I wanted to tack this on as a comment to the Sockeye Shiner thread below but the comment period had already timed out. Maybe it is better off as its own thread anyway.

I'm on a roll with micro-streamers right now.


Bill Blackburn (Bozeman Mt bamboo rod maker at https://blackburnbamboorods.com) first brought micro-streamers to my attention, almost a decade ago. The more I fish them the more I like them. I also think I figured something out this summer.

Micro-streamers are particularly effective during afternoon slow fishing periods on spring creeks. Why would that be? Spring creeks are nursery areas for small fish. A huge amount of spawning happens each year, spring and fall, in the spring creeks.

So there are a lot of small fish. Most people think about mayfly hatches and dimpling pods of fish on spring creeks. But in the late afternoons when the hatches are done catching a fish on a tiny nymph or mayfly can become almost impossible. In late summer when all but the Fall Baetis hatches are done for the year it gets even harder.

Maybe slow late season fishing with small flies happens that way because of a hidden cost benefit ratio. Here's a hypothetical argument. Fish rising to tiny insects only makes sense when there are a lot of them. Rising to the occasional semi-random mayfly nymph doesn't make biological sense. Fish need a constant stream of small insects to make it worth their while.

Tiny minnows are another story. Even a 3/4" inch long fry has an order of magnitude more protein than a mayfly.

The proof is in the pudding. I've had so many banner days fishing micro-streamers on late afternoon spring creeks--when everybody else was popping champagne over one or two fish--I now know something is going on. If the above isn't the right explanation, something else is.

Here's one of the Bill Blackburn flies that got me going on this subject:


Finally. There was an Fly Tyer or American Angler magazine article, maybe 15 or 20 years ago, about mini streamers. Does anybody know who the author was? Magazine date?

These small craft fur streamers work very well.The day I was using these these crappie were hammering them.These may be about the easiest small streamer to tie there is.

While it may not be exactly the article referred to, here is an interesting one.

https://globalflyfisher.com/front-page- ... -streamers

I tie tiny marabou clouser cat whisker type streamers for ponds etc and the fall stocked trout in bright colors.Some bead chain a little flash and some little wisps of marabou.Bulldog recommends fox for cat whiskers for durability.I tie some as small as 16s.

Very nice. I like these a lot. I often think that many soft hackles and wet flies, especially the ones with wings, look like small fry or baitfish in the water. It's a good argument for them as well.