Streamers

6 patterns available

What are Streamers?

Streamers are larger flies designed to imitate baitfish, leeches, crayfish, and other substantial prey items. These patterns target predatory instincts in fish, often triggering aggressive strikes from larger specimens. Streamers range from simple woolly buggers to complex articulated patterns.

When and How to Fish Streamers

Streamers shine in early spring, late fall, and during low-light conditions when big fish are actively hunting. They're excellent for covering water quickly and locating aggressive fish. Strip them through likely holding water, varying your retrieve speed and pattern.

Common Tying Materials

Streamer materials include marabou for pulsing action, rabbit strips (zonker strips), various flash materials, saddle hackle for collars, dumbbell and cone heads for weight and action, and articulated shanks for multi-jointed patterns. Heavy hooks (sizes 2-8) are standard.

Popular Streamers Patterns

Classic streamers include the Woolly Bugger, Clouser Minnow, Muddler Minnow, and Zonker. Modern patterns like the Sex Dungeon, Circus Peanut, and various Game Changer style articulated flies have revolutionized big fish hunting.

Browse Streamers Patterns

Black Woolly Bugger

The Black Woolly Bugger is a dark streamer for leeches, small sculpins, baitfish, and large swimming nymphs. It works in streams, tailwaters, ponds, and lakes when fish are feeding low or when stained water calls for a strong silhouette. This unweighted version is a good beginner streamer because it teaches tailing, chenille bodies, palmered hackle, and wire ribbing in one durable fly.

beginnerstreamerleechsculpinbaitfishnymphyear roundcold waterstillwaterstreamtrout

Intruder

The Intruder is a versatile steelhead and salmon streamer built around a long-shank hook, bead head, and marabou tail and wing. It imitates baitfish and leeches and is effective on both Pacific Northwest rivers and Atlantic salmon lochs. The pattern flies through the water with a pulsing, lifelike action and produces in a wide range of conditions, from clear low water to stained spring runoff.

beginnerstreamersteelheadsalmonbaitfishleechriverstillwaterspringfall

Woolly Bugger

The Woolly Bugger is a simple streamer that suggests leeches, small baitfish, dragonfly nymphs, and other swimming food in rivers, ponds, and stillwaters. Its marabou tail, chenille body, and palmered hackle give it movement at slow retrieves and durability when ribbed with wire. Tie it in black as the baseline pattern, then vary color and weight to match local water.

beginnerstreamerleechbaitfishtroutbassstillwaterriverspringfall

Egg-Sucking Leech

The Egg-Sucking Leech is a Pacific salmon and steelhead streamer that suggests a dark leech trailing a loose salmon egg. The black marabou tail pulses in current, the chenille body gives the fly a simple silhouette, and the fluorescent orange head adds a strong trigger in stained water, low light, and fall salmon runs.

beginnerstreamerleechpacific salmonsteelheadsalmontroutriverfallattractor

Bunny Leech

The Bunny Leech imitates a swimming leech, sculpin, or small dark baitfish with the pulse of rabbit fur doing most of the work. Fish it for Pacific salmon and steelhead in fall rivers, tidewater edges, and travel lanes where a broad, slow-moving profile shows well in stained or broken water. The tying is straightforward, but good material control matters because rabbit strips can bulk up quickly.

beginnerstreamerleechpacific salmonsalmonsteelheadfallriver

Skykomish Sunrise

The Skykomish Sunrise is a Pacific Northwest steelhead swing fly built around a bright orange front body and a pale hair wing. This version uses the common hairwing dressing: red hackle-fiber tail, silver rear body, orange chenille front body, orange throat, and white calf-tail wing. Fish it on swung presentations in rivers for summer and winter steelhead, especially when a visible attractor with classic proportions is useful.

intermediatesteelheadwet flyswing flystreamerriverpacific northwestsummerwinterfall