A Cheesman Canyon rainbow caught on the mono rig.
More and more recently, I’ve seen increasing discussion around fishing streamers with mono rigs. Though not new whatsoever, what was once a pretty discrete technique is now becoming more and more mainstream. It’s not surprising that the cat’s out of the bag, as it’s a natural progression from tight line nymphing, and allows you to present streamers in ways that are almost unachievable using traditional techniques. I’ve been utilizing this style of fishing for many years now, finding consistent success both here in PA and throughout the country. For the wading angler, I think this is an essential tool to have in your bag of tricks. I’ll share some of my two cents on the topic below, but cannot possibly cover it all. Hopefully this inspires some people to try something new and add another effective technique to their quiver.
Why Use a Mono Rig?
Using a mono rig for streamer fishing provides many of the same advantages of euro nymphing. It allows us to have more contact to our fly, improving strike detection. We can hold more line off of the water, helping us to keep our fly in the zone longer. This allows us to achieve some presentations that are impossible with a fly line. Also, if you have your rig set up correctly, it can be seamless to switch between tight line nymphing and mono rig streamer fishing. On the downside, you are limited in how close you can fish. 30-40 ft casts are the absolute maximum distance you can fish, and much of the time even those distances aren’t possible or ideal. You also can’t fish the very largest streamers with the largest hooks unless you really adapt your gear.
Beefing up your equipment
The first thing you may want to consider is using heavier tackle. Its a natural thing for people who have been euro nymphing to use the same rig they already have for streamer fishing. When your’re using micro streamers tied on nymph hooks, there isn’t too much you need to change. However, fishing more substantial streamers with hooks that were meant for streamers and not large nymphs, will dictate some of your equipment choices. Below are some considerations.
Rods: I think for fishing substantially sized streamers (traditional size 2-6 hooks), you can’t get away with using a rod designed for euro nymphing. These 10 ft+ 2 and 3 weights are simply too soft and don’t have the ability to force penetration of larger hooks. They will also struggle to cast very heavily weighted flies that are necessary to get down in heavier currents or when using heavy tippets. I prefer a stiff 10 ft 4 weight for this. They are still solid nymphing and dry fly tools, but provide the power needed to cast heavier flies and maximize penetration on the hookset. I’ve already written about my favorite 10-4, the Scott Centric, here if you’re interested about the advantages and trade offs of using this style of rod. You could totally justify using 9-10ft 5 and 6 weights for mono rig streamer fishing, but I find the 10-4 to strike the best balance in my fishing style.
The stiffness of the Centric 10-4 gives you an advantage over traditional euro rods when fishing larger streamers.
Leaders:. Using the same logic as above, you’ll want to ditch the micro leaders and thinnest diameters for serious streamer fishing. Using a stiff leader material like maxima chameleon or something similar is great. You can get away with fishing a tapered or level leader depending on your preference. A leader with some taper built into the business end will help with forming a loop when casting. I simply like to use straight 12 lb Maxima Chameleon for my butt section, 3 ft of Cortlandland Tricolor (With Black) Sighter in a matching diameter. You could definitely go heavier with the butt section, but once again, 12 lb strikes a good balance with nymphing performance and being able to cast the streamers I typically use. In certain conditions where I think I may not nymph at all, I’d bump up the butt section to 15 or 20 lb. In total length, my leader ends up being around 30 ft and some change. I don’t go much longer than that because that is maxing out the distance you will typically fish, so it makes it faster when switching to a regular leader to not have more material than you need. It is smart to be sure your leader and sighter are at least a little stronger and heavier than the tippet you will use. A 12 lb leader/sighter is perfect for fishing 10 lb tippet (2x).This prevents breaking off above your tippet ring which is a pain.
Tippet: For streamer fishing, going light on the tippet doesn’t do you much good. I like to use 2x (10 lb) for the bulk of my streamer fishing on mono rigs. Sometimes I will drop down to 3x situationally if I want to try and get deeper faster while using the same weight in my fly, but this isn’t common for me. The length of my tippet varies based on the water I’m fishing. On average 3-4 ft of tippet is enough. While getting depth, sinking your sighter a bit is not as detrimental to your presentation as it is for nymphing, so you have flexibility there.
Utilizing 2x makes larger fish like this brown much easier to land.
Drawbacks of “Euro” Rods
Like I mentioned earlier, if you are using size 8 or 10 nymphing jig hooks, using a soft and noodly euro rod isn’t much of a problem. I do, however, think that in the streamer world, you severely limit what you can do with a traditional “euro nymphing” rod. It is important to note, that there is nothing wrong with fishing lighter, smaller streamers with euro rods. In fact, it can be a deadly technique in the right situations. My argument is simply that if you want to exapnd beyond that type of streamer fishing, adjustments to your gear become ideal. Here is a simple list of the drawbacks to going with the lighter gear for serious streamer work:
Limited hook size: Softer, lighter rods don’t have enough backbone to make larger hooks penetrate. You may be able to cast and present a bigger fly, but getting the fish hooked will prove to be problematic. This is the biggest functional problem with these rods.
Casting heaver flies: Your Euro rod can get heavier flies out there, but not as accurately and not with as tight of a loop. In open areas this won’t matter, but hitting small targets in tight spaces will amplify this shortcoming.
Animating Heavier Flies: I frequently use rod tip movements to swim my streamers. With softer rods and heavier flies, your rod tip movements are absorbing more energy, thus move the streamer less.
Limited distance: Because of the balance of fly weight versus sag. Heavier flies fish better at distance than lighter ones. The 3.8 mm beads you may use on a euro rod will be less effective at distance.
Lighter Tippets: Combining all of the ideas above, you simply end up going lighter with tippets when using 2 and 3 weights. Thicker tippets sink much slower, meaning you need to add weight to the fly, which could mean sizing up hooks to match. As a result, to beef up tippet means you will see a domino of effects that will simply steer you to fishing a stiffer rod.
Another one bites the dust…
Upstream Presentations
Though there are countless presentations we can achieve with this rig, the one I’ll mention here is an upstream presentation. The mono rig is superior when it comes to staying in contact with your fly as the current is bringing it towards you. This is a great way to stay a bit more stealthy when approaching fish. This works well in spring creeks and other scenarios where fish are spooky. Its a great presentation for sight fishing, and setting the hook when you see the fish eat is ideal versus waiting to feel a strike. After making an upstream cast, land your fly upstream of the fish you see/likely holding lie. With rod tip movements, subtly jig and animate your fly as you work it back to you, retrieving excess line in the process. Because of the contact a mono rig provides, you can hold and pause these flies in just the right spot without incorporating slack and decreasing strike detection.
I have used this technique in the notorius Cheesman Canyon on the South Platte River in Colorado when nymphing and other normal tactics proved slow. These fish are pressured and don’t tolerate many mistakes. By using a mono rig to present flies upstream, I was able to target fish before they knew I was there, providing myself with a lot of opportunities that may not have been possible with other tactics.
A solid rainbow from Cheesman. This fish was in an unsuspecting holding lie that had a small window to present a fly, a perfect scenario for the mono rig.
Targeting Structure
Anytime you fish with streamers, finding structure in the way of ambush spots is a great starting point. Logs, boulders, undercut banks, bridges or any physical object in the water has the potential to hold fish waiting for a large meal. With the mono rig, we have the advantage of animating the fly at some distance without bringing it back to us too fast, or the current pulling our line downstream. Sometimes just twitching or bouncing your fly a few times right in front of structure will be enough to draw a strike. Traditional presentations with fly line will often catch too much current, dragging your fly out of the strike zone before fish have chance to react. Because you hold the majority of your line off the water with the mono rig, you can avoid this problem very easily.
The massive boulders of Cheesman Canyon provide endless ambush spots. 3 Sides of this giant rock produced fish for me.
The flow of this side channel funnels directly into a log jam. Some of the best streamer spots often lie away from the main river itself.
Fly Patterns
In terms of fly patterns, you really can fish any streamer within reason for the rod you are using. For a 10 ft 4 weight, I like using streamer hooks in size 2-6 most, typically not articulated. It is pretty important to have weight built into your fly. “Jig Streamers” are great for this, but you certainly don’t need to go with that style of hook and bead. Sculpin helmets, tungsten cones, lead eyes and all other versions of added weight can all work. Many commercially tied “jig streamers” tend to be on the smaller side in order to cater to people using euro nymphing rods to fish these flies. Especially if you want to target larger fish with larger flies, don’t limit yourself to smaller jig streamers. Having a more substantial hook can provide some advantages. In many cases, patterns I tie will be only marginally larger than commercially tied patterns, but use a larger hook. Doing this gives you a larger hook gap, avoiding the problem of fly material interfering with your hookup ratio. Also, don’t be shy with the size of your beads/weight when tying streamers for mono rig fishing. With the bulkier fly and thicker tippet that you may use, a 5.5 mm tungsten bead with added lead wraps may be necessary in heavier currents and larger rivers. Similar to nymphing, I’ll tie the same pattern with 2-3 different weight configurations. Having a few light patterns can be helpful for fishing the skinniest water.
My favorite streamer for the mono rig is very simple. Marabou, UV polar chenille, and a pine squirrel collar are the only materials. I use a 5.5 mm tungsten bead, a Tiemco 5263 or 5262 Hook in size 2,4 or 6. (Check out my makeshift tying vice used on road trip after my real vice broke!)
Don’t limit yourself to nymph hooks and slotted beads. This streamer was tied on an Ahrex Trout Predator hook with a Sculpin Helmet. A stiffer rod is necessary for these flies, both for casting and setting the hook.
Thanks for reading! Mono rig streamer fishing takes some practice and time to get good at, but we think you’ll enjoy the rewards. Feel free to shoot me an email with any specific questions or if you’re interested in a guided trip focusing on this style of fishing. Stay warm out there!
-Frank Landis
Instagram: frankflyfishes
Email: franklandisflyfishing@gmail.com
