Strip Club

Early in my fly fishing entanglement I had the opportunity to see PM guide and guru Tommy Lynch do a demo on stripping streamers on sink tips for trout. All of the newbies in this class found this a bit intimidating and challenging. As I recall, Tommy said something to the effect of, "this is isn't First Grade fishing - more like College". Then he proceeded to stick a nice little trout out of the upper Manistee river.

At the time, I thought this was pretty interesting, but I was still struggling with basics like how to tie on a fly and tell the difference between a dry and a nymph. Plus, I was more focused on steelhead and trout were just a fun diversion.

Fast forward a few years and hundreds of river hours to this year. After signing up for a Montana trip that was principally to be about streamers, guide and friend Jon Ray recognized we needed to get my game up. So we spent a day early this Spring floating the Manistee and learning how to cast, spot good water, and so many other minute details to ensure I was able to represent Michigan well in Big Sky Country.

Thanks largely to Jon's patient expert guidance, my trip to Montana was a rousing success. I arrived confident I wouldn't make a complete fool of myself. On my first streamer float, on the Beaverhead river, I was quickly able to spot my opportunities and deliver a streamer right on the money. The result? I caught some nice fish! No monsters, but I did crack a nice just-under-20" brown and an 18-1/2" rainbow, among many others.

A few pointers that really helped me:

1. Don't just watch your target spot; keep one eye on what's coming and time your casts. If there's a decent hole and followed by one that's just MONEY without enough time to set-up a second cast, hold off. 
2. A quick roll cast is a nice way to get all that heavy line back to the surface and set you up for a solid next cast.
3. Unless you hook a monster, stay off the reel. Strip 'em in fast and hard once they hit.
4. Don't slow down when you get a chase (the natural reaction). Trout are fast, if they want it, they'll catch up.

So now, a few years later, I feel like I'm in the club - not necessarily elite, but light years ahead of the masses. Funny, I've even managed to become more of a trout guy. In fact, my goal for next season is a legit two-footer -- I've gotten a lake-run that big, but it was a bonus on a Winter steelhead day.