River Trout Streamer Fishing: Flies, techniques and masterclasses from the UK and Europe
After more than 5 years in writing and design (and rather more than that in R&D) I’m excited to announce that my new book River Trout Streamer Fishing has just been published by Coch-y-Bonddu Books.
As the title suggests, it’s all about the fascinating skill of fly-fishing for trout with streamers – fly patterns that mimic small fish and other prey species.
Streamer fishing for wary wild trout is innovative, tactical, and incredibly exciting, yet it’s still under-appreciated by many anglers. So I’ve written River Trout Streamer Fishing to celebrate the growing subculture of fly-fishers who prove that casting imitative streamers for trout can perfectly complement dry-fly and nymph fishing.
I’ve also tried to tackle this subject from what I think is a relatively novel and distinctly European angle – with a Foreword from Charles Jardine, chapters on trout streamer fishing history, tackle and techniques, and discussions around the predatory nature of Europe’s native brown trout and other salmonids: where they live, what they eat, and why.
With gratitude for inspiring me and so many others, River Trout Streamer Fishing is dedicated to the late, great Oliver Edwards, an inimitable titan of British fly-fishing who pioneered the whole idea of contemporary streamer fishing in the UK with his Essential Skills DVD series.
And, to carry on helping the magnificent fish who’ve made all this possible, a donation from all sales of the book will go to the Wild Trout Trust.
At the philosophical and actual core of River Trout Streamer Fishing is a collection of 20 masterclasses from friends across the UK and Europe who have generously agreed to share their expertise and favourite flies.
Iiro Anttonen, Fred Brown, Matt Eastham, Oliver Edwards, Paul Gaskell, Mikko Halonen, Steffan Jones, Eidur Kristjansson, Rok Lustrik, Keith McDonnell, Stuart Minnikin, Sean Morrissey (and Liam Stephen for extra photos), Roman Moser (with photos from Albert Pesendorfer, and translation by Burr Boston), Paolo Pacchiarini, John Polding (with Andrew Griffiths’s photos), Tiger Stamp, Rune Stokkebekk, Ceri Thomas, Nick Thomas and Pete Tyjas: thank you all so much. Without you, this wouldn’t have been a book at all.
Huge thanks are due, as well, to many other tyers who allowed me to include their personal patterns in the streamer inspiration gallery:
Brandon Bailes, Richard Baker, George Barron, Mark Bowler, Dee ‘Skateboard Dave’ Egginton, Stan Freyheit, Adrian Grose-Hodge, Mikko Halonen (again), Mark Lloyd, Ben Lupton, Barry Ord Clarke, Neil Patterson, Martin Smith, Rune Stokkebekk (again) and Nick Thomas (again).
Links to many of these maestros can be found in the column to the right of this blog post.
I’m also incredibly grateful to…
My parents Theo and Jean Marie for sending me fishing for the first time, all those years ago; and my parents-in-law Patrick and Alexandra Mileham, for sharing family legends of a notorious ‘cannibal’ trout (and showing great love and toleration for their son-in-law’s persistently unconventional flyfishing tendencies!).
My publisher Paul Morgan, for seeing this book’s potential immediately and offering unstinting help and support when it mattered most; editor Caroline Oakley, for tightening up my text with precision and style; and designer Pete MacKenzie who laid it all out so beautifully (and patiently!).
My staggeringly talented and creative friend Charles Jardine, whose streamer fishing philosophy chimes so well with my own, and who has done me the honour of contributing the Foreword, complete with glorious artwork. I first heard the story of his big Chatsworth rainbow trout in his speech at the Flyfishers’ Club Dinner in 2023, and some of his sentiments and all of the artwork have previously appeared in different forms in the pages of Fly Fishing & Fly Tying magazine. I will always be thankful to long-serving editor Mark Bowler for allowing them to be republished in this book, and for showing such great personal support for this project from the very start, as well as supporting my writing and other work over many years.
For decades, FF&FT has been a welcoming home for many of the most progressive and thoughtful writers in our sport, and its back issues are a resource that I’ve relied on time and again.
I’m also very grateful to the editors of other magazines, ezines and websites who have shown much interest in this project: Andrew Flitcroft and Richard Baker (Trout & Salmon), Andy Taylor (Today’s Flyfisher), Martin Joergensen (The Global FlyFisher), Tankred Rinder (Forelle & Äsche) and Lasse Hallberg and William Moberg-Faulds (Flugfiske i Norden). William and Lasse have been particularly kind in letting me reproduce little-known materials about old Sami flies.
My closest fishing pals and Wandle veterans: Richard Baker (again) for playing devil’s advocate, stress-testing theories, and tying many experimental flies; Adrian Grose-Hodge (again) for literary research and global fishing expertise; and Duncan Soar for moral support, photographic advice and inside knowledge of Slovene fishing. They’ve all helped me source elusive streamers and ‘keep the faith’ at times when #ProjectFilth has seemed endless.
My wise colleagues at the Wild Trout Trust, past and present, who between them have taught me almost everything I know about trout and where they live, and discussed aspects of this book with me for years: Denise Ashton, Jon Beer, Mike Blackmore, Christina Bryant, Ed Eley, Sophie Evingar, Andy Ferguson, Paul Gaskell (again), Tim Jacklin, Simon Johnson, Nick Lawrence, Shaun Leonard, Vaughan Lewis, Patrick Lloyd, David Marriott, Rob Mungovan, David Oakley, Ed Noyes, Gareth Pedley, Charles Rangeley-Wilson, Andy Thomas and especially Jonny Grey, who cheerfully accepted the challenge of checking my chapters on trout biology and habitat with his professor’s eye for detail, and provided deep insights about Malham Tarn.
I’m also particularly indebted to the works of George Daniel, Kelly Galloup and Jason Randall for helping focus my understanding of the kinds of habitat favoured by piscivorous trout, and why I should be trying to catch them there.
Fellow writers Peter Hayes, Don Stazicker and Jason Randall (again) who have also helped enormously by reading my work at different stages, and made many helpful observations about big trout as predators, and how we fish for them, both in Europe and the USA; Don very kindly researched and filmed a unique ‘deep dive’ into streamer fishing knots too!
Many friends from the Flyfishers’ Club and the Piscatorial Society for generously helping with research and ideas: David Beazley, Greg Belcamino, the late Tim Benn, Jim Bennett, Bob Bradley, the late Allan Hardy, Henry Giles, Peter Hayes (again), Stephen Hodges, Nigel ‘Fennel’ Hudson, Charles Jardine (again), John Knott, the late Peter Lapsley, John McGill, Peter McLeod, Barry Ord Clarke (again), Neil Patterson (again – one of the original ‘Mad Men’, and my personal copywriting hero), Martin Sandgren, Don Stazicker (again), the late William Tall, Richard Tomiak, Anders Wallgren and above all the eminent Andrew Herd, who patiently read my history chapter and made sure I hadn’t got my timelines in a twist.
Hazel Edwards, for generously granting permission to include her late husband Oliver’s masterclass, including materials from his Essential Skills DVD series, in this book, and Mark Gardner and Peter Gathercole for their valuable assistance.
Claire Zambuni of Zambuni Communications, and Rachael Brady, James Doyle and Orvis UK, for giving me addictive access to the 10-foot 5-weight Orvis Helios 3.
Paul Richardson, the talented designer of Redington’s marvellous Hydrogen rod series, for conversations and advice about trout spey.
Roly Peto at Fulling Mill (and through him, the legendary Howard Croston and Luboš Roza) for enthusiastic support and vital insights into the latest streamer patterns inspired by competitive international flyfishing.
Jack Perks for his extraordinary underwater fish and other ‘prey species’ photos, and Andy Steer for his sparkling Uni Knot step-by-step drawings.
Samantha Pitcher and Jim Schottenham of the American Museum of Fly Fishing, for great generosity in lending their photo of an original Carrie Stevens Gray Ghost streamer. And Greg Belcamino (again) for offering to send a Black Ghost from his own collection across the Big Pond!
The forward-thinking Gwent Angling Society for permission to reproduce details of Ceri Thomas’s streamer fishing techniques, and the Garway Fly Fishers Club committee for running such a friendly, open-minded syndicate on the beautiful River Monnow: a valued home from home.
Martin Blain, Neil Keep, Matt Pang and many others from Friends of the River Frome, the Frome & District Angling Association and other local syndicates for keeping my true home waters healthy. And of course John Patch, and Ros and Joe Coppen, for being wonderful neighbours, and letting me fish their stretches of the little river closest to my own front door.
Many others who have offered help and fabulous photos, and shared their streamers and wisdom along the way: John Bailey, Stuart Bamforth, Graeme Barber, Tom Bell, Burr Boston (again), Dave Brown, Tom Clinton, Alex Jardine, Semih Egemen, Andy Elliott, Lee Evans, Simon Evans, Mark Everard, Dominic Garnett, Matej Gartnar, Branko and Vlasta Gasparin, Simon Gawesworth, John Glynn, Andrew Griffiths (again), Nick Hart, Nacho Heredero, Colin Innes, Sindri Hlidar Jonsson, Stuart James, Seth Johnson-Marshall, the late Kris Kent, the late Paul Kenyon, Gareth Lewis, Jim Lockyer, Jeremy Lucas, Jez Mallinson, Toby Merigan, Christian Mohr, Jonathon Muir, Bob Olach, Paul Procter, Martin Putter, Ellie Reeves, Hector Rodriguez, Vito Rubino, Nicholas Steedman, Liam Stephen (again), John Stephens, Katka Švagrova, Merlin Unwin, Damon Valentine, Elijah Wait, Peter Whipp and Michal Zapal.
All the other American streamer slingers, known either personally or through their writing, videos and podcasts, who inspired me to make this long and speculative cast of my own: Steven Bird, Jay Boynton, Kevin Feenstra, Gunnar Brammer, Tom Gamper, Andrew and Jon Hardman, the late John Gierach, Bob Linsenman, Rich Osthoff, Tom Rosenbauer, Matt Supinski and Domenick Swentosky (and his Troutbitten crew).
And most of all, my wonderful wife Sally, who I suspect now knows more about the obscurities of streamer fishing than I do… and while I was finishing different stages of this book from 2023 to 2025, took on the task of training Pippin, who we hope will grow up to be half the cocker spaniel that her distant cousin Winnie once was. I cannot thank Sally enough for her constant love and support.
(To anyone I’ve inadvertently omitted, I offer my most grateful thanks and apologies: please let me know, and I’ll gladly update this list and future editions of the book.)
Finally, to everyone who’s read this far, thank you too – and I hope you enjoy River Trout Streamer Fishing!
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