Long ago, the Troutbitten crew had a private forum where we exchanged ideas and stories every day. At the heart of those stories were the fishing reports. We fished hard, and we fished often. Those reports contained the details. Most times, it was nothing but the...
These Fishing Reports are something I’ve wanted to get back to for many years. Long ago, the Troutbitten crew had a private forum. It was just us, and we exchanged ideas and stories every day. At the heart of those stories were the fishing reports. We all fished hard,...
The Troutbitten Podcast is available everywhere that you listen to your podcasts. ** Note ** The Podcast Player, along with links to your favorite players is below. Across the country, there are rivers, creeks and streams stocked by the state, often referred to as...
The Troutbitten Podcast is available everywhere that you listen to your podcasts. ** Note ** The Podcast Player, along with links to your favorite players is below. This season has been all about options for moving the streamer. Our focus has been on the animations...
We use a visible streamer for the tight line dance. We watch the streamer dip and swoon around rocks, tree parts and the river bank. Wherever there’s good structure, that’s the next target. The concept of the tight line dance allows us to hold the streamer around structure for longer, animating the streamer in every way imaginable to convince the trout.
The Crossover is a group of animations brought into a system, a mindset, or a framework for fishing your streamer.
The Crossover technique is all about getting the streamer low — in the strike zone — and then animating it within a narrow range, being careful not to move the fly out of the strike zone or move it too far.
Speed leads happen mostly in one lane, and they go faster than their parent current. Lane changes are exactly what they sound like — the fly is traveling in one lane, and then we deliberately bring the fly over to a nearby lane and travel down that one.
The speed lead is a term coined by our friend, Josh Stewart. Way back in 2017, I published a few articles about low-riding streamer presentations, with streamers tied on lead ball jigs. I’d gotten the idea from Rich Strolis, and it was a bit of an underground thing at the time. I remember that Stewey got in touch after reading my article, and we started sharing ideas and presentation styles with some of these flies. When I described leading low but faster than the current, Josh said he called it a speed lead, and it was one of his best tactics for stirring up big trout . . .
We’re here to talk about one of the most basic movements performed on any fly, lure or bait — jigging.
Moving the fly up and then letting it drop is a simple motion with complex options. And in this podcast, we break down the differences between slack jigging, contact jigging and pendulum jigging.
Swinging is arguably the easiest presentation on a streamer. That also might make it the most relaxing. It’s a great way to cover a lot of water, and it’s an easy way to stay in rhythm. But there are some downsides too.
Streamer fishing is best when we actively and intentionally move the fly. But with glides and slides, our animations are often subtle, because sometimes these are the most natural or convincing looks . . .