Streamers

[Mark Ferringer]

Question... What is your best streamer pattern?  I'm not talking about the monsters I throw in the dark or high water on my 7 wt, I mean a simple, dependable, "confidence" fly...  Buggers?  Sculpins?  Dace patterns?  Tungsten?  Deer heads?  I really want to ween my streamers down to two or three patterns.     

[Loren Williams]

My go-to is my Rat Bastard, which is a bastardized bugger.  Second is a slumpie--I don't go much farther than that and I fish lots of streamers.

[Nick Naclerio]

Wooly Buggers, Slumpbusters, Wooly Sculpin

If I could only pick one it would be the Wooly Sculpin.

[Mark Ferringer]

Galloup's pattern? 

[Jason Christman]

Woolybugger, gold crystal flash, olivezonker tail.green chenniel with dark olive hackle. Use a gold or black tungsten bead head. Also wrap the heck out of it with lead wire before you tie it. Most people tie them too lightweight and they never make it down to the feeding column.Make it heavy and use only in faster or very deep water. Trust me you will catch more fish on that fly then any other fly on the planet.
Just remember to cast down stream and tug, don't strip hard.

[Nick Naclerio]

Yup Galloup's pattern.

[Mark Ferringer]

Geez, thanks guys.  This is really good stuff.  The wooly sculpin and the s.buster are beasts.  Nick, that is a cool picture.  I knew an old timer who told me that it didn't matter what color of streamer I used; as long as it was black.  He may have been onto something.  I know that adage about bright fly bright day...  but, I have taken more fish on black, olive, and other dark shades than all others combined in all water types.  I too fish a lot of streamers Loren, and the sculpin I have used forever looks very similar to the one on your website.  I like to fish it on the bottom with a big split on the nose.  Obviously you can't do that in competitions, but it is vicious.     

[Loren Williams]

Mark,

Here is an olive version of the rat bastard:


One thing about competition streamer fishing as that you are not targeting trophy fish-so it tends to change the size and method of fishing.  I take an awful lot of fish on streamers in water less than 18" deep and many are during bright sunny summer days.

I like olive, black, brown, white and purple.  They all tend to have their time and place.

[Zach Bearden]

The man speaks the truth!

Dude, I really need to get some of those legs. I honestly think they trigger strikes.

[Mark Ferringer]

Sorry Loren.  On the rat bastard.  I like that cool fade from chart. to orange.  I looked all night for them on the net and I can't find them.  Thanks!

Mark

[Mark Hanes]

Mark TCO in State College has them I bought them a few weeks ago.

[Mark Ferringer]

Thanks mark. Ill get some next wkend.

[Daniel Podobed]

The Rat Bastard is most definitely an interesting tie.

top 3 confidence patterns from somebody who has 2 packed streamer boxes at this point, and I just discovered galloup-esque junk streamers about 2 months ago, so it will double the number of my boxes.


1. Slumpbuster, always throw it in tandem. Natural up front, olive in the rear chasing.
2. Wooly Bugger- of late, for some odd reason, i've had so many days saved with a purple pink combo, purple estaz body, purple wire, pink marabou tail with flash added in.
3. Circus Peanut.


throw it towards the bank and hold on.

[John Dunn]

                  Daniel
           Funny you should mention that color combo, I was fishing steelhead and found one in  a tree and put it on. I could not keep fish off that fly. I tied many like it and never caught fish on it  like the first time.    Never forget the first time do we 

                                                                                                                            John Dunn