Apocalypse Streamer
SKU:
$3.59
$3.59
per item
The Apocalypse Streamer is a fly designed for fishing with a "Wolf River Rig" that will catch walleye, bass, northern, or any other swimming predator! The Apocalypse Streamer will out fish live bait and treats cold fronts like warm fronts. This streamer was designed different from most walleye streamers with several goals in mind.
Hand-Tied and Tested locally in Peshtigo, WI
All flies are hand-tied to order, please allow 3-5 business days for shipment
Other Hand-Tied colors are available upon request.
The Problem: Having tried several Wolf River Rig flies, I never found one that I was truly satisfied with. The first flies I tried were on Aberdeen hooks. It didn't take me long to hook into a 18" smallmouth bass, which I promptly lost boatside because the hook started to straighten out. I put a new fly on and a few cast later had the same result. The lesson learned was that small flies on light hooks designed for white bass didn't work on smallmouth bass. The next flies I tried had sparse body hair and were on a heavier hook and these looked promising. They worked great and caught fish, but with the sparse body hair and a heavy hook, the fly sank to fast. The fast sinking fly had no problem sinking to bottom on the pause and hooking driftwood, rocks, and stumps. The fishing method was spectacular, but the flies didn't quite fit my needs. I knew I needed a better solution.
The Solution: The first part of the solution was to find a heavier, proper sized hook, and the answer was a Mustad hook. The Mustad hook has been thoroughly tested on 5 lb. plus smallmouth bass and 10 lb. northern pike with no bending. The second part of the solution was to create a near neutrally buoyant fly. To accomplish this, I used more bucktail to make a more solid body profile. Deer hair is naturally buoyant and the increased body density solved this problem. After extensive testing I arrived at a fly that has an extremely low sink rate of about 8 seconds per foot.
The Result: Having made what I considered the ideal fly, I tied several colors and hit the water. The pictures shown in the post are some of the fish that were caught. All of the pictured fish were caught from November 4 to November 22. Fishing conditions were less than ideal and the smallmouth bass were in a late fall pattern. Surface water temp varied from 42 degrees to 34 degrees. Air temperatures varied from 48 degrees to 32 degrees. Almost everyday with a few exceptions was windy. The river fished was the Peshtigo River on the section above the dam in Peshtigo (also known as the Peshtigo Flowage). In the early part of November I fished deep weed edges near the main channel that were holding minnows and panfish. In the later part of November I switched to deep wintering holes that had little to no current. The Apocalypse Fly excelled and caught fish after fish! Most days I had a fish every 3-5 casts. When I fished an area out, I would move down and fish the next area out. The Apocalypse Fly on a Wolf River Rig was the most productive fishing setup I had ever used! Cold front days didn't matter, I just had to slow the presentation down. Most of my fishing sessions were only 2-3 hour sessions before my hands got too cold. During all of these days, I was the only one on the river and everybody looked at me like I was nuts!
The Equipment: Opinions on equipment will always vary, but I will give you my opinions. For rods I like two rods. I use a ML with a fast to extra fast tip for rigs with a 3/8 ounce pencil sinker. When using a 1/2 ounce pencil sinker, I like to use a medium rod with a fast tip. I prefer rods that are a minimum of 7'. My ML rod is 7' 3" and my Med. rod is 7'. I use a 2500 Daiwa BG reel on one rod and Okuma Ceymar C30 reels on the others. For the line I use Sufix 832 10 lb. braid. I use 8 lb. mono the Wolf River Rig. Is this what you have to use? Is this the best setup? The answer to both of these questions is no! Everybody will have different opinions and preferences, that's just the way us fishermen are! The one thing I feel is a must though, is the use of a braided line. I tried a reel with mono and there is just too much stretch.
The Rig: See the included photo. The rig is nothing more than a Wolf River Rig, but uses a pencil sinker to reduce snags. I tie a VMC Touch-Lok Snap on the end of my braided line and attach the snap to the three way swivel. I tie the pencil sinker to the three way swivel with 8 lb. mono at length of 12' - 18". I tie the fly to the three way swivel with 8 lb. mono at a length of 3' - 4'. I also tie up several rigs ahead of time for quick changes. I have several colors pre-tied, wrapped around a strip of cardboard, and stored in the plastic sleeves of a bait binder. If one rig gets torn up or lost, I pull one out, unwind it, snap it on the VMC Touch-Lok Snap, and keep fishing. The last thing you want to do in cold weather with cold hands is sit in the boat and tie rigs up!
The Technique: The technique is simple. Cast the rig out down current or cross current and work it back to you. Watch your line and when the sinker hits the bottom, sweep the rod forward about three feet using a series of small pops during that sweep. After the sweep, reel in the slack, pause for 1-4 seconds and repeat. Use a longer pause for cold water conditions. The best way to describe the sweep is pop, pop, pop. Use three to four pops of the rod when sweeping forward. This gives the fly a darting action. The pause is when the fish will hit the fly. Most of the time in cold water conditions they just suck the fly in and you will feel the fish when you go to sweep the rod forward. For a hook set you don't need to go bass tournament crazy and slam the hook set. All that is needed is a rod sweep. Due to the buoyancy of the Apocalypse fly, this will also work in still water such as a lake. You are not limited to just rivers with this rig!
Color Selection: We all have our preferences! If you don't see a color you want, let Alexis know, because I can tie virtually any color combination I have materials for. I have caught fish on all of the colors, but I like anything with purple! The color that caught the most fish for me was the one I fished the most. In the pictures, the purple appears as blue. I assure you it is purple, not blue. The lighting conditions for the pictures just make it look blue.
Final Thoughts: Flies just come alive in the water. They move like a lure can't. They flutter, they flair, they just come alive and look real. Don't think of the Apocalypse Fly as just a Spring or Fall solution. This fly on a weed edge, adjacent flat, or channel is deadly anytime of the year. You don't need a Wolf River Rig to fish the Apocalypse Fly. Try the fly with a 1/16 or 1/8 ounce bullet sinker and cast away with a series of twitches and pauses. Make sure you pay attention and hang onto the rod. I will not be responsible if a fish rips the rod out of your hand!
About Me: I am an ex-fly fisherman that spent a lot of time tying my own flies and fishing smallmouth bass on a fly rod. My name is Scott Thomas, I reside in Peshtigo WI, and I am the owner and founder of River Raider Fishing. I am a fishing fanatic and fish 5-7 days a week. I have been continually tying new flies and testing. I will have some great new bass and walleye flies coming soon. I am also working on a new panfish system that utilizes flies with spinning rods. Stay tuned for more!
The Solution: The first part of the solution was to find a heavier, proper sized hook, and the answer was a Mustad hook. The Mustad hook has been thoroughly tested on 5 lb. plus smallmouth bass and 10 lb. northern pike with no bending. The second part of the solution was to create a near neutrally buoyant fly. To accomplish this, I used more bucktail to make a more solid body profile. Deer hair is naturally buoyant and the increased body density solved this problem. After extensive testing I arrived at a fly that has an extremely low sink rate of about 8 seconds per foot.
The Result: Having made what I considered the ideal fly, I tied several colors and hit the water. The pictures shown in the post are some of the fish that were caught. All of the pictured fish were caught from November 4 to November 22. Fishing conditions were less than ideal and the smallmouth bass were in a late fall pattern. Surface water temp varied from 42 degrees to 34 degrees. Air temperatures varied from 48 degrees to 32 degrees. Almost everyday with a few exceptions was windy. The river fished was the Peshtigo River on the section above the dam in Peshtigo (also known as the Peshtigo Flowage). In the early part of November I fished deep weed edges near the main channel that were holding minnows and panfish. In the later part of November I switched to deep wintering holes that had little to no current. The Apocalypse Fly excelled and caught fish after fish! Most days I had a fish every 3-5 casts. When I fished an area out, I would move down and fish the next area out. The Apocalypse Fly on a Wolf River Rig was the most productive fishing setup I had ever used! Cold front days didn't matter, I just had to slow the presentation down. Most of my fishing sessions were only 2-3 hour sessions before my hands got too cold. During all of these days, I was the only one on the river and everybody looked at me like I was nuts!
The Equipment: Opinions on equipment will always vary, but I will give you my opinions. For rods I like two rods. I use a ML with a fast to extra fast tip for rigs with a 3/8 ounce pencil sinker. When using a 1/2 ounce pencil sinker, I like to use a medium rod with a fast tip. I prefer rods that are a minimum of 7'. My ML rod is 7' 3" and my Med. rod is 7'. I use a 2500 Daiwa BG reel on one rod and Okuma Ceymar C30 reels on the others. For the line I use Sufix 832 10 lb. braid. I use 8 lb. mono the Wolf River Rig. Is this what you have to use? Is this the best setup? The answer to both of these questions is no! Everybody will have different opinions and preferences, that's just the way us fishermen are! The one thing I feel is a must though, is the use of a braided line. I tried a reel with mono and there is just too much stretch.
The Rig: See the included photo. The rig is nothing more than a Wolf River Rig, but uses a pencil sinker to reduce snags. I tie a VMC Touch-Lok Snap on the end of my braided line and attach the snap to the three way swivel. I tie the pencil sinker to the three way swivel with 8 lb. mono at length of 12' - 18". I tie the fly to the three way swivel with 8 lb. mono at a length of 3' - 4'. I also tie up several rigs ahead of time for quick changes. I have several colors pre-tied, wrapped around a strip of cardboard, and stored in the plastic sleeves of a bait binder. If one rig gets torn up or lost, I pull one out, unwind it, snap it on the VMC Touch-Lok Snap, and keep fishing. The last thing you want to do in cold weather with cold hands is sit in the boat and tie rigs up!
The Technique: The technique is simple. Cast the rig out down current or cross current and work it back to you. Watch your line and when the sinker hits the bottom, sweep the rod forward about three feet using a series of small pops during that sweep. After the sweep, reel in the slack, pause for 1-4 seconds and repeat. Use a longer pause for cold water conditions. The best way to describe the sweep is pop, pop, pop. Use three to four pops of the rod when sweeping forward. This gives the fly a darting action. The pause is when the fish will hit the fly. Most of the time in cold water conditions they just suck the fly in and you will feel the fish when you go to sweep the rod forward. For a hook set you don't need to go bass tournament crazy and slam the hook set. All that is needed is a rod sweep. Due to the buoyancy of the Apocalypse fly, this will also work in still water such as a lake. You are not limited to just rivers with this rig!
Color Selection: We all have our preferences! If you don't see a color you want, let Alexis know, because I can tie virtually any color combination I have materials for. I have caught fish on all of the colors, but I like anything with purple! The color that caught the most fish for me was the one I fished the most. In the pictures, the purple appears as blue. I assure you it is purple, not blue. The lighting conditions for the pictures just make it look blue.
Final Thoughts: Flies just come alive in the water. They move like a lure can't. They flutter, they flair, they just come alive and look real. Don't think of the Apocalypse Fly as just a Spring or Fall solution. This fly on a weed edge, adjacent flat, or channel is deadly anytime of the year. You don't need a Wolf River Rig to fish the Apocalypse Fly. Try the fly with a 1/16 or 1/8 ounce bullet sinker and cast away with a series of twitches and pauses. Make sure you pay attention and hang onto the rod. I will not be responsible if a fish rips the rod out of your hand!
About Me: I am an ex-fly fisherman that spent a lot of time tying my own flies and fishing smallmouth bass on a fly rod. My name is Scott Thomas, I reside in Peshtigo WI, and I am the owner and founder of River Raider Fishing. I am a fishing fanatic and fish 5-7 days a week. I have been continually tying new flies and testing. I will have some great new bass and walleye flies coming soon. I am also working on a new panfish system that utilizes flies with spinning rods. Stay tuned for more!