consistently targeting the biggest trout in a river, it is no mystery that big Trout like big flies. In particular, big trout (especially Browns) specifically seek out and target larger meals.  The most consistent large meals in any water are Baitfish/Leeches/Crayfish, etc.  Therefore, when targeting these big trout, it makes the most sense to use our Trophy Streamers, the large streamer flies that best replicate the proportions that they seek.

Most of our fly fishing streamers in the Trophy Streamer section are tied specifically for targeting the largest fish in any given water.  Here we are focusing on Trout, but many of these patterns are also good for Largemouth Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Pike, etc.  Further, the majority of these patterns are tied articulated, and marked as “tandem” to designate so.  The other streamer flies that are not marked tandem, are tied on single hooks (with the exception of the Name Changer series of patterns, which do have multiple articulation points), but they are tied large and full to mimic the meals we are replicating.   The list below outlines just a handful of the streamer flies we fish extensively.  Feel free to alter colors to best fit your local fishing options. There are many large fly fishing streamers that are effective, but here’s some of our most popular patterns:

S-Dungeon-StreamerS. Dungeon, Black and Red: go-to tandem streamer fly pattern with tremendous movement and that pushes a ton of water to get attention.

Fish-Skull-Minnow-Streamer

Fish Skull Sparkle Minnow, Silver: not tandem, but a flashy streamer fly with a great baitfish profile, and tied heavily weighted to reach where the fish are swimming.

Apollo-Streamer-Fly

Apollo, Bighorn: tandem articulated and heavily-weighted fly fishing streamer with a fish skull head and lots of marabou for movement.

Bomber-Streamer-Fly

Bomber, Olive and Black: VERY HEAVY X-Eyed Cone Head streamer fly, and lots of marabou for movement combined with tandem articulation.

Eyed-FlatHead-Streamer

Eyed Fathead, Ghost: lighter weight streamer flies that are nice to fish on a sink tip a few inches below the surface, a personal favorite.

The best time to fish these larger fly fishing streamers is upcoming middle/late September through the middle of November. This is the time of year when large fish, specifically large Brown Trout that are trying to bulk up in preparation for winter, are eating as many baitfish as possible. 

PRO TIP: Unless targeting a specific fish, try to cover as much water as possible using these large streamer flies.  Most of your takes will be reactive strikes that will happen on the first cast or two. In general, you are better off covering more water and thus more fish, by continually moving while using these large fly fishing streamers. Cover water and be methodical, and this coming Fall you will have one of your best chances all season to bring your trophy fish to the net.