Readers comments

I got a question about my midge streamer set I like to use from Dave in MA so I figured I would talk a little more about it.  Your comments are encouraged, I love hearing about people reading and enjoying the blog, thats why I do it!  Anyway I like to tie my buggers in one of the standard sizes like a 4 or 6 with standard material, marabou, few strands of flash, chenille, hackle feathers, you know the deal, but I like to throw on two extra things.  First I always tie on a trailing hook; this really helps prevent short strikes without adding the bulk of an articulated streamer.  The next thing that I like to add is a big bundle of rubber legs at the front of the fly.  I like to use black ones with red flash but that is because it goes well with black and olive buggers.  For lighter colored patterns try matching the rubber legs to that color.  I tie these in with some wraps of thread behind the point of attachment to make them stick out and give the fly more action in the water.  I also like to extend the tail a little, conventional instruction says tie the tail the length of the shank, but with a trailing hook feel free to extend that tail up to 2x the shank.  When I am fishing these I attach 12-16" of tippet to the trailing hook, and from that I tie on the midge.  I like midges with beads and a TINY amount of dubbing but the pattern is entirely up to you.  The thing that is key is how it is fished.  Many of the really successful guides here use a lot of weight and really focus on one key seam or riffle, using their delicate touch to hover the flies right above the bottom, but I am not that good and I like to cast a lot of line.  So I use a sinking line with 9 foot flouro mono (up to 10 # test) and attach the streamer/midge to that, much longer leader than that and the sinking line wont get the flies down as quickly.  When I fish this style I look for runs with an even current or a big bend where I will be able to drift as easily as possible while keeping the entire line relatively strait, with just enough slack to allow for a good drift.  This usually means the slower, deeper water at the end of a run.  When fish take on this style of fishing, the small amount of slack gets ripped out of the line and it can be pretty exciting.  I like to alter between drifts and retrieves trying to work every aspect of the run.  Using a bugger in a rig is convenient because it allows for an imperfect drift while still drawing interest from the fish.  I Hope it works for you and thanks for reading!  Oh ya, sorry for the lame fly pics, I cant seem to get the lighting right to snap those professional looking pictures.