Living in Upstate NY these past two weeks, we were blessed with unseasonably pleasant weather.  This mid-winter temperature break afforded  decent winter angling conditions.  Now that colder weather has returned and there is snow on tap, it’s nice to enjoy quality fly tying time.

The past year, I started to heighten my tying and fishing of streamers.  I’ll always love the dry fly, technical nymphing, summer terrestrials, and all things saltwater.  That said, there is  something alluringly attractive to throwing meaty streamers for piscatorial predators.  Streamers bring out the brute in fish.  Streamers are fish finders.  As good, streamers are fun to tie.  I like to tie batches of streamers.  Multi-use, mixed color streamers that I can use for salmon and steelhead, bass and pike, as well as our stream trout.  Olives and browns are the predominant colors and each streamer has plenty of movement.  Some of the new spandex, wiggly dubbings are great additions to streamers. I’m also using more ostrich plumes over maribou.   Most are weighted, some are tied without weight.  I refill my different fly boxes and set aside a dozen of my better flies for donations to Angler’s Workshop (March 20th @ Brighton Twelve Corners Middle School), Trout Unlimited or Upstate Fly Fishers.  Completing each streamer and restocking fly boxes is a hopeful process.  As fisherman we are optimistic.  Perhaps one of these streamers I’m working on will help me in a rematch with that  monster Oatka brown that escaped me this past Fall?  Hope springs eternal and happy streamer tying.