It's undeniable that catching a fish on a fly you've tied is one of the most rewarding feelings in the sport. As someone who has always had an affinity for fishing big streamers to predatory fish, catching a nice brown on a streamer I tied was definitely a milestone in my angling career.

By no means am I an accomplished fly tier, in fact, I'm pretty mediocre. The only reason I picked up fly tying was that I couldn't find my favorite streamer pattern from my days in Montana (The Double Screamer) in any shop in Colorado. So, reluctantly I stepped into the world of fly tying. Tying small nymphs for technical tailwaters is one thing, tying gobs of marabou and flash onto a couple of hooks is an entirely different story. With a little practice, I was tying presentable Double Screamer streamers that didn't fall apart immediately on the water. It wasn't long before I was tying all sorts of variations of the Double Screamer and customizing it for a variety of my favorite pieces of water. With my newfound skill, I fished streamers at every opportunity and over the course of a single spring, it paid off big time. My version of the Double Screamer checked spring bass, spring pike, and a big spring brown trout off the list. Without further adieu, here are three reasons why you need to learn to tie your own streamers!

1. Become an "Expert"
   
   Now, I'm the first to admit that you can catch fish on a variety of streamers and techniques. To me, streamer fishing is about finding flies and presentation styles that give you confidence. Confidence is THE KEY to success when fishing streamers. When I started tying streamers, I started to note what streamers gave me confidence and what design choices each of these flies shared. For me, if a fly has marabou and flash, I will confidently fish that fly. Add articulation and I couldn't be more confident when fishing streamer. When I walk into a local fly shop or sit down at the vise, I know which patterns I will fish confidently and which one's I won't. This allows me to focus in on the streamers that will bring me the most success...the streamers I'm confident in.
   
2. Customization
   
   My version of the Double Screamer - from Pike to Trout...I was covered.
   There are a lot of super productive streamer patterns out there. However, sometimes something will stick out like a sore thumb when you're fishing them in your favorite stretch of water. Whether that be the color of the rubber legs or how thick the streamers wet profile is, you can't customize that on a fly you bought. But, if you spin up your own, you can be damn sure that you can replace those red rubber legs with black ones if you wanted. The level of control and customization allows you to tailor the streamer to the piece of water that you're fishing.
   
3. Pride
   Big fish are big for a good reason. They're good at surviving. Which means they don't get caught and they know how to eat. Catching a big brown trout on a streamer that you've tied and presented is a feeling that is hard to replicate. It's a feeling that is really hard to beat.