Euro Jig Streamer

Jigged Streamer for a Euro Rig

Curtis Fry- March, 2019

We're kicking off another Lance Egan tutorial that was a culmination of hearing about trip after trip where this technique and pattern had been just destroying the fish. We finally headed out to try it out with Lance and he stopped to give some explanations. Then the tutorial shows the fly he's been using with this awesome technique. From Lance... The jigged streamer technique is one of those things that make me wonder why I didn't think about it sooner, but I didn't. For me it took a few mentions by my Fly Fishing Team USA teammate, Pat Weiss, letting me know he caught some bonus fish on jigged streamers a few times in competitions before I started utilizing the technique. Once I gave the technique a chance I quickly converted. I started embracing the possibilities of a streamer on a Euro-nymphing rig a few years ago and I've been steadily building confidence with it. I had a break through moment with the jigged streamer technique at last year's World Fly Fishing Championship in Trentino, Italy. In the last of 5 sessions I drew beat 4 on the Sarca River near the town of Pinzolo. The beat hadn't been winning sessions but was consistently producing decent numbers of fish so I knew I'd have a chance at a top 5 finish in the session if I fished it well. The anglers who'd fished it before me had caught 11 (Slovakia), 8 (Portugal), 6 (New Zealand), and 10 (Norway). I scouted the beat, decided where I'd focus my efforts and rigged the necessary rod and reels, one of which was a streamer setup on a 10 foot 3 weight. The controllers (rule judges) were snickering at my streamer setup and though I couldn't tell what they were saying (I don't speak Italian), I knew they thought I was wasting my time with the streamer. On my first cast with the streamer I landed a Brown Trout, followed by 3 more in the next 5 minutes. Their snickering quickly turned to astonishment. I ended up with 15 fish, all on the little black streamer that Pat Weiss showed me. 15 fish was good enough for a 3rd place finish in the session and was the most fish caught on my beat of the 5 anglers that fished it. Catching the most fish on a beat when you fish it last suggests there's something to this Euro streamer stuff! Jigged streamers need to be heavy. To be successful the fly needs to have a rapid sink rate, and be heavy enough to stay in contact as you animate the fly throughout the drift. A regular streamer with average size bead is likely not heavy enough to get down and keep in contact to detect strikes. I recommend you carry jigged streamers in a range of weights so you can adapt to various river conditions. These are quick ties. Build a few and fish them on your next outing. I don't keep exact counts of fish I catch, but I'd be willing to bet that I caught more trout on a jigged streamer the last 3 months than on nymphs. Try it on your Euro setup. You won't regret it. See the fly in action and learn the technique below...