How to Tie the Little Rainbow Trout Streamer

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From the remote waters of Alaska to the limestone creeks of Central Pennsylvania, the Little Rainbow Trout Streamer is a super effective pattern anywhere that rainbow trout call home. Designed by Samuel R. Slaymaker II, this hairwing streamer is made to imitate juvenile rainbow trout, a common meal for any predatory fish living in a system with rainbow reproduction. With its bucktail wing and lifelike color scheme, this streamer has natural movement in the water and is an excellent choice for any system with spawning ‘bows. Tie it in smaller sizes just after the spawning season and fish larger sizes as the year progresses and you’ll quickly find out why this classic pattern is a stape anywhere rainbow trout reproduce.

Material list:

• Hook: Daiichi 2220 (size: 6; can be tied in sizes 8 through 2)
• Thread: Danville 6/0 (70 Denier) Flymaster Thread (color: black)
• Tail: Bucktail (color: green)
• Ribbing: UNI Flat Embossed French Tinsel (color: silver; size: small)
• Body: Hareline Super Fine Dry Fly Dubbing (color: hendrickson pink)
• Throat: Bucktail (color: pink)
• Wing: Bucktail (colors: white, green, and pink)
• Overwing: Badger Guard Hairs

Step One

Begin by starting your thread with a jam knot roughly one-and-a-half eye lengths behind the eye and build a base all the way to the hook’s barb.

Step Two

Cut a sparse bunch of green bucktail, even them out in your hands, measure your tail to be a touch longer than the hook’s gap, and tie it in. Instead of immediately trimming the excess fibers, bring them up to your tie-in point and tie the excess down, this will ensure that your fly has a smooth body with no bumps or gaps.

Step Three

Cut a piece of silver UNI Flat Embossed French Tinsel–for this fly, we’ve used a piece that’s roughly 2.5” (larger flies will call for a longer length and smaller flies for a shorter length). Tie your tinsel in where you started your thread and wrap your thread over the tinsel and just in front of the tail. Just like wrapping over the excess bucktail, this ensures your fly has a smooth body.

Step Four

Apply some hendrickson pink Super Fine Dry Fly Dubbing to your thread and wrap your body, starting at the rear of the fly. You’re looking to achieve an even cigar shape to your fly’s body; smooth, closely-touching wraps of dubbing help here.

Step Five

Wind your ribbing along the dubbed body. You’re looking for open and even wraps here. Once you’ve wrapped your ribbing up the whole body, tie your ribbing off and trim the excess.

Step Six

Cut a small bunch of pink bucktail, even out the tips in your hands, measure it so that it touches just beyond the hook’s point, and tie it in as your throat. Once tied in, trim the excess. Be careful not to use too many fibers here, this fly benefits from a sparse appearance.

Step Seven

Cut a sparse bunch of white bucktail for the start of your wing. Measure your clump of bucktail to extend just beyond the tail and tie it in on the top of the hook shank. Once tied in, trim the excess.

Note: each bunch of bucktail used to create the whole wing should be sparse–it will bulk up as you tie in each successive step and too many fibers will distort the fly’s appearance and head. Also, tying in your bucktail with a couple of loose wraps will allow you to adjust their orientation, then you can lock them in with tighter wraps.

Step Eight

Cut a bunch of green bucktail that’s roughly the same amount of fibers as the white bunch. Then measure them to be exactly the same length as the white bucktail and tie them in directly on top of the white bucktail. Once tied in, trim the excess.

Step Nine

Cut a bunch of pink bucktail that’s roughly the same amount of fibers as the two previous bunches. Then measure them to be the same length as the white and green bucktail and tie them in directly on top of the green bucktail. Once tied in, trim the excess.

Step Ten

Separate the guard hairs from the underfur on your Badger Fur.

Step Eleven

Measure the badger guard hairs to be the same size as the pink bucktail and tie them in directly on top of it. Trim the excess once it’s secured.

Step Twelve

Create a head with your thread before whip finishing the fly and cutting the thread.

Step Thirteen

Coat the head with head cement or UV resin and your fly is ready to be stripped through the next set of riffles you find.