Trombone

How to Rig It

Single articulated streamer on a 7-9wt rod with a sink-tip line. The fly's wounded glide is the whole point — heavy gear lets you cast it.

How to Present It

Cast tight to the bank or structure, then strip in irregular bursts with long pauses. The Trombone's signature is the wounded glide on the pause — fish eat it dead in the water more often than on the strip.

Why It Works

Tommy Lynch designed it to hunt giant brown trout. The deer-hair sculpin head pushes water like a real injured baitfish, and the articulation lets the back half kick and shimmy independently. It looks alive in a way single-hook streamers can't match.

History

Tommy Lynch developed the Trombone on Michigan's Manistee River chasing trophy browns. It became one of the most iconic articulated streamers of the modern streamer movement and a benchmark for big-fish hunters across the country.

Pro Tip

Don't strip it like a Woolly Bugger. Big strip, long pause, twitch — the eat almost always comes when the fly is hanging or gliding sideways, not when it's racing back to the boat.

Frequently Asked Questions