By Carlos Hidalgo:
I love fishing streamers for trout. This may be leftover from my days fly fishing for peacock bass and saltwater species in Florida. It may also be because casting and stripping are just more fun than high-sticking a nymph. Or maybe it’s because streamers attract the biggest trout. For these reasons, and probably a few others, you should carry a few streamers in your trout boxes, and the Hoochie Momma should definitely be one of them.
I think two keys make this fly effective. The oversized head pushes water and emits vibrations that fish sense with their lateral lines and the UV Krystal Flash presents very interesting visual effects. The Hoochie Momma can be stripped quickly, stripped slowly with occasional dead drifts, like a dying minnow, or even allowed to dead drift.
- Hook – streamer hook, downturned eye, 4x long, size 12-6
- Thread – brown
- Underbody – lead wire (optional, but recommended in strong currents)
- Body – tan diamond braid
- Wing – red squirrel tail topped with a few strands of tan/UV Krystal Flash
- Head – reddish brown chenille
- Eyes – gold 3-D molded stick-on eyes, glued with five-minute epoxy
Contact Carlos Hidalgo at cah6620@gmail.com if you would like to submit a pattern for consideration in this column. Also, email Carlos to purchase a copy of his book “South Florida’s Peacock Bass.”