J.Stockard Pro Tyer « currentseams.com

We just watched “The Hunt For Red October” for the umpteenth time — my guess is that I’ve seen it at least 2 dozen times — so the Countermeasure streamer is currently top of mind. (If you haven’t seen the movie, you really should. It’s damn good.) If you’ve seen it, you may not completely understand why I named this pattern the Countermeasure. But if you have seen it, and you’ve fished the Countermeasure, then you get it with crystal clarity.

Countermeasures are released from a submarine to confuse homing torpedoes. The Countermeasure streamer is designed to fool predator fish that are looking for a target to kill. It’s an exceptionally versatile streamer. You can swing it. You can strip it. You can dangle it. But my favorite way to fish it is to cast it near where I think a fish may be holding, ready to ambush. Land it on the water with a loud splat, and then do nothing. If there’s a hungry fish within 15 feet that’s looking up, it will attack the Countermeasure with urgent, reckless fury. Bang! Torpedo in acquisition!

**They don’t look like this perfect after they’ve done battle with a few angry fish.**

The Countermeasure works on bass and trout, like this truttasuarus. (While it doesn’t look like a mouse, try it on your next night fishing adventure. You can thank me later.) It’s been featured in On The Water magazine. I know, you really want to tie some up, so here’s the tying video.

Just hold on to that rod good and tight.

I’ve been a long-time customer of the online fly tying supplier J.Stockard. As you know, I don’t endorse or represent anything that I’m not a big fan of, or enthusiastic user of, and that’s certainly the case with J.Stockard. In addition to being a customer, I’ve written a few articles for their site over the years, but this now means that I’ll be doing some more of that in the future. We’ll see what shape or form these contributions take; naturally, I’ll still be writing for my website! I’m honored to be a part of their Pro Tying Team — you’ll remember I recently joined the Regal Vise Pro-Staff — and I’ll do my best to represent well.

Now: this may seem like a wee bit of a dichotomy, because I’m also a firm advocate of the concept and practice of “support your local fly shop.” I happen to also be a long-time customer of UpCountry Sportfishing in New Hartford, not to mention the state’s two Orvis stores and the Compleat Angler in Darien. There’s also the new kid on the block, the Local Fly Company. My association with J.Stockard doesn’t change any of this, and I’ve been very upfront with J.Stockard on my thoughts about local fly shops. Can we all get along? I believe we can.

Either way, here I am.