A mixed bag of retrieval tricks takes your streamer fishing to the next level. One of the techniques in your streamer fishing that’s really effective at all times of the year is fishing the pause.
Muddy water is an unavoidable “annoyance” for the fisherman. It never fails - you make your plans, call your friends, get the flies made, and the night before, an inch of rain wrecks your plans. Your favorite fishery is now a mud hole.
In fly fishing, a leader is a pivotal aspect in your rig. It’s ironic though, most bass anglers don’t give their leader much attention other than when it starts getting a little short because it has a major impact on the effectiveness of your fishing..
Check the local stream gauge and you will find most of our Central VA streams are low and clear. This happens almost every year. Fishing in low/clear water will change how we often think of bass. Typically, people describe them as ravenous, stupid predators that inhale anything that falls near them - even if it’s tied on an anchor rope.
Below are 3 brief and random ideas revolving around unique patterns you may find helpful and hopefully they will give you some confidence in the unique:
When it comes to human aesthetic we love contrast. Wood grain floors contrasted with all white walls, black and white checkered tiles, etc. Contrast helps us see things more clearly and makes objects pop. When something is all one color it, in many minds, is drab, dull, boring, and unpleasing (picture an all-white psychiatric ward room). I think fish are similar. They love contrast.
Here are a few advantages that make fishing a "tiny" streamer successful. Some of these advantages are based on experience, but the last one is opinion.
I have been playing around consistently with over-lining rods for over fiveyears now, and have found some of the good and the bad of practicing it. I’ve used this method primarily on very small to medium sized streams, so that’s what I will focus on here.