Ditch Piglet

Chestnut Lamprey in Tow
If you are a card-carrying member of the streamer tossing fraternity, you have by now heard of the “Ditch Pig”. It’s a jumbo 3-hook streamer, designed by Bob Linsenman of the Au Sable Angler Fly Shop in Mio. The Ditch Pig has been stacking up the numbers of croaking-toad brown trout in the “trophy water” section of the Au Sable.

Well, for everyday streamer-pitching on my own home waters, a streamer that large would scatter everything in the river except for the beavers. Still, I like the concept. The Ditch Pig is designed to represent an adult chestnut lamprey, and apparently (from the photos on the wall in Bob's fly shop), the browns seem to like to eat chestnut lamprey.

Ditch Piglet (working model)Having seen juvenile chestnuts attached to browns in the Sturgeon River, I thought our trout might take to a smaller version. So, I scaled down the magnitude of Bob's creation by substituting size 8 hooks, for the size 4’s that Bob specifies in his original recipe. It turned out looking like a cross between a nightcrawler and a juvenile chestnut. Apparently, the brown trout find it edible, because they sure have been whacking at it. It has accounted for several browns for me in the 14 to 17-inch range, and I’ve only had it tied on 4 times, so far.

NOTE: If you’re fishing “flies only” water, you have to clip off two of the hooks, and only leave one working hook. For general regulation waters, or for “artificial lures only” water, you only need to cut off one hook.

Here’s the tie:

Thread-- brown or tan 3/0
Hooks-- size 8, 3x long (2 needed) and size 4, “low quality” streamer hook (1 needed)
Articulated Hook Connection-- 15# mono
Body-- tan and olive marabou, stacked alternately
Flash-- Krystal Flash Color: Pearl

Collar 1-- brown or ginger marabou
Collar 2—“sculpin olive” ram’s wool
Head—“sculpin olive” ram’s wood trimmed

DP11. Mount the low quality size 4 streamer hook in the vice, and cast on your thread. Tie in a clump of tan marabou for the tail. Move the thread forward 1/8 inch or so.

DP22. Tie in a clump of olive marabou on the top of the hook, overlapping the previous clump by about 2/3. Again, move the thread ahead about 1/8 of an inch.

DP33. Continuing tying in clumps of marabou, alternating colors to fill the hook shank. Tie in a couple strands of krystal flash on each side of the hook. Whip finish. Cut thread. Cut off the hook part, and set this tail section aside.

DP44. Thread the 15# mono through the eye of the completed tail section, and lash it down on top of the middle hook, size 8, 3x long.

DP55. Fold the mono back, and continue lashing it down. This completes the first articulated loop section. Trim off the excess mono.

DP66. Continue tying in clumps of marabou, to build up the middle part of the streamer. Again, add a couple strands of krystal flash on each side of the hook.

DP77. Repeat step #4, connecting the first two completed sections onto the back end of the front hook.

DP88. Continue tying in alternating colors of marabou, as you did on the two earlier sections. STOP at the mid-point of the hook shank. Tie in the krystal flash.

DP99. Take a plume of “ginger” marabou (darker than tan, but not as dark as brown). Tie it in by the tip, and palmer around the hook two or three times to create the first collar.

DP1010. Take a generous clump of “sculpin olive” ram’s wool, and lay it against the hook shank with the natural tips pointing toward the rear. Massage the clump so that it completely encircles the shank. Tie it down hard so that the “cut ends” want to stick out to the sides.

DP1111. Those “cut ends” are excess. Cut off a couple bunches and tie those bunches in front, to continue filling up the hook shank right to the eye of the hook. Whip finish.

DP1212. Using sharp scissors, trim the head to a narrow conical shape. Done.

This takes a lot of hooks, a lot of steps, and a lot of marabou. But, believe me, it is worth it. Check out the video below. (I knew God made chestnut lamprey for a reason.)