Caddis? What Caddis? I’m Fishing Streamers

August 11, 2008 by Benji Sorenson 

I think I am slowly developing a thing for fishing streamers. When you talk to most fly fishermen they like to brag about the nice trout that sipped their perfectly presented, delicate size 22 trico spinner so subtly they barely noticed it was gone. Well that’s not me. Yes I do like to catch fish on a dry fly but there is something down and dirty about tugging a big ugly strip of feathers and rabbit hide through the water and watching a large wake cruise up behind and smash it. It may not be where the glory in is fly fishing but it sure is where the adrenaline is.

Tuesday night my heart skipped a couple beats each time I saw that big swirl all around my size 4 gray Zonker. The fish were not hammering it on a consistent basis but they were even aggressive in their investigation. Often they would come up and take a look at it and then give a big tail slap on the surface of the water that would have made many a beaver proud and turned back to their ambush site. A few fish grabbed at it after their once over but failed to get the hook in their mouth. But there were two fish who fell for it and they did it with passion. The first, a 23 inch fatty, hammered the streamer right out in the middle of the river and I knew immediately this was a nice fish. So far this is the biggest fish I have caught on the Owyhee River. It pulled hard and made several good runs before finally coming to hand.

After reviving this monster and watching it swim slowly away I turned to grab my rod and noticed I was in a virtual cloud of Caddis. I have to admit I chuckled to myself when I thought about the massive hatch that was happening all around me and yet there was no way in the world I was taking that big Zonker off. If you want to catch the big, mean, ugly Browns, you have to think big, mean, ugly thoughts. Or at least throw a fly that fits that description.  I am all for that.

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Comments

8 Responses to “Caddis? What Caddis? I’m Fishing Streamers”

  1. Arthur on August 11th, 2008 6:10 am

    That is one very nice fish. Congrats, even though I’m a little jealous that that is bigger than my 21 incher I caught a few years back.

  2. The Hunter's Wife on August 11th, 2008 8:30 am

    That sure is a big fish. Do you keep them or throw them back?

  3. Cory Glauner on August 11th, 2008 9:06 am

    My biggest fish were caught with streamers late in the evening.

  4. Suzee on August 11th, 2008 9:13 am

    Thanks for putting us right there on the river with you again! I like your tactic for catching those big Browns… wonder if thinking big, mean, ugly thoughts would work for moose hunting?!

  5. Terry Scoville on August 11th, 2008 1:14 pm

    OH MAN! I have really got to get out and wet a line. I am drooling for sure. Zonkers are great flies for Browns. Do you ever use Grey Ghosts streamers? Great story, thanks!

  6. Kais on August 11th, 2008 9:06 pm

    Super fish and super pics. I would rather fish a big, mean streamer any day. Like you say, it means bigger fish. My favorite way to fish the creek by my house when I was growing up was with a big black woolly bugger. I would put a split shot or two a few inches up the line and strip it quickly through riffles. It always worked. There’s not much better than big browns on a fly.
    http://www.onetoomanyhobbies.com

  7. Blessed on August 12th, 2008 12:03 pm

    that looks like my kind of fishing!

  8. Hobbies Hunting Fishing Hiking Shed Antlers on August 16th, 2008 2:21 pm

    [...] I was reading the Base Camp Legends blog and came across a post by Benji talking about a great evening on the river fishing streamers even when the caddis were hatching like [...]

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