A few years ago Peter Sikking took part in a ‘pike streamer tying and fishing’ competition between friends. The challenge was fairly simple: a limited number of materials and time were allowed, for tying one single pike streamer, which would be the only fly allowed for fishing the rest of the day.
“If you would lose the streamer, it would mean the end of your effort. If I remember correctly, we got about 20 minutes to tie that fly. That may seem like a lot, but recognizing the provided materials, their function and the tying order (which material first) within those
20 minutes turned out to be more difficult than expected.
After those 20 minutes, I looked at my endeavor and those of the other contestants. I honestly have never seen a larger collection of ugly streamers in my life. And that included my own. Bulky in the back and skinny at front. Stiff materials tied at the wrong location,
streamers with no movement at all, no eyes, little or no proportion….\ And yet almost all of these hideous things caught fish that day!
It goes without saying that, until a few years ago, I didn’t take streamer tying (for large predators) very seriously. Slap some feathers on a hook and be off was all I did. As you all know, a lot can change in a few years. Innovative tiers shared their thoughts and patterns with experienced anglers, and together, in cooperation with some clever marketeers, there arose a range of new materials and additional products. Streamer tying became a mature part of fly fishing and fly tying.
Reason enough for me to dive into the world of streamers and dedicate a special edition to it.
Have fun and let us know how you feel”.
All the best,
Peter Sikking
YOUR PERSONAL LINK TO DRAAD MAGAZINE: https://www.weareflyfishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/DRAADMAGAZINEOCTOBER2021.pdf
Also look at:
https://flyfishing-blog.com/flyfishing-blog.com/2021/06/08/welcome-to-issue-2-of-draad-fly-tying-magazine/
https://flyfishing-blog.com/flyfishing-blog.com/2021/04/05/draad-a-new-fly-tying-magazine/
https://flyfishing-blog.com/flyfishing-blog.com/2021/09/21/fly-fishing-watercolours-calendar-2022-by-roland-henrion/