Overview

The Zoo Cougar is one of Kelly Galloup's signature streamers, tied by Montana Fly Company. It imitates a chunky sculpin, one of the favorite meals of big, predatory trout.

It combines a marabou tail, a flashy body, a marabou and mallard wing, and a large spun deer hair collar and head. The deer hair head pushes water and gives the fly the broad, flat outline of a sculpin, while the marabou keeps the back half alive. It is a fly for deep holes, big fish and tough days.

How to Fish It

• Jerk-strip: fish it with sharp strips and pauses so it darts and hesitates like an injured sculpin.
• Swing or strip upstream: swing it downstream across runs, or cast upstream and strip it back.
• Structure: work it into logjams, undercut banks and deep holes, and slowly through riffles.
• Match the forage: pick a color that matches the sculpins and baitfish in your river.

Choosing Color and Size

Golden Brown matches the light, mottled sculpins of many freestone rivers. Olive matches darker sculpins and weedy water.

Both colors are size 4, a size recommended for targeting large fish.