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Growing up on the West Coast, I learned about East Coast fly patterns and tyers mostly from books, and the occasional television show. I remember seeing Lee Wulff and Joe Brooks on the American Sportsman show as a youngster, fishing for Brookies.

Back in 2002 a bunch of guys on the streamers@ mailing list decided to tie some flies "in the hand" without the benefit of a vise. This year a new crop took up the challenge with a different fly - Carrie's Favorite - and tackled the Look Ma, No Vise challange.

Converting a classic salmon fly to hairwing form has been done for many years among salmon anglers. Recently, the gang on the streamers@ mailing list tried their hand at converting classic salmon patterns to trout flies.

Internationally known streamer tyer Mike Martinek shares some of his flies

This article should rightly be subtitled "what to do when you don't have the right material that a pattern calls for?"

Truly influential fly tyers are rare. Mike Martinek is such a tyer. He has been the initiator and a major contributor to the revival of the American streamers. Read Bob Petti's article about Mike's beautiful, classical streamer patterns.

I have never used a vise; I have never seen anyone tie a fly and noone has ever seen me tie one. I have never read or had any fly tying instructions. Said by Carrie Stevens in a letter to Jospeh Bates. The words of a trailblazer. How fortunate we are to reap the benefits of a road paved by innovators before us, such as Mrs. Stevens.

Guest writers Mike Martinek and Chris DelPlato have teamed up to write, the Jim Warner - A New England Classic which hilights the contribution of this well known New Hampshire angler to streamer anglers.

"All dace are not created equal". Although they may look pretty much the same to us, fish much prefer the females with their orange and yellow bellies. I soon noticed that when I sewed on this colorful variation, a strike was not far off.

Undoubtedly, most fly fishermen will relate the name Bill Edson with the Dark and Light Edson Tiger streamers that bear his name. They are prominent in streamer lore, fly catalogs, fly wallets, and with just cause - they have been exceptional fish takers from their inception.

Preston Jennings was one of those rare individuals who saw things differently than most folks. It would certainly be in our best interested to learn more about his work and his thoughts on color separation when we design our own flies. Bob Petti shows you a few patterns in the Streamer Section.

A recent article in Fly Tyer magazine sparked quite a debate on the streamer list about the use of this popular and effective saltwater fly in fresh water. The debate found the authors "defending" the fresh water deceiver and prompted us to write a small 

The three original Carrie Stevens Patterns on this page are shared with us from Mike Martinek's private collection with his comments.

What's so exciting about a simple white marabou streamer? It doesn't have any exotic ingredients. No epoxy. No goggle eyes. No genetic hackle. You could tie a million of them for the cost of a gallon of milk. There are no fancy techniques in the tying, so everyone who can wrap thread can tie their own.

If I was sitting with ten fellow trout fisherman and mentioned the name "Herbie Welch", I would probably get ten quizzical looks.

One of the true parents of streamer fly fishing, particularly in New England, she brought forth the Gray Ghost. The popularity of her 25 years of fly tying is exemplified by this fly, a streamer that has traveled not only throughout the United States but all over the world.

The inspiration for this feature was the birth of the author's granddaughter, Caitlin Nicole, and collectively members of the Streamer List began to formulate and describe the uniqueness of their own children and grandchildren. It was proposed that list member's design a streamer unique to their individual child or grandchild and that was most depictive of the individual child's personality.