Hotspots on Streamers?

[Troutastic]

Do any of you guys put hotspots on your streamers, and if so, do you find them more effective? That is, other than say a leech or whatnot...

[Silver Creek]

Great question! I'd be interested on it the answers as well. I personally don't.

However, I do have a couple of comments about "hot spots" on streamers.

When discussing "hot spots", I think we need to be more specific about the function of a "hot spot".

To my understanding a "hot spot" on a scud or Czech nymph pattern can imitate internal organs or an egg sac, so it is functional and imitative. Similarly, the "hot spot egg" on an egg sucking leech pattern is functional - it actually imitates something in nature.

On the other hand, the red floss on the body of a Royal Wulff is a "hot spot" although that terminology was not in use at the time the fly was developed. But it is not imitative, it is attractive. I believe a hot spot on a streamer would fit into this category, just like a the red floss on a Royal Coachman Streamer is an attractor.

So a "hot spot" on an imitative streamer pattern would be a hybrid pattern of imitator and attractor. It is a good concept and I look forward to hearing from those of you that have such patterns and feel the "hot spot' increases effectiveness.

[FK]

The origional Royal Coachman and Wufff flys used silk for the red section, that normally turned to a brownish color when wet.

The hot spot used in the early streamers for fresh and salt water was the red throat area. Many FF claimed it imitaed bleeding gills and was a strong attracant.

We also used some red flash braid or Flashabou in the throat for more defined sparkle/red color.

Most of today's streamers have forgotten or not bothered with the red throat.

Regards,
FK

[Silver Creek]

The eye area of a streamer could be tied as a hot spot.

[AaronJasper]

I have been using the flourescent hot beads on the front of my streamers with limited success. It's too early in the process of trying it out to tell you guys if the hot bead is making any difference. I will tell you that when running two streamers tandem and one had a thread collar of flourescent fire orange, that 100 percent of the fish took the drab colored streamer. No matter what the position of the streamer they still took the drab one. Maybe the flourescent bead will create slightly different results. I am, however, "pretty" certain that the hot bead will help in high/stained water.

[Silver Creek]

Aaron,

Perhaps the beaded streamer attracts em and they hit the drab one. I'm sure you've considered that possibility. It's difficult to be sure if the hot spotted streamer helps or not. I suspect that sometimes it does attract fish and at other times actually scares fish away.

It may be that there are two different moods of fish, one that would hit one of two drab streamers but is spooked by the hot spot, and the other type of fish that would ignore two drab streamers but is attracted by the hot spot. That is the theory behind "active" nymphing. It targets those "active" fish.

[AaronJasper]

Yeah but I would think that changing the positions of the streamers would rule the attractor theory out? This is something that I need to, and will look into.

[Silver Creek]

[quote author=AaronJasper link=topic=3836.msg29706#msg29706 date=1259960288]
Yeah but I would think that changing the positions of the streamers would rule the attractor theory out? This is something that I need to, and will look into.
[/quote]

My reasoning was that whether the "presumed" attractor fly is in front or in the rear, it still would bring the fish in and it would notice the drab fly.

It's sort of like the debate whether the dropper on a dry and dropper rig should be tied to the bend of the dry fly hook or whether it would work just as well tied to the eye of the dry fly hook.

[AaronJasper]

I was inferring that the hot bead was not an attractor. I am sure that the streamer on the dropper does attract the fish. I don't think that in the situations that I've tried it that the hot spot either added or took away from it. So on my first tries with a hot bead streamer have me thinking that it does not matter to any degree of significance. Of course things will happen in the future that will most likely sway my opinion.

[Jkilroy]

I fished a size 10 wooly bugger with a orange hot spot behind the conehead one day during high very off colored conditions and they caught some trout. This is a stream that is normally hard to get a few fish, and is a delayed harvest which is fished hard.

When I got there I saw how high the water was and was going to pack it in, then I figured, give it a try. It worked.