FALL 2025 CHOICE STREAMERS: THE CONJUROR
By A.M. Giacoletto
Normally, I’m not one to recommend witchcraft. As a matter of fact, I encourage folks to entirely avoid it… with one exception. Step into Blue-Line-warts School of Fish-craft and Wiz-that-line-er-y and cast the Conjuror: a premier swim fly designed, tied, and sold by Blue Line Co. As I mentioned in last week’s post, this is the first of the five streamers I recommend anglers grab for the fall 2025 streamer season, which can be purchased as one of nine streamers to add a tenth for free as a part of our fall streamer promotion (available for a limited time only).
Last week, I claimed that if I had to choose one out of the five as my top choice, it’s this one; I stand by it. Although all five are quality, top-of-the-industry streamers, I see the Conjuror as one of the most important streamers in my arsenal because of its versatility, swimming action, and cast-ability.
Famous, groundbreaking flies often create a new category, and this is the case with the Game Changer, which is the grandaddy of the swim flies. Streamers with numerous articulations or static material that flow, swim, and paddle with life-like presentations fall under this genre. Think of swim flies as the fly fishing equivalent to soft plastic swim and glide baits thrown on a spinning or baitcasting rod and fulfill the same role to a fisherman.
Revolutionary flies often inspire other creations of the same mold as this is a normal process in fly innovation. In fact, I would argue this is the case in any manufacturing industry. When Tesla comes out with an electric car, Ford, General Motors, and the like soon launch their own lineup of gas-less rides (that are ideally not as ugly as a Cybertruck). Innovation forces everyone else to emulate or fall behind.
In fly tying, the Royal Wulff and Parachute Adams established new standards for mayfly dry fly tying formulas, and the first bead head nymphs meant every nymph needed a variation with weight tied into the hook, yet no one claimed succeeding mayflies patterns with parachute posts or new nymphs with bead heads were ripping off the originals because that would’ve been ridiculous.
As is the case with the Conjuror. It is not the Game Changer, but it falls into the family of flies it innovated. The two are closely related enough to share appearance, lineage, and marry each other in Appalachia, but far enough apart to develop their own unique traits and differences. Don’t misunderstand me – the Game Changer is a great fly, but similar to the gear fishing swim baits these flies are based on, numerous variations deserve a place in any serious angler’s lineup.
Bulkiness is a key difference between the Conjuror and the Game Changer. The latter is thick with a higher volume of materials, so it can push more water (an advantage in certain situations such as capturing a fish’s attention in dirty water), but it makes it harder to cast via air resistance and harder to sink because of buoyancy. Tied with a slim profile, a low material volume, and a tungsten bead embedded within the materials toward the eyelet, the Conjuror sinks quickly with ease and can be used effectively with a floating or sinking line, and it’s cast-able with a stiff five weight, but I recommend a six or a seven weight rod for optimized use. There is no reason fly fishers have to choose one; both the Conjuror and Game Changer are quality flies worthy of regular use.
Aside from the ergonomics of casting and sinking, this fly does its job – it swims as if possessed by the ghost of a frantic baitfish as it glides through the water. The multi-articulation causes movement with the smallest strip or twitch, and the weighted head coupled with the articulation allows for a perfect dart into stall presentation, which can result in a monster emerging from the depths and t-bone it into the next county. Believe it or not, it decently jigs because of the weighted head, for few other swim flies tied with bulk vertically move well, but the Conjuror does.
White and olive cover the color lineup, so I recommend the prior for bright, sunny days and the latter for a subtle, natural appearance.
Not only do aggressive, pre-spawn browns smash this fly with the anger of a thousand suns, but bass, large and smallmouth alike, love this thing. Anytime I visit a bass lake and the report recommends “soft plastic swim baits off points,” I use the Conjuror as my long rod replacement and deliver an identically slow and methodical presentation as my baitcasting counterparts.
As fall sets in, the trout will only turn more aggressive, and this pattern is tied to trigger overly aggressive fish. It’s a must-have.
Now, when you deliberate what nine flies to load your shopping cart with to acquire the tenth one for free, throw in a few Conjurors. Hell, make ‘em all Conjurors. From personal experience, I can promise you’ll use each one. Honestly, ten probably aren’t enough. Cast a few spells, and magically manipulate the trout with the Conjuror – hopefully, it makes you a streamer fishing wizard this fall.
