All over the world, euro nymphing tactics have been embraced with huge success due to contributions from those in the competition community, as well as everyday anglers. The flies are straightforward to tie, they sink to the zone quickly and can be easily rigged with just a few materials. All of this simplicity allows the angler greater flexibility in approach and tactics, especially when it comes to our focus here of streamers.
Euro streamer tactics, much like nymphing, are subsurface and rely on the angler’s ability to quickly achieve correct depth and keep the fly in the zone for the maximum time. As with anything fished deep, that means there is the possibility of snagging, and therefore our jigged streamer is the all-around best option for this method. While one can still fish traditional designs and articulated styles, the jig lends itself to this method in a greater variety of situations. Let’s take a look at what works best for the fly.
What to Look for in a Jigged Streamer
Here are some key points I look for when tying my own patterns for this method or buying flies.
Hooks
When it comes to tying or buying a small jig streamer, I will always look for a few simple things in a hook. A must for my personal use will always be wire weight. I cannot say how many times I have seen a great fly get destroyed because the wire was too light.
I will also look for hook gape, as this allows for multiple bead sizes to be utilized on one hook or, if we are buying a pattern, at least one hook size available with two different beads. This gives me the ability to control sink rate much more accurately. While size range is important for a lot of folks both buying or tying, I would say these top two trump everything in hooks.
Size Counts
Oversized beads are frowned upon by some tiers, but I look at it this way. If I am tying or buying a jig streamer and I can have one hook size with three weight options, wouldn’t that allow for more versatility in presentation? Especially if I am getting bumps and know the size and color are good, then it is more of a depth game.
The other piece to this is that we want our streamer to be able to anchor itself and provide tension under the rod tip. This means as it drifts, we are controlling the streamer with twitches or bounces of the rod tip rather than allowing the current to push it out of position as it pleases. The more tension we can maintain with different bead options, the more likely we are to see or feel that subsurface strike.
Choose Wisely
When tying, designing or buying a streamer, my best advice is to utilize a good percentage of materials that will shed water. This will aid you in casting, but will also allow your pattern to have a bit more movement. While it is true that materials that absorb water will aid somewhat in sinking the fly, you will pay the price in sacrificed motion as the fly becomes a dead blob drifting by.
As a separate thought, since these flies are not meant to swim, one would also be wise to choose as many materials as possible that generate their own motion while sitting static.
Keep it Small
This is a part of the game where size does count greatly. The bigger you get your fly, the harder it is to cast, the tougher it is to move it in the water column, and it certainly means it is tougher to set the hook with. So with that in mind, my operative size is generally from around 1 to 3 inches, with an emphasis on 1 to 1.5 inches. I find this under-2-inch size to be easier to manipulate and more appealing to the broadest range of fish by size as well as species.
So, now you know some key fly pattern thoughts. Let us look at our rigging and approach to help unlock the water for us.
Rigged & Ready
I won’t go down the path of arguing rods, reels and lines for setups. I will only tell you that a 10 ft to 11 ft euro rod and reel paired with the Cortland Versatile Euro is my go-to.
The majority of my personal euro nymphing or euro dry/dropper fishing is done with a micro leader between 15 and 20 feet long featuring multiple color changes or even a single-diameter white mono paired with a sighter marker that is essentially a diameter of 5X and built with Cortland materials for durability. However, when I start thinking streamers, I generally reach for a spin-off of this leader design that incorporates some taper for turnover and a thicker body.
Yes, you can add a little sag into the system this way, but with the additional mass of a streamer that self-anchors, that problem quickly goes away. So, what is the design I covet? It is one that allows me to change up the streamer and go back to my nymph rig without a total leader changeout. It is a modular design as follows.
Modular Leader Design
- Overall 15 ft length plus tippet
- Butt Section Cortland Camo 8 lb / .010 in — 10 to 12 ft
- Transition Cortland White 7.2 lb / .008 in — 3 ft
- Sighter Cortland Tri-Color 6.3 lb / .007 in — 2 ft
- Connection Cortland 2mm Tippet Ring
This formula is thick enough to support a jigged streamer and light enough to allow for the switch back to nymphing, while having a minor amount of taper to aid in turnover on a windy day.
Let’s Play the Angles
Assuming we have tied or purchased some jigged streamers, built a leader and now we are ready to hit the water, then what about our approach? Since we are not trying to swing or strip this like an articulated fly, but rather jig it and bounce it through a run, that changes our approach a little.
All of that dictates we cast up or, more often, up and across the current to give our fly a split second to sink and come into tension. From there, it is really a game of moving the rod tip and manipulating the fly with small twitches paired with hand-twist retrieves to slide through the creases or edges.
Another way to look at fishing these patterns is to look at them as an option to get to undercuts, shelves and spaces where our nymph rig cannot go. This means we would pitch them in at a lower angle, allow them to sink and jig them back towards us at an angle. In this part of the game, the rod angle will mean everything for your presentation, so do not be afraid to experiment with different approaches.
In any scenario, the casting angle and rod tip angle we just talked about dictate a great deal, but there is one point that so often gets overlooked with streamers: the entry angle of the fly. The entry angle of the fly into the water will dictate not only how fast it comes to tension, but how it tracks through the drift, so do not forget to adjust the angle your fly is entering the water.
All of this being said, there is one important final thought for this style of fishing on a euro setup. At the end of the day, it is still a streamer presentation and that requires input from us as the user to get results. So experiment with casts, patterns, leaders and approaches to unlock more water for yourself.
Products mentioned in this article
About the Author
Jason Haddix is a commercial fly tier, instructor and guide located in northern Colorado. He has spent most of his life in the fly fishing industry specializing in techniques that range from warm water to picky technical tailwater skills and everything in between. The majority of his time is spent with a deep emphasis on helping anglers master the sport through classes, instruction and dedicated trips, which he works through Arbor Anglers fly shop on.
Diagram via Nico Wessberg. Photos by Jason Haddix.
