Brian’s Big Fish Streamer

Tied by Brian Stewart

This fly was developed specifically for large brown trout.  This specific combination of materials, colors & weight make for a fly with a great look and action in the water.  Developed just last year, it has one good season of testing.  Results have been very good.  Took many trout between 15 and 20 inches throughout this past season, spring to fall.  Rolled a few that were over 20.  Fish this fly any way you want.  I prefer an up and across retrieve, swimming the fly down through holding water.

Hook: Daiichi 2461, size 2/0. 

Weight: 1/4 copper cone head. 16 wraps (approx.) of .025 lead wire on the rear portion of hook shank. 

Tail:  Yellow marabou overwrapped with nat. pheasant marabou

Body Dubbing:  Creamy yellow dubbing.  I use a combo. of cream rabbit, Ice Dub and someother yellow, spikey material.

Body Feathers:  Natural pheasant body feathers

Head: natural deer body hair, darker coloring is preferred

Tying steps:  Slide conehead onto hook.  Clamp hook in vise.  Wrap lead onto rear of hook shank.  Leave about 1/4" right at the back of the shank.  This is where you will tie in the tail.  Attach thread.  Take some wraps over the lead to secure it in place.  Tie in tail.  Length of tail should be slightly longer  than the gape of the hook is wide.  Too long of a tail may result in short strikes and missed fish.  Tie a pheasant marabou feather in front of the tail.  Wrap it around the hook shank, stroking the fibers back as you wrap.  Once the feather is tied in, stroke the fibers back so they lay over the yellow marabou tail.  Wrap the thread over the butt ends of the pheasant fibers.  This will make the fibers become part of the tail, kind of surrounding the yellow marabou.  Your thread should be hanging right in front of the tail.  Add some dubbing and wrap forward.  You want to evenly space 3 pheasant body feathers throughout the body of the fly.  Use the example fly as a guide on this spacing.  Tie in the first pheasant body feather.  Wrap it in front of the dubbing.  Tie feather off, then wrap back over the butt ends so the fibers sweep back.  Dub on some more dubbing.  Repeat the previous steps for the next 2 feathers.  You should end up with a little bare space on the hook shank (about 3/8's of an inch or less) right behind the cone head.  Spin a deer hair head.  Tie off.  Drip some head cement into the conehead, right behind the hook eye. Clip head into a flat, oval shape.