Streamer Fly Tying Patterns and Recipes

In the group of four streamer flys we should have two that are flashy flys that work well in high murky water conditions. Something that can be seen well that might attract or agitate a fish into striking. Such as the Mickey Finn and the Spruce flys. Some flies should be imitators or resemble small bait fish or minnows such as the matins yellow tail and the Muddler minnow.

Favorite Streamer Fly Recipes.

These streamer flys have done well for me. Size of the fly and hook are determined by stream size and conditions of the water. Let's face it. If you want to catch big fish then a streamer fly is a good starting place. When trout grow in size their diet will still include insects but they will tend to take on a bigger diner such as baitfish. Sometimes you might have to weigh them down to get them in to deep hole where the fish lie.

Mickey Finn Streamer Fly Recipe
	Hook	#4 to #10 Long Shank
	Wings	Yellow over red, over yellow buck tail.
	Hackle	none
	Body	Silver tinsel or silver dressmaker piping.
	Tail	Red Floss
	Head	Black thread. Lacquered.
The Mickey Finn has been a fly I could depend on when things ere going slow or the water where I was fishing was a little on the cloudy side. Sometimes you need a fly that doesn't imitate anything but has a lot of flash and color. It's a fly that has to be fished over and over again in the same place with a quick twitch of the rod tip. A quick retrieve or one with a jerk will get that quiet trout into a feverish eating mood and bring him out of his hiding place. When your teas enough your soon to react.

Spruce Fly Pattern
	Hook	#4 to #10 Long Shank
	Wings	Double badger hackles divided. Shiny side out.
	Hackle	Sparse badger
	Body	Peacock herl (thick) over padding. Red wool butt 1/4 of body.
	Tail	4 Peacock sword fibers 3/4 inches long.
	Head	Black thread. Lacquered.
The Spruce fly is a simple beauty. Half minnow like and half agitator. The badger feathers give a minnow like action and the scarlet red body with the dark green peacock will put a trout into high gear. This fly should be fished with a slight rod twitch and a pulsating retrieve. This fly pattern has produced some nice fish just before spawning season when the fish are starting to back off their regular menu.

Martin Yellow Tail
	Hook	#4 to #10 Long Shank
	Wings	Cream color deer hair from hock.
	Hackle	None
	Body	Yellow cream wool wrapped with gold tinsel
	Tail	1/4 inch yellow cream wool.
	Head	Black thread. Lacquered.
The martin Yellow tail has been an all time favorite streamer pattern of mine. This is one that my old friend introduced me to. If you tie this one, I think you're in for a big surprise on what is will do for you. When tying, try to follow the pattern as close as possible. To me it seems like it works like a real creek minnow and the wool tail is hard for a fish to shake from his teeth. I have used this fly for smallmouth and steelhead with great success.

Muddler Minnow
	Hook	#4 to #10 #5 - #6 Long shank
	Wings	Turkey quill segments.
	Hackle	Deer hair or dark feathers.
	Body	Gold tinsel wrapped.
	Tail	Turkey quill. Small
	Head	Large head of clipped deer body hair. Black thread tied and lacquered.
The Muddler Minnow is use in a wide range of fishing techniques. I have had fish hit it on top of the water and even on a bad backhand cast that touched the water behind me. When it take on water and starts to sink I fish it as I would the matins Yellow Tail. Short jerks up stream and down. If you tie this one leave some long deer hair to extend over the hook. It helps to become weed less to a degree. This fly has been a great success to many fly fishermen.