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Life on the water. Troutbitten is a deep dive into fly fishing for wild trout in wild places. Author and guide, Domenick Swentosky, shares stories, tips, tactics and conversations with friends about fly fishing through the woods and water. Explore more. Fish hard. And discover fly fishing at Troutbitten.com — an extensive resource with 1200+ articles about trout, friends, family and the river.
- 115 - Boat Fishing -- How Everything Changes When Floating a River
We're here to talk about floating down a river, about why we like boats, how floating is so much different than wading, how some opportunities are uniquely available and how others are shut off too.
It’s the companionship and teamwork, along with the effort and commitment required to get down the river. It’s about a good lunch and friendly banter as much as the novel approach to tactics and the pure advantage of accessing more water.
From the put in to the take out, boating changes everything. It’s a wonderful way to learn a river and to connect with friends.
ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | We Watched Daylight Race the River Downstream
READ: Troutbitten | Slow Float
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OrvisSun, 12 May 2024 - 114 - What's the Deal With Emergers?
Like anything else in fishing, you can take the emerger concept just about as far as you want. You get technical, or you can spin up a couple wet flies, float them in the film, and keep things simple.
I’ve often argued that you don’t have to match the hatch when fly fishing. I think it’s a fun approach, but having exactly the right shade of dubbing to match the most prevalent insect is rarely necessary. Most often, you can fish caddis imitations during a mayfly hatch and do pretty well, because there’s a lot more food in a river than what our eyes see at the surface.
But we don’t ignore the hatches either. Far from it. In fact, we look forward to these events, anticipating the response from the trout, observing their behaviors day to day, and often using flies and tactics that imitate the emergence. From the bottom to the top, when the bugs transform from water born to airborne, meeting them with an emerger often sells the presentation.
Our conversation in this episode covers those emergences.
ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | You Don't Have to Match the Hatch
PODCAST: Troutbitten | Night Fishing and the Mouse Emerger Concept
PODCAST: Troutbitten | Category | Dry Fly Fishing
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OrvisSun, 05 May 2024 - 113 - The Ethics of Guiding -- More Harm Than Good?
My friends join me for a tough discussion. What are the benefits of guiding? What are the good things? How does it help anglers? Does it actually help people and make our sport or this fishing scene better, or does it just put money in the guide’s pocket and put more pressure on the trout?
Also, what kinds of guided trips are there? Different types of guided trips are offered across the country. Some cater to the first timer, introducing new anglers to the fly rod. Other trips feature education first, with a strong focus on refining the tactics for more experienced anglers. Many guides sell the river itself. Others sell trips by promising big trout. Some guide for clubs with stocked and fed fish, sometimes catering to lodges with clients that are not anglers, but vacationing guests where fly fishing is just another highlighted activity.
When does guiding trout water do more harm that good? There are no right or wrong answer to all of this, but we’re here to work through a few things — to think about all of it and to have the conversation that others might avoid.
Resources
READ: Troutbitten | Respect the Spots! A fisherman's perspective on friendship and spot burning
READ: Troutbitten | Fish Hard
PODCAST: Troutbitten | Angler Pressure TWO -- What It Does to the Fishing
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OrvisSat, 27 Apr 2024 - 112 - Fishing Through a Caddis Hatch
Two years ago we did a full episode on Hatches. That discussion was a broad, overarching look at how the bugs — the insects that trout eat — dictate many of the habits of trout. We argued that knowing the hatches, following the emergence and being ready for these events is not only a lot of fun, it drastically improves your success on the water. Trout don’t miss the hatches, and neither should we.
At the same time, none of us here think the pattern matters all that much — usually. While we all admit that a color change or certainly the fly size can make a big difference, we all agree that what a trout eats most frequently is a great presentation.
This episode is about those presentations.
We consider the full life cycle of a caddis: the pre-hatch, the emergence, the egg laying phase and death. And at each of those stages, we ask what the bugs are doing, how the trout respond and how we can imitate the bugs to fool a trout.
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OrvisSun, 21 Apr 2024 - 111 - The Stages of an Angler
How many times have we heard the supposed stages of an angler? First you want to catch a fish, then you want to catch a bunch of fish, then you want to catch a big fish, then you want to catch the toughest fish, and then you just want to catch a fish again.
This is a clever way to look at a life on the water. But is it really true? This is our topic.
We also expand on some other stages that anglers go through, and we think about the beginning stage — why it’s so hard at first, how anglers get held back, and how, sadly, the majority of anglers probably never get a whole lot further than those early stages.
Resources
READ: Troutbitten | Life on the Water
READ: Troutbitten | Two Sides to Every Fishermen
READ: Troutbitten | The Dirty Fisherman
READ: Troutbitten | How to Stay in the Fly Fishing Game for a Lifetime
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OrvisSun, 14 Apr 2024 - 110 - Feed Drop -- Troutbitten On The Untangled Podcast
I was happy to be a guest on the Untangled Podcast with Spencer Durrant. We talked mostly about Nymphing tactics for beginners. We also talked a little about a fishing life and the fly fishing industry.
You can listen to that full episode here in the Troubitten Podcast feed
Follow the Untangled Podcast hosted by the Venturing Fly Company YouTube channel.
https://youtu.be/AWoagPJ0JPc?si=EjXoavzV8pGg9NEI
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OrvisSun, 07 Apr 2024 - 109 - Catching Up -- Patagonia, Leader Sales, Live Streams, Beer, Hosted Trips and More
In this interim episode, Becky and I look back on what has happened in 2024 so far, and we set the table for what’s to come. We talk about Patagonia, videos, articles, podcasts, livestream podcasts, one-on-one sessions, hosted trips, guide season, the next Troutbitten Leader Sale and a Troutbitten beer.
Thank you for being part of this Troutbitten community.
ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | One-On-One Virtual Skills Sessions
READ: Troutbitten | The First Troutbitten LIVESTREAM Podcast On YouTube
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OrvisWed, 13 Mar 2024 - 108 - Critical Nymphing Concepts #7 -- Animating the Nymph
Here we are with our final installment, part seven of our series on critical nymphing concepts.
Almost all of our focus throughout this series has been on achieving dead drifts. We aim for natural looks that imitate what the real bugs do most. So we try to stay in one lane, we try to find the right speed and the right depth. Most of the articles on Troutbitten about nymphing also assume we’re aiming for dead drifts. It's the same with the videos. Why? Because dead drifts usually work best.
But in this episode, our topic is getting something other than a dead drift. How can we add animation to a nymph that seals the deal? Something that either grabs a trout’s attention and attracts it to the fly . . . or the chosen animation actually mimics something natural that the real bugs are doing at the moment.
We spend so much time refining presentations and trying to achieve perfectly natural dead drifts that moving the nymph a bit, animating the fly, is liberating. It’s fun.
But moving our nymph at random, moving it accidentally or relabeling drag as enticing motion doesn’t work so well. Stripping or swinging a nymph like a streamer doesn't work so well. More often, subtle motions add an extra spark to the presentation. These are mostly additions to a dead drift, and not a full abandonment of the dead drift principles we try so hard to achieve.
This is our topic for part seven, this season finale.
Resources
READ: Troutbitten | Streamer Presentations -- The Crossover Technique
READ: Troutbitten | The First Troutbitten LIVESTREAM Podcast On YouTube
READ: Troutbitten | The Big Rig -- The Two Plus One -- Two Nymphs and a Streamer
READ: Troutbitten | Streamer Presentations -- The Super Pause
READ: Troutbitten | Natural vs Attractive PresentationVisit
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OrvisSun, 25 Feb 2024 - 107 - Critical Nymphing Concepts #6 -- Line on the Water
This episode is about tension and slack. It's about how we manage fly lines and leaders on the water while nymphing.
Remember, each of these episodes — all of these concepts — apply to all styles of nymphing. So we might choose to lay line on the water with an indicator rig (and sometimes mend it) just like we might choose to float the sighter with a tight line rig.
My friend, Austin Dando, joins me to walk through the tight line advantage of keeping line off the water and what happens when we give that up. Fishing greater distances often requires laying line on the water, and how we manage that line, how we plan for it, makes all the difference between a great drift and a poor one.
ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | The Tight Line Advantage Across Fishing Styles
PODCAST: Troutbitten | Fly Fishing the Mono Rig -- Versatility and The Tight Line Advantage Taken Further
READ: Troutbitten | Fly Casting -- Five Tips for Better Mending
VIDEO: Troutbitten | The Hop Mend
READ: Troutbitten | Regarding Classic Upstream Nymphing
READ: Troutbitten | You Need Turnover
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OrvisSun, 18 Feb 2024 - 106 - Critical Nymphing Concepts #5 -- Weight: The Fundamental Factor
This discussion is all about weight. It’s the fundamental factor in nymphing. Because as soon as you choose to leave the surface, once you clip off the dry fly and fish anything else . . . weight is necessary.
Even wet flies have some weight. They’re designed not to float but to break the surface with at least the weight of the hook. With streamers, of course, weight is required to get the flies to whatever depth is necessary — and we do that with all types of weight, whether that’s a sinking line, split shot or weight built into the fly.
Then of course, with nymphs, we need weight, just like streamers, to get the flies to some kind of depth and actually fish them.
You can’t avoid it. Weight is the fundamental factor. Meaning, it’s probably more important than the fly itself. More weight or less is more consequential than what dubbing, feather or ribbing is wound around the hook shank.
We use all types of weight, and there are good reasons for all of these: tungsten beads, split shot and drop shot. Our topic is how each of these weight choices, along with the decision for more or less weight, helps us match river situations and meet the trout with a presentation they're looking for.
This is a technical topic that is built on many Troutbitten resources that have come before it . . .
ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | No Limits -- Use Every Type of Weight Available
PODCAST: Troutbitten | Weight In Fly Fishing: Beads, Shot, Sinking Lines and More
READ: Troutbitten | Series | Drop Shot Nymphing on a Tight Line Rig
VIDEO: Troutbitten | Don't Hate the Split Shot - Have a System
READ: Troutbitten | Pattern vs Presentation
READ: Troutbitten | Split Shot vs Weighted Flies
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OrvisSun, 11 Feb 2024 - 105 - Three Ways to Dead Drift -- Critical Nymphing Concepts #4
This episode features what might be the most important concept of nymph fishing. There are three different ways to present a dead drifted nymph to the trout -- three ways to imitate what trout commonly see from the naturals. While trout eat dry flies in one plane (the surface) the complexity of currents underneath introduces more difficulty, simply because trout might be looking for food in multiple ways.
My friend, Austin Dando, and I break down one of my favorite topics in fly fishing -- the three ways to dead drift nymphs: bottom bouncing, strike zone rides and tracking the flies.
All three of these methods are viable. All of them produce. A nymphing angler dedicated to improving should consider what level to focus the presentation and how those nymphs might best look natural within that level.
This is a technical topic that is built on many Troutbitten resources that have come before it . . .
ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | Nymphs: Three Ways to Dead Drift: Bottom Bounce, Strike Zone Rides, Tracking
PODCAST: Troutbitten | Locating the Strike Zone -- Tight Line Skills #6
READ: Troutbitten | The Water Column and the All-Important Strike Zone
READ: Troutbitten | Drop Shot Nymphing Series
READ: Troutbitten | Tight Line and Euro Nymphing: Leading vs Tracking vs Guiding the Flies
READ: Troutbitten | That's Not a Dead Drift
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OrvisSun, 04 Feb 2024 - 104 - Suspender Advantages -- Critical Nymphing Concepts #3
In the third part of this critical nymphing concepts series, we consider the advantages and disadvantages of fishing with a suspender.
Indicator styles and why the type mattersNot all indicators are created equalChoosing tight line or indy, or combing bothWhat you lose by adding and indyWhat you gain by adding an indyComplications of an indy styleWhat is commonly missed when using an indyReading an indicatorA few more tips . . .
We cover the following
ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | It's a Suspender, Not Just an Indicator
PODCAST: Troutbitten | Nymphing Tight Line to the Indicator Style -- Tight Line Advantage to the Indicator
READ: Troutbitten | The Backing Barrel Might Be the Best Sighter Ever
READ: Troutbitten | Tight Line to the Indicator -- a Mono Rig Variant
READ: Troutbitten | Your Indicator is Too Big
READ: Troutbitten | The Dorsey Yarn Indicator -- Everything You Need to Know and a Little More
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OrvisSun, 28 Jan 2024 - 103 - More Influence or Less? -- Critical Nymphing Concepts #2
In this second episode of our Critical Nymphing Concepts series, my friend, Austin Dando, and I walk through the idea — the concept — of having more influence or less over the flies. Meaning, who or what is in charge of the nymphs? Is it you or the river? And do we want to have more influence over the flies or less? What looks more natural? Which choice — which method — fools more trout?
What is influence and what's in charge of the nymph's path?Does less influence look more natural?How weight and tippet diameter relate to influence.Why taking dry fly principles to the nymphs underneath leads to big mistakes.How slack hurts or helps the drift.The principle of slipping contact.Good and bad things about more influence.Good and bad things about less influence.Better systems for each method.
We cover the following
ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | Tight Line and Euro Nymphing: Tracking the Flies
PODCAST: Troutbitten | #7, Nine Essential Skill for Tight Line and Euro Nymphing | Guiding the Flies
READ: Troutbitten | Tight Line and Euro Nymphing: Leading vs Tracking vs Guiding
READ: Troutbitten | Slipping Contact -- Tight Line and Euro Nymphing
READ: Troutbitten | Tight Line Nymphing With an Indicator
READ: Troutbitten | Your Indicator Is Too Big
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OrvisSun, 21 Jan 2024 - 102 - Critical Nymphing Concepts #1 -- The Three Questions
This Season Ten skills series is about the critical concepts of nymphing. In seven episodes this season, we're covering the what and the why of nymphing. The techniques we work on are physical skills necessary to get great drifts and fool fish. But these nymphing concepts are about putting a reason behind everything we do.
Why do we make the changes? How do we adapt to meet the preferences of trout for the moment? This is the other side of the coin. And once you put all of this together, you have a full picture of what it takes to regularly catch trout on a nymph.
Importantly, these concepts apply to all nymphing styles, tight line, indicator or otherwise.
Episode One covers the three most important questions in nymphing.
My friend Austin Dando joins me this season to walk through these concepts.
ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | Three Nymphing Questions to Solve Any Problem
PODCAST: Troutbitten | #1, Nine Essential Skill for Tight Line and Euro Nymphing | Angle and Approach
READ: Troutbitten | The Water Column, and the All-Important Strike Zone
READ: Troutbitten | When Drifting Low Isn't Low Enough
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OrvisSun, 14 Jan 2024 - 101 - A Troutbitten Glossary
For this final episode of Season Ten and of 2023, we wanted to have some fun. In this episode we walk through a bunch of Troutbitten . . . terms, words, sayings, phrases . . . and talk about what all of this means. Let’s call it a Troutbitten glossary.
If you’re lucky enough to have your own group of long-time fishing friends, then I’m sure you have your own phrases too — your own idioms and ways of talking about things. It’s all a lot of fun.
Long-time listeners understand what it means when Austin says he could have caught a lot more trout — if he really wanted to. Most of you also understand what it means to play bartender for a friend, and you know how many inches a trout should be to fall under the Troutbitten classification, Whiskey.
Our lingo is part of the Troutbitten culture. Here we go . . .Resources
READ: Troutbitten | Category | History
PODCAST: Troutbitten | The One With Sloop, Stories with a Fishing Friend S7 Ep12
PODCAST: Troutbitten | Fishing Buddies S5 Ep12
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OrvisSun, 24 Dec 2023 - 100 - Bad Habits That Hurt
We’re here to talk about bad habits — things that aren’t personal style but just bad form. These are bad habits that come with a consequence. These are, quite simply, mistakes. And in every case, there’s a much better way to do things.
We meet anglers from all over the country and the world, we often see these bad habits from good anglers. And inevitably, these are some of the key things that hold people back from going further — from catching more trout.
These are deal breakers -- bad habits that come with consequences, and habits that, once changed, open up new avenues and better opportunities.
Our intention here is to be helpful and not critical. We want to point out some of the worst habits that we see most often — the mistakes that a lot of good anglers still make and that hold them back. And these are mistakes — it’s almost right and wrong.
I always say there are no experts in fly fishing. So we are not experts. But all of us here are experienced. In fact, we’re experienced enough to have gone through many of these bad habits on our own and have corrected them. Our goal is to share a few of these habits and highlight what might go unnoticed by a pretty wide segment of our friends.
ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | All the Things
PODCAST: Troutbitten | The Inefficiencies that Waste Your Fishing Time - S3,Ep2
READ: Troutbitten | How Many Effective Fishing Minutes?
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OrvisSun, 17 Dec 2023 - 99 - Fishing With a Camera
This one is about taking photos and videos on the water, about camera gear, about keeping that gear safe but available, and even a few tips on taking a good fish selfie.
Photography is something that we see most anglers get into, at least a little bit. I’ve often described the fish selfie as the grand compromise of catch and release fishing. We don’t kill the trout and take it home to show it off to friends anymore. But we do want to share some of the best trout and our most memorable situations on the river. So we take photos and videos.
We plan for these trips, we look forward to them, we tie flies, we think about leaders, buy gear and read books about the region and the tactics. And when we finally get our boots in the water, we want to document these experiences — especially when the stars align and something remarkable happens.Resources
READ: Troutbitten | Fishing With a Camera
READ: Troutbitten | All the Things
PODCAST: Troutbitten | How to Handle a Trout, S1 Ep2
READ: Troutbitten | Their Heart in Your Hands
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OrvisSun, 10 Dec 2023 - 98 - Our Favorite Rivers
Some favorite rivers meander and roll through stunning scenery and enchanting tracts of wilderness. And most trout fishermen quickly realize that the pursuit of wild trout takes them into some of the most beautiful valleys on earth.
But some other favorite rivers run through towns or behind old factories. Maybe they’re paralleled by a highway or narrowly channeled by railroad tracks on either side. These places can be just as special, just as meaningful and treasured, for what they hold — for what they teach.
All of our favorite rivers have made an impact on who we are as a person — not just as an angler. Because, for so many fishermen, a home water is precisely that — a home. A place to rest. A place to seek comfort and rejuvenation. These rivers are places to share with those we love . . . or to seek an adventure alone.
Our favorite rivers are as integral to our experience as the rods, leaders, lines and tactics. They define our fishing, and they become part of our lives. In this episode, we share some history with these places and discuss what connects us to these moving waters.
Resources
READ: Troutbitten | The Secret
READ: Troutbitten | Right Here
PODCAST: Troutbitten | What to Love About Small Stream Fishing S7 Ep6
PODCAST: Troutbitten | Secrets and Spot Burning S3 Ep1
VIDEO: Troutbitten | The River Doesn't Owe You Anything
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OrvisSat, 02 Dec 2023 - 97 - What Works When and Why? -- Mono Rigs and Euro Nymphing Styles
This episode is a conversation about tight line leader styles. We share what we like best, what works for each of us and what does not. This is Part Two for the podcast that we two weeks ago, titled, “Tight Line, High Stick, Euro Nymph, Mono Rig -- What's the Difference and How Did We Get Here?”
While that first episode laid out a history of tight line tactics, this conversation is focused on howwe use these leaders. How do we fish the different leader builds for tight lining? What are the advantages and disadvantages of Standard, Thin and Micro-Thin Mono Rigs? What can we do with each of them?
My friends join me for a great discussion, full of deep experience and strong opinion.
ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | Category | The Mono Rig
READ: Troutbitten | Beyond Euro Nymphing
PODCAST: Troutbitten | Fly Fishing the Mono Rig — Versatility and the Tight Line Advantage Taken Further
READ: Troutbitten | Design and Function of the Troutbitten Standard Mono Rig
VIDEO: Troutbitten | Mono Rigs and Euro Rigs -- Micro Thin or Standard?
READ: Troutbitten | Thin and Micro-Thin Leaders for Euro Nymphing and the Mono Rig
READ: Troutbitten | The Full Mono Rig System — All the variations, with formulas and adjustments
READ: Troutbitten | What You're Missing By Following FIPS Competition Rules
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OrvisSun, 26 Nov 2023 - 96 - Coffee and Secrets (a story), and Catching Up
Here we are in the middle of season nine, and we’re doing something a little different. This is like an intermission between sets.
My wife, Becky, is here, and we’ll catch up on a few Troutbitten things, like updates to the Recommended Gear page and the upcoming fall leader sale.
I also have a listener email to share that really gets to the heart of what we all love about being out there on the water.
And then, I read one of my favorite Troutbitten stories from the archives. It’s titled, Coffee and Secrets, and I think it strikes at a similar sentiment about the intangible motivations that keep us involved in a fishing life.
ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | Recommended Gear
SHOP: Troutbitten | Leaders
READ: Troutbitten | Design and Function of the Troutbitten Standard Mono Rig
READ: Troutbitten | Coffee and Secrets
READ: Troutbitten | Some Days are Diamonds, Some Days are Rocks
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OrvisSun, 19 Nov 2023 - 95 - Tight Line, High Stick, Euro Nymph, Mono Rig -- What's the Difference and How Did We Get Here?
Over the years, nymphing has grown up a bit. There's more information, more styles and more acceptance of those styles than ever before. While nymphing was once seen as that thing you did when trout wouldn’t eat dry flies or wets, more anglers than ever choose nymphing first — as their go-to method for catching trout in all seasons. Because nymphing provides a unique complexity unlike anything else in fly fishing. And anglers who are dedicated to the craft take particular joy in seeing their refinements pay dividends.
All that is to say . . . nymphing is fun. And in large part, what makes it fun is the control that is gained through tight line tactics. Indeed, the popularization of contact nymphing systems coincides with the popularity and the surge of nymphing among the community.
One of the most frequent requests we receive is for a full breakdown on the differences between the tight line styles. What is euro nymphing, and how is it different than the Mono Rig? Can I tight line with a fly line and a shorter leader? Is that called high sticking? What are the key differences between Polish, Czech, French and Spanish nymphing styles? And how does a thinner or thicker tight line leader help or hurt my presentation?
Troutbitten has become synonymous with the Mono Rig. And while each of us at Troutbitten spends lots of time with traditional leaders and fly lines, we all enjoy the benefits gained from tight line tactics when fishing underneath the surface.
In this episode, Austin Dando and I walk through the differences between all of these styles. We provide some history and think objectively about how far the tight line game has come. And next week, the rest of the guys will join us to talk about the strengths and weaknesses, the advantages and disadvantages of what we call the standard, thin and micro thin mono rig leaders.
ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | Category | The Mono Rig
READ: Troutbitten | Beyond Euro Nymphing
PODCAST: Troutbitten | Fly Fishing the Mono Rig — Versatility and the Tight Line Advantage Taken Further
READ: Troutbitten | Design and Function of the Troutbitten Standard Mono Rig
VIDEO: Troutbitten | Mono Rigs and Euro Rigs -- Micro Thin or Standard?
READ: Troutbitten | Thin and Micro-Thin Leaders for Euro Nymphing and the Mono Rig
READ: Troutbitten | The Full Mono Rig System — All the variations, with formulas and adjustments
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OrvisSat, 11 Nov 2023 - 94 - The Stuff You Don't Need
Sometimes, an angler's love for gear becomes more important than the fishing itself, until the goal becomes a bigger collection of fishing gear instead of a collection of good fishing experiences. We’ve all seen this out there. And sometimes we have to actively fight that urge to want the next thing or believe that our deficiencies on the river can be solved with more gear.
The truth is, too much stuff gets in the way. Simplifying our approach, our fly selection and gear selection, usually wins. It can also make for a happier fisherman who feels like they know their tools and have confidence in their techniques.
But, having a few extra rods and reels is good too. And researching, planning for and then buying your next piece of gear is a fun process that can be inspiring. It can motivate you to get back to the river quickly and put your new stuff to the test. All things in moderation, right?
So part of our conversation in this episode is focused on the gear — the stuff you don’t need to have great days on the water, the stuff that might hold you back far more than help you out.
But another part of this episode is less tangible. Because it’s not always what we buy and stash in a fishing pack that gets in the way. Because, over time, it’s too easy to focus on finding the perfect water. Or we can look too hard for ideal weather and fishing conditions. Even the pursuit of some miraculous presentation can get in the way of our enjoyment and our progress.
For most anglers, our time on the water is often so limited that it’s easy to get wrapped up in all the daydreaming and planning, until gear acquisition syndrome creeps in. And then our time on the water is spent finding reasons that we need something else or the next thing.
The truth is, your best approach is to take the modest gear you own, hit some of the closest trout water you can find, and fish it hard. That’s what wins. And that was this podcast conversation is about.
ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | All the Things
READ: Troutbitten | Patience vs Persistence
READ: Troutbitten | Fish Hard
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OrvisSun, 05 Nov 2023 - 93 - Turning Around the Toughest Days — How to Save a Slow Fishing Trip
How do we handle tough days? How can we turn it around and start catching fish? When the going gets tough, how do we fix it? What are the strategies?
So, most things don’t turn out the way you had them planned. That’s life. But as you’re driving the dirt road toward your favorite trout water, thoughts and plans unfold in your mind. And while preparing for a destination trip, you expect success. Once you’re finally traveling halfway across the country to that river you’ve wanted to fish for decades, visions of the trout you’ll catch take over.
Your hopes and dreams of what will end up in the net are a primary motivator. And, aside from the fish, you might even be enthusiastic about a new fly rod, a new pair of waders or maybe an experimental leader that you tied up.
For all of this, and for the fishing itself, we expect success. We assume the positive. Because, as my friend Rich Alsippi loved to say, "the fisherman is eternally hopeful." Good anglers are optimists.
Why? Because fishing is filled with so much failure that anyone who stays in the game learns to look on the bright side, to see beyond the fish count, to get past tangled tippet, broken reels, lost flies in a tree and soaking wet clothes from falling in — again.
Things go bad out there. A trout river forces you into mistakes. And sometimes, the fishing is just tough. Trout don’t want to eat.
So you try everything you planned for. You know what should work, and you’ve fished it. But when it doesn’t . . . what do you do?
That’s what we’re here to talk about tonight . . .
ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | The Fisherman Is Eternally Hopeful
READ: Troutbitten | The Best Laid Plans of Fishermen often Go Awry
READ: Troutbitten | Fish HardVisit
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OrvisSun, 29 Oct 2023 - 92 - Trout Fishing and the Spawn
This conversation is about spawning trout. Specifically, we tackle the ethics of fishing during the spawn, whether it’s right or wrong to fish for trout that are actively in the process of making the next generation of trout.
Moreover, where do these ideas of what’s ethical or not come from, and why are the expectations confusing for a lot of anglers?
Is it okay to be on the water while trout are spawning, or should we simply stay away during the spawning season and let trout do their thing?
We branch out into different trout species, and we highlight how different regions, different rivers and different setups might require a different approach.
This topic can get a little contentious. Anglers have strong opinions about this, one way or another, and for many people there’s not much middle ground.
We’ve covered this topic before, in a couple Q&A sessions in different podcast seasons. But this topic deserves its own podcast, and it’s been on our list for a long while.
Trust me when I say that none of us are here to tell you how to fish or when to fish. But this topic is one that each of us has given a lot of thought to over the years. We’ve also seen anglers have a change of heart, and we’ve been around to witness some heated disagreements about this topic too.
READ: Troutbitten | Are We Taking the Safety of Trout Too Far
READ: Troutbitten | Redd Fish -- Should We Fish Through the Spawn or Stay Home?
READ: Troutbitten | Fish Hard
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OrvisSun, 22 Oct 2023 - 91 - How Has Fly Fishing Changed?
Everything changes. That’s the only constant. And in the fly fishing world, the tactics, the gear and how we share all of this information changes, even though what the trout eat and how they eat it pretty much stays the same.
That time frame, that snapshot, from where you entered the fly fishing world, shapes what you do on the water. And it’s amazing what just twenty calendar years does to that snapshot. Because a lot of your understanding about what is common, accepted or frowned upon is shaped right away, as you start researching and learning about this fishing thing that eventually becomes a big part of your life.
In this episode, my friends and I consider this topic: How have the tactics changed? How has the gear changed? How has the flow of information changed? And how has all of that changed the way we fish for trout?
ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | All The Things
READ: Troutbitten | Fishing with Friends
READ: Troutbitten | Angler Types in Profile -- The Rookie
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OrvisSun, 15 Oct 2023 - 90 - Night Fishing for Trout -- Nymphs, Wets and Pushers
In this six-part series we’ve covered locations, water types, weather, water and light conditions. We’ve talked about the gear, about flashlights and headlamps and glow in the dark stuff. We’ve considered what a good night plan looks like, having a strategy and then adapting.
Tactically, we’ve talked about drifting vs swinging flies, about three levels of the water column, about where to expect trout might feed the most after dark, and we’ve walked through top water patterns, emergers and streamers at night.
This week, we’re finishing the series with nymphs, wets and the Harvey Pusher Night flies. We discuss rigging and tactics for each of these fly types, where to fish them and how our presentations might differ at night from what we do in the daylight.
Resources
READ: Troutbitten | Category | Night Fishing
READ: Troutbitten | The Harvey Pusher Night Fly (with VIDEO)
READ: Troutbitten | Find Your Rabbit Hole
READ: Troutbitten | Night Fishing for Trout -- The Wiggle and Hang
READ: Troutbitten | Drop Shot Nymphing on a Tight Line Rig
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OrvisSun, 24 Sep 2023 - 89 - Night Fishing for Trout -- Topwater, Emergers and Streamers
This is the episode you’ve all been waiting for. Tonight, we talk about fishing the top water. And yes, that means mouse patterns — sometimes. We also dig into a fly style that we feel is often more effective, the mouse emerger concept at night. And we talk about fishing streamers after dark.
We cover the effectiveness of many different top water and streamer styles. And we discuss how the emerger concept combines the best of both fly platforms. We get into our favorite patterns and how we fish them.
ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | Category | Night Fishing
READ: Troutbitten | Streamer Presentations -- The Death Drift
READ: Troutbitten | Of Mice and Fishermen
READ: Troutbitten | Night Fishing for Trout -- You're Gonna Need a Bigger Rope
PODCAST: Troutbitten | Night Fishing and the Mouse Emerger Concept
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OrvisSun, 17 Sep 2023 - 88 - Night Fishing for Trout -- Planning and Adapting Locations and Tactics
All fishing trips benefit from a good plan, and most of us couldn’t stop planning, hoping and dreaming about an upcoming trip if we wanted to. Our night fishing plans are a good beginning. Aimed toward solving the mysteries after dark, these plans are formed around expectations and based on the conditions.
Where are the trout, and how are they feeding?
Building flexibility into our plans helps solve these questions. It’s our willingness to adapt, to walk around the bend, to work upstream instead of down or to clip off the top water pattern and rig up for wet flies -- that's what helps answer questions and put trout in the net. Trusting our instincts is the first part. And following through — making the changes — is the second.
ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | Category | Night Fishing
READ: Troutbitten | Night Fishing for Trout -- Location, Location, Location
READ: Troutbitten | What to Trust
READ: Troutbitten | Who Knows Better Than You
PODCAST: Troutbitten | An Introduction to Night Fishing for Trout -- S3, Ep14
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OrvisSat, 09 Sep 2023 - 87 - Night Fishing for Trout -- Swinging and DriftingWe night fish with many different fly types: surface patterns, mouse emerges, streamers, wet flies, nymphs and Harvey Pushers. And all of these flies can be presented in two very different ways — drifting and swinging.
There’s a lot of variety within these two categories. There are many ways to do both. And every fly type may seem to have its best or most effective presentation, drifting or swinging, but when that’s not working, the first and easiest thing to do, before changing the fly type, is to simply change the direction the flies are fished, from swinging to drifting or vice versa.
Drifting is fishing the flies with the current. Swinging is fishing the flies against the current. In this episode, we consider the differences between the two and the advantage of each.
Resources
READ: Troutbitten | Category | Night Fishing
READ: Troutbitten | Streamer Presentations -- The Death Drift
READ: Troutbitten | Streamer Presentations -- The Deadly Slow Slide
READ: Troutbitten | Night Fishing for Trout -- Drifting and Swinging Flies
READ: Troutbitten | Night Fishing for Trout -- Backstory: Drifting and Swinging Flies
PODCAST: Troutbitten | An Introduction to Night Fishing for Trout -- S3, Ep14
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OrvisSun, 03 Sep 2023 - 86 - Night Fishing for Trout: Lights -- Natural and Artificial
In this second part of the Night Fishing for Trout Skills Series on Troutbitten, we consider light. First the naturals, like moonlight and starlight, then we discuss city lights and other artificials, like our own flashlights and headlamps. Lastly, we’ll discuss the use of glow-in-the-dark stuff, like fly lines, indicators and more.
I'm joined by my night fishing friends, Austin Dando, Trevor Smith and Josh Darling.
Night fishing always comes down to what we can see and what we can’t. Of course we use our other senses. And yes, those senses are heightened, and we often rely on feel more than our limited sight in the relative darkness.
But it is not pitch black out there, especially when we attain and then preserve good night vision. So we navigate the evening from shadows and outlines, pitching unseen flies beyond the visible perimeter and tracking those flies through the feel of a line in our hand, by sensing the load on our rod tip and by sometimes following something that glows in the dark.
Light affects the fishing, but it also affects the fish. And while trout seem to prefer darker nights, they might also feed better with a few stars in the sky for a nightlight.
ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | Category | Night Fishing
READ: Troutbitten | Night Fishing for Trout -- Moonlight, Starlight and City Light
READ: Troutbitten | Night Fishing for Trout -- Headlamps, Flashlights and Glow in the Dark Stuff
PODCAST: Troutbitten | An Introduction to Night Fishing for Trout -- S3, Ep14
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OrvisSun, 27 Aug 2023 - 85 - Night Fishing for Trout: People, Places and Things
This season is a skills series about fishing for trout after the sun goes down. And for the next six episodes, we’ll break down the night game into an outline that roughly follows the topics of a series that I published on Troutbitten, titled, Night Fishing for Trout.
My night fishing friends are joining me for this episode -- Josh, Trevor and Austin. These are the only night fishing companions I’ve ever had. Because the truth is, most anglers simply will not fish in the dark very often. But these guys do. And it takes a certain kind of angler to pursue trout into the night.
What kind of angler fishes after dark? What are their motivations and rewards? That's our first topic in this episode.
Where does night fishing for trout happen? Where are the best places to catch trout after dark? That's our second topic in this episode.
And lastly, what kind of gear and tactics will we cover in this series? What are some of the odd things about night fishing we might encounter?
This season, the six-part Night Fishing for Trout Skills skills series from Troutbitten, is an in depth look into the game of fishing for trout after dark. We hope you enjoy it.
ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | Category | Night Fishing
READ: Troutbitten | Night Fishing for Trout -- Fight or Flight
PODCAST: Troutbitten | An Introduction to Night Fishing for Trout -- S3, Ep14
PODCAST: Troutbitten | Night Fishing and the Mouse Emerger Concept -- S1, Ep3
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OrvisSun, 20 Aug 2023 - 84 - Summer Catch Up '23 -- The Fishing, The Shop, Videos and More
We’re in between podcast season, and it's time for an update about what’s going on with Troutbitten. My wife, Becky, joins me to talk about the past, the present and the near future.
The summer Troutbitten Shop leader sale launches on Monday morning, July 31st. All Troutbitten leaders will be back in stock: Harvey, Standard, Thin and Micro Thin Mono Rigs, Full Kits and Standard Sighters. Also in the shop are new hats and tee shirts in collaboration with New Trail Brewing Company.
My Guide Schedule for fall of '24 has been full for a while now. And my spring season is a little over half booked up. I will open dates for fall '24 on September 20th, next month. Bill and Austin will have available dates for this fall pretty soon. So if you are still looking for a date this fall, be in touch.
The Troutbitten YouTube channel continues to grow fast. I've spent a lot of time learning to film and edit, and I'm working on a Fish and Film series that should be out by the beginning of October. These are first-person-style videos that also mix in other camera angles. These are videos that simply show the fishing and the experience of being on the river, highlighting the decisions made to be versatile and to meet fish on their own terms. Josh Darling and I will continue to publish videos every other week. Those videos are in one of these categories: Troutbitten Tips, Fish and Film, Troutbitten Fly Box, Fishing the Mono Rig.
The Troutbitten Podcast continues with Season 8, beginning on August 20th. This is a six part Skills Series covering Night Fishing for Trout. After that, we’ll take a couple weeks off until Season 9 of the Troutbitten Podcast begins on October 15 and runs until Christmas time.
ResourcesSHOP: Troutbitten | The Troutbitten Shop
GUIDE: Troutbitten | Troutbitten Guided Fishing Trips
VIDEOS: Troutbitten | Troutbitten Videos
PODCASTS: Troutbitten | The Troutbitten PodcastVisit
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OrvisSat, 29 Jul 2023 - 83 - The One With Sloop - Stories With a Troutbitten Friend
Every Troutbitten regular knows about Sloop. We’ve referred to our friend on nearly every podcast, especially in the last few seasons, as it’s become a running contest to see how we can sneak in a Sloop John B reference.
So we’re excited to have John here. Because what we all find so rewarding about this life on the water are the friendships. We form deep bonds with people because they are . . . fishermen. Because they too are captivated by the trout, by the places trout take us and by the refinement of tactics required to catch a wild trout.
Our friends are at the heart of it all. And really, that’s what we’re adding in tonight — another friend, and possibly the deepest friend to Troutbitten, if we consider how all this started. Sloop tied it all together from the beginning.
Here are good stories and fun with our friend, John Burgos (Sloop).
ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | How It Started
READ: Troutbitten | Fishing With Friends
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OrvisSun, 02 Jul 2023 - 82 - The Airing of Grievances 2
We're back for the annual airing of grievances, here to call out what's wrong in the fly fishing industry.
Some of our grievances are lighthearted silliness that doesn't really matter, but it’s fun to roast or to call out. But there’s another kind of grievance too. Because a lot of the stuff going on in the fly fishing industry isn’t really good for anyone — or maybe it’s only good for a few. Because the industry — and by that I mean you, me, the fly fishing companies, and all the media around it — picks up trends. Then it pushes and pulls anglers in that direction. And sometimes, what is served up doesn’t benefit the average angler. It’s not helpful.
So there are problems. And this episode is for highlighting some of the worst. Because it's fair to call balls and strikes, and because it helps to acknowledge that things could be better and try to make a change.
Resources
PODCAST: Troutbitten | The Airing of Grievances, S3, Ep13
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OrvisSun, 25 Jun 2023 - 81 - Why We All Love Big Trout
This episode is about big trout -- what they mean to us, why we chase them, and how catching a top tier wild trout often leaves a bookmark in the story of our fishing lives.
We love big trout because they give us the shakes. Because they elude us. Because they are rare. And because fooling a top tier trout serves as an accomplishment that we know comes from persistence and from knowledge gained over seasons of fishing.
Time. That’s what it always comes down to. Because big trout don’t show up every day. The rarity of the occasion often puts the capstone on a special trip, and these fish serve as icons in our history. They’re something to look back on, to share with trusted friends, or divide part of our life into what occurred before a big fish and what happened after.
Because pursuing legendary fish takes us on a journey like none other, leading us into places unimagined and providing moments that bring a vibrancy to our daily life.
READ: Troutbitten | The Shakes, and Why We Love Big Trout
READ: Troutbitten | What Does It Take to Catch a Big Trout?
READ: Troutbitten | Some Days Are Diamonds, Some Days Are Rocks
READ: Troutbitten | Wild vs Stocked -- The Hierarchy of Trout in Pennsylvania
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OrvisSun, 18 Jun 2023 - 80 - That's Not Fly Fishing -- What It Is, What It Isn't, Who Cares
“That’s Not Fly Fishing.” How many times have you heard this at the bar or seen someone write it on social media? When the way you are fishing isn’t up to someone’s standards, when it doesn’t align with their own preferences, it seems that this frequent argument comes out easily — That’s not fly fishing!
Of course, there is no single definition for what fly fishing is. The fly rod is a tool. Flies are the bait. And how anglers choose to use them is where personal creativity comes in. It’s that inventiveness and room for imagination that makes fly fishing so attractive to us in the first place.
How can we do things better? How can we use these tools to catch more trout?
Every angler draws their own lines for what fly fishing is. And this episode is not just for talking through what fly fishing might be and where each of us might draw the lines. Instead, we’d like to acknowledge the absurdity of the lines themselves — the decisions we make about what is fly fishing and what is not.
How can someone be so adamantly against tight line tactics, but gladly fish a bobber and split shot all day? This makes no sense.
How can you be all in on tungsten beads but claim that adding split shot makes it not fly fishing?
Likewise, how can you be against a ball jighead on a streamer but have a full box of dumbell eyes? Is it because Bob Clouser told everyone it’s okay?
These absurdities, and these questions are what we’re here to talk about tonight. There’s a lot to this one, and we have plenty of conversations with a full house.Resources
READ: Troutbitten | Where the Lines Are Drawn
READ: Troutbitten | Fly Fishing the Mono Rig Q&A -- Lines, Rigging and the Skeptics
READ: Troutbitten | No Limits -- Use Every Type of Weight Available
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OrvisSun, 11 Jun 2023 - 79 - This Is The End -- A Story
This episode is a brief pause in season seven of the podcast to share something that I published to Troutbitten in the early years.
The last two weeks have been a whirlwind of emotion and activity. The days were filled with energy and adrenaline, as my youngest son's Little League baseball team won the league championship. They battled through two weeks of playoffs and took the title in the last series, where every game was decided in the final inning.
I've coached Little League for nine years, and this was my last. My youngest son is twelve, and this was his senior year of Little League.
To see it all end in such dramatic fashion was a gift. But the biggest emotions, from caring about something so deeply, are always a gift, whether that's in victory or defeat, love or loss.
When the Knights were on the edge of winning or losing the championship series, the day before the final game, I kept thinking about an experience I had with one of the largest trout I've ever lost. Years ago, I wrote that into a story on Troutbitten.
This episode is a l reading of a story that I first published on July 15, 2015, titled, This Is The End.
It's also a little about baseball.
ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | This Is The End
READ: Troutbitten | Some Days Are Diamonds, Some Days Are Rocks
READ: Troutbitten | Category | Stories
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OrvisSun, 04 Jun 2023 - 78 - Vest, Pack or Something Else? Carrying Your Gear
What’s the best way to carry your gear? Should you use a vest, a chest pack, hip pack, sling pack or something else?
Best to have one system or many?Carrying a net, water, and other heavy itemsMinimalist setupsThe disaster of a sling packThe benefit of everything up frontStorage and convenienceLarge pockets or many pocketsWhat about getting wet?. . . and much more
How you choose to carry gear is a personal and situational choice. It has everything to do with what you need to carry, and how far you like to walk. Do you need to carry extra layers and a raincoat, and how many tactics do you want to be ready for? Streamers, nymphs, dry flies and wets . . . or just dries?
We have more choices than ever before, but it pays to think about efficiency when selecting a carrying system. Because a big part of being versatile on the water is having easy access to whatever you need, right when you need it.
We Cover the FollowingResources
READ: Troutbitten | Pack or Vest? Why I'm a Vest Guy
READ: Troutbitten | 100 Day Gear Review -- Simms G3 Guide Vest
LISTEN: Troutbitten | PODCAST -- The Efficiencies that Waste Your Fishing Time
LISTEN: Troutbitten | PODCAST -- The Versatile Angler
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OrvisSun, 28 May 2023 - 77 - Talking About Tippet -- Size, Strength, Length and Rigging
The leader might be the most important piece of gear that we have -- more consequential than the rod, the fly line, or even the fly itself. And of course, at the tail end of the leader is the tippet.
Fluorocarbon vs nylonFly size and tippet selectionThe importance of flexibility in tippetThe importance of turnover in tippetDry fly leader tapers in the tippet sectionDurability and abrasion resistanceDo you really need 8X?Are trout leader shy?Tippet selection for improved sink rate. . . and more
All anglers must make decisions about tippet every day. What size and strength? What type of tippet? And how long should the tippet section be? Because, what might seem like a small decision, can have a big impact on the presentation of the fly, leading to failure or success.
Some of these decisions are almost right and wrong. Meaning, there’s a way to do it that works and a way that just does not work. However, there’s a lot more room for personal preference, style and situations in these tippet decisions than there is right or wrong.
In this episode, the Troutbitten crew talks through these tippet decisions around the scenarios of fishing streamers, fishing dry flies and fishing nymphs.
We Cover the Following
ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | The George Harvey Leader Design
READ: Troutbitten | Why You Might Not Need of the Crutch of 6X and Smaller Tippets
READ: Troutbitten | Fly Shop Fluorocarbon to Expensive? Try Invizx
READ: Troutbitten | You Need Turnover
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OrvisSun, 21 May 2023 - 76 - What to Love About Small Stream Fishing
This podcast is about small stream fishing — specifically, what we love about the places, the fish, the tactics and the experience of fishing smaller trout waters.
Finding solitudeReaching back into our own historyWild and native fishLeader tips for small watersRod lengths for small watersThe purity of experienceCooler temps, with more shadeWilling trout in smaller watersScenery. . . and more
These are trout streams that are no wider than the dirt road that you drove in on. And for every blue ribbon trout river, for every destination water that is raved about in the guidebooks and makes every angler’s bucket list, there are numerous tributaries to these main rivers that are mostly overlooked. We see this everywhere we go — small streams get no respect. They’re mostly an afterthought.
We fish small streams for the adventure, for the exploration and the experience. We fish smalls streams in search of wild trout in wild places. And we fish small streams because the challenges of fly fishing these waters teaches us everything we ever need to know about fishing bigger rivers.
We Cover the FollowingResources
READ: Troutbitten | Right Here
READ: Troutbitten | Where it All Started
READ: Troutbitten | Hardbody
READ: Troutbitten | VIDEO - The River Doesn't Owe You Anything
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OrvisSun, 14 May 2023 - 75 - Good Wading, Better Fishing -- How Wading Skills Change Everything
This episode is about wading a river. Good wading. Better wading. Confident wading. Because, for a river angler, nothing is more important. Good wading is not just walking from place to place, it's an almost constant, fluid motion, and fly fishing requires great footwork along the way.
Should anglers move while casting?Why does good wading make such a difference?Wading, not walkingConstant motionReading the waterBody positioningPolarized lenses for good wadingThe best boots for wadingBoot studs and tractionThe right wading staff setup. . . and more.
I meet a lot of anglers who approach a river all wrong. They wade into a spot, set up, and then cast to every piece of water they can reach (at all angles) before picking up and wading again to repeat the process. But this is rarely the best approach.
Consider the variables: There’s a distance at which you are most accurate. There’s a light angle that is most advantageous. There’s a certain water type where trout are feeding more agreeably. So the best river anglers move, almost constantly, setting themselves up to best approach the next great piece of water.
As wading anglers, we must wade efficiently. It’s that simple. And good wading skills change the game like nothing else. When you are comfortable and confident in the water — when you can easily move to the other side just because the light angles are better, the river opens up in a whole new way.
The Troutbitten guys join me to walk through some of our best wading tips.
We Cover the FollowingResources
READ: Troutbitten | It's Wading, Not Walking
READ: Troutbitten | We Wade
READ: Troutbitten | Tips for Better Wading and More Trout
READ: Troutbitten | VIDEO - The Only Way to Carry a Wading Staff
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OrvisSun, 07 May 2023 - 74 - High Water, Dirty Water, Muddy Water
What can we do when the rains come, when the snow melts, or when the floodgates open?
What is muddy and what is dirty?Do trout feed more in high water?How does high water help the angler?How can we avoid high water?When is high water too high?How do we change tactics to approach high water?Is it better on the way up or the way down?. . . and more
Rivers rise in many different ways. From quick and heavy summer thunderstorms, to the steady light rain that remains for days at a time. There’s the gradual release of melting snowpack and then heavy rains on that same snow that pushes high volumes of cold water into the rivers. Then too, there’s the generation of hydroelectric dams where the river might triple in flow, on a schedule.
In all of these ways, rivers rise. And the responses from trout can be different in each case. Yet, as anglers, there are some things about our approach to high water situations that always hold true.
Muddy water is miserable. But to us, dirty water is an invitation into some of our favorite tactics on a fly rod.
These conditions are an opportunity. Because a changing river system offers trout new opportunities. It breaks trout from their routines and can have them feeding fast. However, as anglers who are approaching high water conditions, we need to assess those changes and see the river anew.
High water can be a wonderful time to be out there. At flood stage? Or in the near-zero visibility of muddy water? Probably not. But there’s a wide range of conditions that exist between what most anglers see as perfect and then . . . blown out. And for many of us, we’d rather fish on the high side of things than the low side.
We Cover the FollowingResources
READ: Troutbitten | Dirty Water -- Tight Targets
READ: Troutbitten | River and Rain
READ: Troutbitten | A List of Fisherman's Excuses
READ: Troutbitten | Fish It Anyway
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OrvisSun, 30 Apr 2023 - 73 - What Is More Difficult? Fishing Dry Flies or Nymphs?
We have a fun conversation for this episode, about what’s more difficult — nymphs or dry flies. This is not a talk about which tactic is better. And this discussion isn’t even about which one we might like more.
The confusing boundaries of this conversationWhy anglers are protective of what they like bestHow that holds an angler backTight line complexitiesDry fly complexitiesWhere bias comes fromA few streamer thoughts. . . and more
What is more difficult? Nymphs or dries? This is a valuable exercise and an important discussion . . .
Just because nymphing might usually produce more trout, doesn’t mean it is easier. And how many trout we catch on each style is not the point. Try getting true, convincing dead drifts on a nymph. It is, quite simply, harder to achieve than a dry fly, because you can’t see success on the invisible flies underneath, and because the complexity of currents is far more intricate in three dimensions.
But many people just don’t take it that far with nymphing. They think their drifts are good enough, because they caught a few fish (maybe more than they did on dries.) But excellent nymphing requires excellent effort. And a lot more trout can be caught by acknowledging that kind of difficulty. The ceiling is high. And realizing that is the value of this discussion.
We Cover the FollowingResources
READ: Troutbitten | The Nymph Angler is Sustainable
READ: Troutbitten | The George Harvey Leader Design
READ: Troutbitten | That's Not a Dead Drift
PODCAST: Troutbitten | Find Your Rabbit Hole
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OrvisSun, 23 Apr 2023 - 72 - Angler Pressure TWO -- What It Does to the Fishing
This is the second episode of our two part discussion on angler pressure. Last time, we talked about how fishing pressure affects the fish — how they respond to more fishermen placing more casts and drifts in the waters around them — how trout change, both short term and long term.
Water selectionFinding fresh fishWild vs Stocked response to angler pressureHow long until a trout resets from angler pressureGenetically passing on the effects of angler pressurePresentations, convinced or curious?Patterns, natural or attractive?. . . and more
And now, we’re building on those thoughts and offering some solutions. Because if trout are adapting their habits in response to us, then we must modify our own approach to stay one step ahead of the fish.
I used that phrase in the last podcast a couple of times too. And it’s a good way to think about it. Our fishing is based on fooling a trout. What are they looking to eat? How can we attract them to a fly and then convince them to eat it, right? And while you might have the methods and flies necessary to fool your local trout right now, it might not work just a few years from now. Because trout and the rivers they live in are always changing. So our approach must keep changing too. It’s just another aspect of trout fishing that makes it all so wonderfully complicated.
It’s also why we like to fish for wild trout . . .
We Cover the FollowingResources
READ: Troutbitten | Front Ended -- Can We Stop Doing This to Each Other?
READ: Troutbitten | Natural vs Attractive Presentations
READ: Troutbitten | Why Everyone Fishes the Same Water and What to Do About It
PODCAST: Troutbitten | Rude On the River -- Front Ended and the Golden Rule
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OrvisSun, 16 Apr 2023 - 71 - Angler Pressure ONE -- What It Does to the Fish
Season 7 of the Troutbitten Podcast begins with a two-part discussion on angler pressure. This is a big one. It’s a topic that everyone in the fishing world loves to talk about. People complain about angler pressure, and they have theories about how it changes things.
Trout selectivityFeeding patternsMigrationGrowth ratesTrout conditioningGrouping up or spreading outMortality rates. . . and more
In this episode, we discuss how angler pressure affects the fish. And for the next episode, the topic will be how angler pressure affects the fishing. One topic sets up a good conversation of the other.
Angler pressure probably isn’t going to trend the other way. For most of us, more casts are made to the waters we fish, by more anglers than ever before. Because there are more fishermen, just as there are more runners, golfers and bikers. Every sport these days has better access to information about techniques, about where and when to go, and there’s specialized gear that is easily available and fun to buy.
We Cover the FollowingResources
READ: Troutbitten | Front Ended -- Can We Stop Doing This to Each Other?
READ: Troutbitten | Natural vs Attractive Presentations
READ: Troutbitten | Why Everyone Fishes the Same Water and What to Do About It
PODCAST: Troutbitten | Rude On the River -- Front Ended and the Golden Rule
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OrvisSun, 09 Apr 2023 - 70 - Fish It Anyway -- A Story
Troutbitten is about the pursuit of fishing tactics. It’s about discovering new techniques and improving our skills. We don’t want to hope something will happen out there. We try to make it happen. And that element of fly fishing, where there’s always something new to try, is what is so attractive to those of us who dedicate much of our lives to the river.
But there’s another side to this love of pursuing trout. And I once wrote it down in an article this way:
"There are two sides to every fisherman: one that simply enjoys being on the water (hoping to catch a fish), and the other that desperately wants to know how to put more fish in the net. These two parts find an internal balance inside every long-term angler that I know."
Among the nearly one-thousand articles published on Troutbitten, I strive to reflect this balance. The Stories category of the website carries the heart and soul of this project. And if I were limited to writing stories or tactical pieces only, I would no doubt hold on to the stories. I love this kind of writing.
This episode is a reading of a story that I first published on February 23, 2022, titled, Fish It Anyway . . .
ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | Fish It Anyway
READ: Troutbitten | Category | Stories
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OrvisSat, 25 Mar 2023 - 69 - Catching Up -- Spring 2023
Season Seven will begin on April 10th. But in between seasons, I want to catch you up on a few things that are going on with Troutbitten.
Just a few years ago, Troutbitten was the website only. I wrote and published articles three times a week. Now it’s a multi-media company with many branches — there’s the podcast, the videos, the online shop, hosted events and, of course, the guide business.
Here's what's going on in the Troutbitten world . . .
ResourcesVIDEO: Troutbitten | Mono Rigs and Euro Leaders -- Micro Thin or Standard?
SHOP: Troutbitten | The Troutbitten Shop
PODCASTS: Troutbitten | Podcast Home
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OrvisSun, 19 Mar 2023 - 68 - Winter Fly Fishing Skill #8 -- Full Crew Conversation with Stories and Tactics
Here we are at the end of Season 6 -- the Troutbitten Winter Skills Series. This is episode 8 of the series, and I’m here with a full crew of friends to wrap things up, to hear some stories and dig into a few more tips for fly fishing in the winter months.
More streamer tipsRiggingAccess issuesWinter preparationMore nymphing tipsDry fly expectationsThis winter vs other winters . . . and more
This is a great conversation with my best fishing friends. And this discussion is a nice endcap on a full season dedicated to fly fishing in the winter months.
We Cover the FollowingResources
READ: Troutbitten | Category | Fly Fishing in the Winter
READ: Troutbitten | Winter Fly Fishing -- Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes
READ: Troutbitten | Fly Fishing in the Winter -- Ice In the Guides
READ: Troutbitten | Fly Fishing in the Winter -- Something Is Always Gonna Hurt
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OrvisSun, 05 Mar 2023 - 67 - Winter Fly Fishing Skills #7 -- Problems and Solutions
My good friend, Austin Dando, joins me to address many of the troubles with winter fishing. In this Winter Skills Series, we’ve been through the tactics, with dry flies, streamers and nymphs. We've talked about how to stay warm out there, and we’ve saved this topic for last.
Ice in the guidesAccessVisibilityRegulating heatFalling inFreezing reelsFinding troutStaying versatile . . . and more
There are a host of reasons that anglers stay home in the winter. Some are legitimate -- there's no good solution for the problem, and you learn to deal with it the best you can. We talk about some of those. But other perceived problems really aren’t much of any issue at all, if you have a plan and a solution. We address a few of those too.
We Cover the Following
ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | Category | Fly Fishing in the Winter
READ: Troutbitten | Winter Fly Fishing -- Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes
READ: Troutbitten | Fly Fishing in the Winter -- Ice In the Guides
READ: Troutbitten | Fly Fishing in the Winter -- Something Is Always Gonna Hurt
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OrvisSun, 26 Feb 2023 - 66 - Winter Fly Fishing Skills #6 -- Dry Fly Fishing in the Winter
With this Troutbitten skills series on winter fishing. We’ve covered locations and expectations, where to find trout, and their wintertime habits. We did two full podcasts on staying warm from head to toe. We talked about fishing nymphs in these waters, streamers in these waters, and now we’re ready to talk about dry flies.
Where to find rising troutRegional and geographical variationsExpected hatchesSpring waters, tailwaters, freestonersWater types for small fliesHatches and patterns to matchWhy local knowledge is supremeThe dead drift is everythingPresentation specificsLeader adjustmentsFishing two driesFishing dry dropper in the winter . . . and more
Specifically, this conversation is dedicated to what is different or unique about fishing dry flies in the winter, versus other times of the year.
My friend, Austin Dando, joins me for a great conversation about the floaters. This is a fun one.
We Cover the FollowingResources
READ: Troutbitten | Category | Fly Fishing in the Winter
READ: Troutbitten | The George Harvey Leader Design
READ: Troutbitten | Category | Dry Fly Fishing
PODCAST: Troutbitten | Hatches and Strategies, S3 Ep3
READ: Troutbitten | That's Not a Dead Drift
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OrvisSun, 19 Feb 2023 - 65 - Winter Fly Fishing Skills #5 -- Streamer Fishing in the Winter
A streamer is not only a great change-up in the winter, it can be the best fly in your box - if you fish it well. There are some changes to make for a wintertime streamer approach, versus the warmer seasons. And those nuances in presentation make all the difference.
Why, when, where and howGear for winter streamersThe flies and the linesBenefits of fishing streamers in the winterPresentation specificsThe Super-PauseLow and slow?Water types to focus onHow far will a trout move?Stripping, jigging, drifting. . . and more
In this episode my friend, Austin Dando, and I share our best tips for fishing streamers in the winter.
We Cover the Following
ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | Category | Fly Fishing in the Winter
PODCAST: Troutbitten | S1 Ep 14 -- Winter Fly Fishing
READ: Troutbitten | Category | Streamers
READ: Troutbitten | Streamer Presentations -- Quick or Smooth?
READ: Troutbitten | Streamer Presentations -- Strips, Jigs and Jerks
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OrvisSun, 12 Feb 2023 - 64 - Winter Fly Fishing Skills #4 -- Nymphing in the Winter
In this episode, we dive deep into winter nymphing strategies. Specifically, we highlight what is different and what is unique about nymphing in the winter versus other seasons.
Why nymphing is our favorite winter tacticTrout behaviors in cold waterMore predictable water types, methods and fly selectionLow and slow?Trout grouping and trout spreading outFavorite rigs, tight line and indyFavorite fliesFly pairings and placementLong drifts vs short driftsBobber holes
With fewer hatches and with trout that are less willing to move for a fly, presenting a nymph to winter fish is often our best strategy. But having success requires a refined approach, and winter nymphing can seem like the toughest of the year. However, with a great presentation and a good understanding of where fish feed in colder water, trout can be caught. In fact, with these skills, winter nymphing may sometimes provide the fastest fishing of the year.
We Cover the FollowingResources
READ: Troutbitten | Category | Fly Fishing in the Winter
PODCAST: Troutbitten | S1 Ep 14 -- Winter Fly Fishing
READ: Troutbitten | Fly Fishing in the Winter -- The Go-To Nymphing Rig
READ: Troutbitten | Fly Fishing in the Winter -- The Secondary Nymphing Rig
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OrvisSun, 05 Feb 2023 - 63 - Winter Fly Fishing Skills #3 -- Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes
Here's a full podcast dedicated to staying warm, from head to toe. Because sometimes, staying warm and functional in the winter is far more important than the tactics. The cold becomes our biggest challenge.
This episode is about keeping the cold out, the heat in and fishing hard — all day long, in even the roughest weather. More specifically, it's about regulating your body heat while on the river.
How to regulate heat with layers and zippersStaying mobile with flexible layers that hold in heat and let it goBest materials for each zone, each layerHats, buffs, balaclavas, hoodsDark colors and UV raysBase layers, insulating layers, outer layersWinters waders, winter bootsSocksHeat packsBattery solutions. . . more
In This Episode, We Cover the FollowingResources
READ: Troutbitten | Category | Fly Fishing in the Winter
PODCAST: Troutbitten | S1 Ep 14 -- Winter Fly Fishing
READ: Troutbitten | Fly Fishing in the Winter -- Head, Shoulder, Knees and Toes
READ: Troutbitten | Winter -- Something Is Always Going to Hurt
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OrvisSun, 29 Jan 2023 - 62 - Winter Fly Fishing Skills #2 -- Your Hands
Cold. That is what defines winter fishing. We acknowledged in the last podcast that the cold — or really the inability to deal with it — is one of the main reasons anglers stay home.
So that’s why I think any in-depth discussion about winter fishing really has to start with how to stay warm. If you’re so cold that you can’t function normally, you just won’t fish well.
In next week’s podcast, we’re going to get deep into all of it — keeping your whole body warm, from head to toe. And not just warm, but ready for fishing, walking, wading and hiking a little. But in this episode, we’re starting with your hands — just your hands. Because there’s a lot to this. And maybe nothing is more important. We need warm hands -- working hands -- to fish in the coldest weather we encounter and stay out there, catching fish and meeting the challenges that winter fishing can bring.
Why fly anglers need two handsThe benefit of body heatSomething is still going to hurtKeep your hands dryDoes everyone need gloves?Types of glovesWool, fleece, nitrileHeat packs (Hot Hands)Using your pocketsWrist bands
In This Episode, We Cover the Following
ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | Category | Fly Fishing in the Winter
PODCAST: Troutbitten | S1, Ep 14 -- Winter Fly Fishing
READ: Troutbitten | Fly Fishing in the Winter -- Your Hands
READ: Troutbitten | Winter -- Something Is Always Going to Hurt
READ: Troutbitten | Winter Pregarme
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OrvisSun, 22 Jan 2023 - 61 - Winter Fly Fishing Skills #1 -- The System and The Plan
Season Six of the Troutbitten podcast begins. This is an eight part Skill Series about fly fishing in the winter months, and episode one is an overview of the series, along with details about where to find trout and in what water type we should expect them to eat. This episode is about our approach, with advice on time of day, fly strategy, covering water to suite the river and reading what the trout want for the moment.
I'm joined this season by my co-host, Austin Dando.
This Skills Series format is designed with less conversation and more detail.
The System / The PlanYour HandsHead, Shoulders, Knees and ToesNymphing in the WinterStreamer Fishing in the WinterDry Flies, Midges, Emergers and MoreWinter Problems, Winter SolutionsRoundtable Review
Here Are the Winter Skills Series Episode Titles:In This Episode, We Cover the Following
What does winter meanAir temperatures and water temperaturesEnjoying the struggleCracking the winter codeWinter predictabilityWhere to expect troutRiver types and water typesFinding feeding fishMove and fishNymphing, streamers dry fliesWhy don't more anglers fish in the winter?The experience
ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | Category | Fly Fishing in the Winter
PODCAST: Troutbitten | S1 Ep 14 -- Winter Fly Fishing
READ: Troutbitten | Winter -- Something Is Always Going to Hurt
READ: Troutbitten | Fly Fishing in the Winter -- The System
READ: Troutbitten | Winter Welcome Home
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OrvisSun, 15 Jan 2023 - 60 - Fishing Buddies
For the finale of Season Five of the Troutbitten Podcast and to wrap up 2022, we’re closing the curtain with an episode about fishing buddies — why we need them, how to find them and how to keep them for a lifetime.
We talk about what makes a good, bad or great fishing companion and share some experiences about a few would-be friendships gone wrong.
What qualities are needed in a great river companion?How to meet new fishing friendsWhy do we need fishing friends?How many is too many?How the Troutbitten crew came togetherRiver friends who didn't work outNew Year's resolutions for 2023
We Cover the Following
ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | Fish With Friends
READ: Troutbitten | How to Fish With Friends
READ: Troutbitten | Respect the Spots, Man!
READ: Troutbitten | Rivers and Friends
READ: Troutbitten | Lost Fishing Friends
READ: Troutbitten | I'll Meet You Upstream
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OrvisSun, 18 Dec 2022 - 59 - What to Trust
One of the most captivating aspects of fly fishing is the seemingly endless variety of approaches, tactics and strategies that are available with a fly rod in our hands. There are so many things to learn that put trout in the net. And we quickly understand that there’s a lifetime of education for us if we want it.
Are there experts in fly fishing?What is an expert?Are the best anglers well known?Who have you learned from the most?How have you learned the most?How can you pick out bad information?Can we trust the trout?Learning to trust yourselfEnjoying the experience
So we combine our time on the water with conversations that we have with friends. We read books and articles. We watch videos. Maybe we listen to podcasts. And yes, we might even learn something from social media.
But with so many sources in easy reach, sorting through the flood of information can be overwhelming. How do you weigh the value or the validity of these sources? These days, conflicting information — conflicting opinions — seem to be right next to each other.
So . . . what should you trust? How do you sift through the overflowing bank of information and find what works?
That is what this episode is about.
We Cover the FollowingResources
READ: Troutbitten | Find Your Rabbit Hole
READ: Troutbitten | Who Knows Better Than You?
READ: Troutbitten | Explore - Learn -Return
READ: Troutbitten | What To Trust
READ: Troutbitten | Never Blame the Fish
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OrvisSun, 11 Dec 2022 - 58 - Strategies for Fly Fishing In the Wind
Wind challenges our cast and changes our drifts more than any other element. It forces us to adapt our presentations, and it makes some of our favorite styles impossible. But there is always a way to beat it. There’s always a way to make things work. And no matter how rough the wind, there are strategies not just for fighting through it, but for fishing well and catching trout. That’s what this episode is about.
Here are our best strategies for fly fishing in windy conditions. Wind does not need to keep you home. And it doesn’t need to force you off the water. There are ways to deal with the difficulty of wind, to learn something from the challenge and sometimes even catch more trout than you might in calm conditions.
Most of the foul weather that bothers us just doesn't seem to affect the trout much. And if you learn to beat the wind and weather, or at least work with it and cut that edge, both success and solitude can be yours.Forget the forecast. Just fish.
We Cover the Following
Do trout care if it's windy?How does wind complicate fly fishing?Fish closerLow rod anglesHow weight (in many forms) is what beats windDry fly, streamer and nymphing tipsAdvantages gained from the wind
ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | Podcast | Dealing With Weather and Fighting the Elements
READ: Troutbitten | Angler Types in Profile -- Goldilocks
READ: Troutbitten | Explore - Learn - Return
READ: Troutbitten | Fly Fishing Tips #50 -- Fish Hard
READ: Troutbitten | Never Blame the Fish
READ: Troutbitten | Don't Be a Hero -- Fish Closer
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OrvisSun, 04 Dec 2022 - 57 - Listener Q&A -- Mono Rigs, Tough Days, Trout Range and More
The Troutbitten crew answers questions from podcast listeners. These questions range from gear talk to ethics, from fly selection to reading a trout river. And while most of our podcast episodes are narrowly focused on one theme, this one is spread out across topics.
How far do trout move for a fly?Stories about bad days on the waterCarrying two fly rodsThe Mono Rig from a boatTippet protection as a fly rod featureThe Mono Rig for steelheadWhat we learn on tough daysDream destination trips
This is an entertaining conversation, with both stories and tactics.
We Cover the FollowingResources
READ: Troutbitten | Podcast | The Versatile Angler
READ: Troutbitten | Design and Function of the Troutbitten Standard Mono Rig
READ: Troutbitten | Lightning Fast Leader Changes (with VIDEO)
READ: Troutbitten | The Best Fly Rods for Tight Line and Euro Nymphing
READ: Troutbitten | Convinced or Curious -- What Moves a Trout to a Fly
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OrvisSun, 27 Nov 2022 - 56 - Streamer Presentations -- All About the Head of the Fly
The longer we toss around streamers, the more we realize that it’s the most subtle changes in presentation that make a difference. Faster or slower? Sure. But how about letting the fly free fall in the current? What about a slight cross lead before reestablishing a strike-zone path in one seam? Or let’s try sliding a streamer off the bank with a broadside look, because that often draws a strike when nothing else does.
What head angle converts the most fish in the net?What head angle brings the most interest?Do trout eat the head first?What head angle looks like a baitfish that is holding, fleeing, dying?How weight in the head affects the fly and the presentation
I think most anglers start fishing streamers by casting and stripping, keeping it simple at first. And that works. But as time goes by, we realize how much control we truly have over the streamer. And we learn that making it dance, swoon or dart can bring trout charging and crashing into the fly.
Understand this: What we do with a streamer, the motions we give it and the manipulations we perform with the rod or the line start with the head of the streamer. That’s what we’re moving.
Trout care about the head position of a streamer. They recognize the head, and they feed in a way that is different from nymphs, wets or dry flies. The other fly styles are too small for a trout to care about where the head is. But there is no doubt that trout are keenly aware of the head of a baitfish. That is their target. And while chasing a moving food form, trout certainly recognize where the head is and where that food is going next.
So as streamer fishermen, we should consider the head as well, because all of our animations to the fly start there. It’s our attachment point to the fly. And what we do with the rod or the line hand directly affects the head of the streamer first. It’s how we bring the fly to life.
In this episode, we talk about the head orientation of the streamer in the water — how the streamer moves with the currents or against them, and what looks more natural vs what might look more attractive. We also dig into what added weight does to the head of a streamer, how that affects the action and how that limits or enhances the presentation styles that we have available.
We Cover the FollowingResources
READ: Troutbitten | Category | Streamers
READ: Troutbitten | The Old School Streamer Thing
READ: Troutbitten | Streamer Presentations -- The Head Flip
READ: Troutbitten | The Meat Eater Minority -- Streamer Fishing Myth vs Truth
READ: Troutbitten | Streamer Presentations -- The Cross Current Strip
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OrvisSun, 20 Nov 2022 - 55 - Freewheelin' Two -- Stories and Experiences
The Troutbitten guys and I sit down to share a few stories — moments and experiences — from a life on the water.
Boat shenanigansAustin's weddingFamily tripsTravel timeFishing with a dogCamping and fishing
There’s no layout for this episode and not much direction other than to share some of the remarkable things that have happened to us while fishing — the things we’ve seen, places we’ve been and the stuff that has happened, simply because we were there, on the river, with a fly rod in our hand.
From the beginning, Troutbitten has been about tactics, sure, but also about the experiences. It’s always been a balance between the two, across all the channels, the videos, the podcasts, the website and social media.
It’s the tactics that keep me interested and motivated to get out there day after day. It’s that refinement of technique and the endless problem solving in an ever-changing and shifting game. But sometimes, I catch myself with my head down, tying knots, staring and searching through the surface currents without looking around very much, without breathing deeply and soaking it all in.
But it’s the things that happen while we’re out there that make fly fishing for trout the all-consuming, never ending pursuit that it is for us. And, in truth, all of us need to letthat happen. It’s in the choices that we make regarding where we’ll fish, when we’ll fish and who we’ll fish with. Those elements, the locations, the woods, the water and the friendships make all of this special.
We Cover the FollowingResources
READ: Troutbitten | Category | Stories
READ: Troutbitten | How to Stay in the Fly Fishing Game for a Lifetime
READ: Troutbitten | Borer Collie and the Thunderstorm
READ: Troutbitten | Lost Fishing Friends
READ: Troutbitten | Fish With Friends
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OrvisSun, 13 Nov 2022 - 54 - Strategies for Fishing Low and Clear Water
In this episode, my Troutbitten friends and I talk about one of the toughest conditions we face — fishing in low, clear water. It’s something that can happen in any season and in any trout river. Many anglers shrink from the challenge. They walk away or never string up the fly rod, using the excuse that trout are simply too spooky or they just aren’t eating. But I promise you, that is not true. Trout are eating in these conditions. It just takes a calculated approach to bring them to hand.
The truth is, low and clear water is a difficult challenge But if you accept these river conditions as a chance to learn and improve, then the extreme, sensitive nature of trout in low and clear water will force you to refine your approach, your cast and your drift.
Everything about your presentation in low water must be thought through. Success requires caution, planning and a willingness to strike out. But that’s how you become a complete angler — by fishing when it’s tough. And by fishing hard.
We Cover the Following
Does low water affect the whole river?Are all trout more sensitive in low water?Do trout maintain the same rhythms?Do we need smaller flies?Do we need thinner tippets?Tips for stealthNymph, Streamer and Dry fly tipsResources
READ: Troutbitten | Category | Spooky Trout
READ: Troutbitten | Podcast | The Spooky Trout -- What Scares Fish and How To Avoid Spooking Them
READ: Troutbitten | The Advantages of Working Upstream
READ: Troutbitten | Are You Spooking Trout?
READ: Troutbitten | The Spooky Trout: Find Their Blind Spot
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OrvisSun, 06 Nov 2022 - 53 - Catch and Release: Always or Sometimes? And How C&R Changes Things On The Water
Is catch and release a good idea all the time or just some of the time? In this episode, we consider the ways that the practice of catch and release changes the experience of fishing for us — how our approach shifts when the goals are different.
A lot has changed in the last fifty years. Releasing the trout we catch has become commonplace, especially in the world of fly fishing. In many regions, on many rivers, C&R has become the expected norm. We’ve come a long way. And it’s fair to say that the average fly angler for trout doesn’t fish for meat as much as they do for the sport — for the challenge of fooling a fish.
Catch and release often takes hold in the ethos of an angler because they are forced into it. Because specially regulated sections of a river might require it. And for many anglers new to the sport, or those coming from another fishing background, releasing a trout first feels comfortable because there’s no other option. After a couple of dozen fish are returned, and maybe after a few return trips to the same water, the effectiveness of catch and release becomes obvious, and it eventually feels more natural to let the fish go than to put them on a stringer.
We release trout to catch them again — so that our friends might catch them again, and so the next stranger to the river, hoping for the same experience that we were chasing, might catch that same trout that we just put back.
Catch and release works. There’s no doubt. But is it always the best choice? Is there also a place for catch and keep? And if we do decide to kill a few trout, how does that experience change the way we fish?
That’s our discussion here. . .We Cover the Following
When is it okay to keep a trout?Mandatory killing of invasive speciesDoes killing trout allow room for growing bigger trout?Kill wild trout or stocked trout?The hunter's mindset applied to catch and releasePut and take streamsHow keeping trout impacts your own waters
ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | Are We Taking the Safety of Trout too Far?
READ: Troutbitten | If You Have to Revive a Trout, It's Probably Too Late
READ: Troutbitten | Podcast | How to Handle a Trout
READ: Troutbitten | How to Hold a Trout
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OrvisSun, 30 Oct 2022 - 52 - Weight In Fly Fishing: Beads, Shot, Sinking Lines and More
In this episode, we talk about weight and fly fishing. Because if you’re not fishing a dry fly on the surface, then weight, in some form or another, is part of the presentation. There are all kinds of weight options, of course, from wire ribs on a wet fly and heavy wire hooks, to lead wraps and tungsten beads on a nymph or coneheads on a streamer. Sinking lines, sink tips and even poly leaders will get you down. And of course there’s split shot, in a few different forms, along with drop shot.
Something has to get you through the surface and down deeper. As soon as your target zone is under the water, how you’ll get the fly into various parts of the water column becomes the question. And getting near the river bed is often critical to success. All of these weight types are useful.
Weight is weight. And I’ve often put it this way: Weight is the original sin of fly fishing. If you aren’t fishing dry flies, then you’ve already left the purist plantation behind. So accept it. Surrender to it, and enjoy the rewards of fishing flies where trout usually eat them anyway.
Embracing tungsten beads but thumbing your nose at split shot makes me chuckle. Insisting that a sinking line is superior to a conehead streamer for getting down defies logic. Oh for sure, the presentation may be very different, and that’s why we use all options. Choosing one form of weight over another form doesn’t make you a better angler. It doesn’t make it more FLY fishing. It just makes you an efficient angler.
So in this discussion with my Troutbitten friends, we walk through the various ways to get a fly under the surface. We’ talk about the advantages and disadvantages of each style of weight and talk about our preferences.
We Cover the Following
Is weight the original sin?What makes it FLY fishing anyway?Types of weight in the fliesTypes of weight on the lineTypes of weight in the lineResources
READ: Troutbitten | Split Shot vs Weighted Flies
READ: Troutbitten | Don't Hate Split Shot - Have a System (VIDEO)
READ: Troutbitten | Stop the Split Shot Slide
READ: Troutbitten | Beads Are the Best
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OrvisSun, 23 Oct 2022 - 51 - The Spooky Trout -- What Scares Fish and How to Avoid Spooking Them
Success on the water starts with finding fish and not spooking them. No one ever caught a scared trout. All the tactics, the flies and the habits of river trout that we focus on mean nothing if the fish are on high alert and out of the mood to eat.
Do trout eat when they are scared?What do trout do when they are spooked?What spooks trout?How tolerant are trout of our presence?How close can you get?How do you know a trout is spooked?Stealth tips
Don’t spook the fish. Achieving that is different from season to season. It’s different in various water types. And acceptable distances from the trout change even with the angles by which you approach them.
Being cautious, being aware and being attentive pays dividends. So reconsider your strategy. Maybe think first about your impact on the river before ever considering your first fly choice. Be a hunter. That might be the best advice we can give.
My friends join me for a great discussion about what it takes to avoid spooking trout.
We Cover the FollowingResources
READ: Troutbitten | Category | Spooky Trout
READ: Troutbitten | The Order of Everything
READ: Troutbitten | The Advantages of Working Upstream
READ: Troutbitten | Are You Spooking Trout?
READ: Troutbitten | The Spooky Trout: Find Their Blind Spot
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OrvisSun, 16 Oct 2022 - 50 - Fly Tying and the Complete Angler
This episode of the Troutbitten Podcast is about tying flies. It's about the way that aspect of fly fishing changes everything for us. Most of us wish to be a complete angler -- one who is well rounded, ready for anything and versatile.
By tying flies, we get closer to that goal, because tying flies engages us in a deeper way. We’re more connected, more invested in what we tie to the end of the line. With a few turns of monofilament through the hook eye, we are attached to our own creations and our own solutions.
In this episode my friends join me to talk about why we tie flies, why it's important and how it gives us an advantage on the river. We discuss what we like to change in fly patterns, how we adapt our flies to the conditions and much more. Because, for each of us, tying flies is part of our life on the water.
We Cover the Following
How tying makes us better anglersThings we can change at the viseProblems and situations we can address at the viseDoes tying flies save money?Does tying flies save time?Resources
READ: Troutbitten | Category | Troutbitten Fly Box
READ: Troutbitten | Tie Your Own Flies -- Here's WhyVisit:
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OrvisSun, 09 Oct 2022 - 49 - Fly Fishing Through the Fall Season
The Troutbitten Podcast is back for season five. My full crew of friends returns, joining me for some great conversations about fly fishing for river trout. We’ll tackle a little bit of everything this season — with streamers, nymphs, wets and dry flies. And while there will be plenty of tactics talk, I’m sure we’ll get into some good stories and experiences on the river too.
Episode one kicks this season off with a discussion about fly fishing through the fall season, from the late summer turn of the equinox, heading into the beginning of fall, to the end of the spawning season, which around here signals the beginning of winter.
Fall fishing offers renewed hope and opening opportunities, along with a change of scenery. As the foliage turns, so do the habits of wild trout. Our favorite fish loses some of its characteristic inhibitions.
More water, less light and the instinct to fatten up create unique opportunities for every angler who is willing to meet the trout on their own terms. While hatches may be sparse, the underwater game opens up to those with the skills to present a nymph, streamer or wet fly with precision.
Trout chase. They migrate. They feed and they procreate. Fall fishing offers a style of fishing that is unequaled in any other season.
We Cover the Following
What we look forward to most in the fallDo trout feed more throughout the fall season?How fewer hatches affect fish behavior and fishing opportunitiesMore or less water. What is our preference?The leaf hatchHow does spawning affect the fishing?When does fall fishing turn into winter?Favorite fall tacticsResources
READ: Troutbitten | Full Days of Early Fall
READ: Troutbitten | Category | Streamers
READ: Troutbitten | Category | Nymphing
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OrvisSat, 01 Oct 2022 - 48 - Roundtable Review and Wrap Up -- Dry Dropper Skills Series #5
This is our full crew review of dry dropper styles. And it wraps up this Troutbitten Skills Series on dry dropper fishing. Because, as we’ve seen, what seems like a pretty simple thing — just adding a nymph under a dry fly -- actually creates some complex situations.
You can absolutely fish a dry dropper and keep your life easy. Fly fishing does not have to be complicated. So dangling a nymph from a buoyant dry and casting it to the river without much thought willcatch trout.
But for many of us, the complexities are what keep us interested. Solving problems, seeking answers, understanding a system and tweaking it for the moment is fun. Because those tweaks, those adjustments, make a difference. And when we start catching more trout, when the opportunities increase, we take notice. We learn what good drifts look like — on both the nymph and the dry fly. Then we improve. And that . . . is the simple joy of fishing.
My friends, Austin Dando, Bill Dell, Trevor Smith and Josh Darling join me for the fifth and final installment of this Troutbitten Skills Series on dry dropper styles.So remember, the next time someone mentions fishing dry dropper, ask them what style . . . because there’s a lot of room for variety.
-- -- --
In 2019, I published a full series on these Three Styles of Dry Dropper on the Troutbitten Website. You can find them here:
READ: Troutbitten | Three Styles of Dry Dropper
READ: Troutbitten | Three Styles of Dry Dropper -- Light Dry Dropper
READ: Troutbitten | Three Styles of Dry Dropper -- Standard Dry Dropper
READ: Troutbitten | Three Styles of Dry Dropper -- Tight Line Dry DropperThis podcast series is an excellent companion for the article series.
Because “fishing dry dropper” can really mean a lot of things. And each of these styles has many moments when it's the clear winner.
So, the next time someone talks about dry dropper fishing, ask them what style -- because there's a lot of room for variety.
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OrvisFri, 09 Sep 2022 - 47 - Tight Line Dry Dropper -- Dry Dropper Skills Series #4
This episode covers an extremely effective style for presenting both a nymph and a dry fly -- I call it tight line dry dropper, and this may be favorite way to fish. I like methods that provide excellent control. And a tight line rig -- with direct contact as the primary feature -- is built for exactly that. It feels like we can make something happen rather than hoping to get lucky with a trout.
With tight line dry dropper, we get the contact and control of a tight line nymphing rig and the excitement of a dry fly rig. It’s very different than the other styles of dry dropper because it’s built on a Mono Rig. And the catch rate, for where this rig applies, is often doubled or even tripled.
Watch the nymph tuck in, exactly on target and see the dry fly land downstream of the nymph. You’re tight to the dry — from rod tip to fly — as it bobs and weaves back toward you.
With the dry fly in touch with the nymph and our rod tip in touch with the dry fly, strike detection to the nymph is excellent. So we set when the dry twitches, jiggles or dips.
And when a trout comes for the dry, you’re close enough to see him coming. It takes discipline not to set the hook too early. When he eats, you’re immediately tight to the fish, with no slack. You’re connected to a trout on a tight line only a rod length or two away, and the fight is on.
Tight Line Dry Dropper is a great way to fish.
My friend, Austin Dando, joins me for the fourth installment of this Troutbitten Skills Series on dry dropper styles.
-- -- --In 2019, I published a full series on these Three Styles of Dry Dropper on the Troutbitten Website. You can find them here:
READ: Troutbitten | Three Styles of Dry Dropper
READ: Troutbitten | Three Styles of Dry Dropper -- Light Dry Dropper
READ: Troutbitten | Three Styles of Dry Dropper -- Standard Dry Dropper
READ: Troutbitten | Three Styles of Dry Dropper -- Tight Line Dry DropperThis podcast series is an excellent companion for the article series.
Because “fishing dry dropper” can really mean a lot of things. And each of these styles has many moments when it's the clear winner.
So, the next time someone talks about dry dropper fishing, ask them what style -- because there's a lot of room for variety.
More Resources:READ: Troutbitten | The Mono Rig
READ: Troutbitten | One Great Nymphing TrickVisit:
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OrvisSun, 04 Sep 2022 - 46 - Standard Dry Dropper -- Dry Dropper Skills Series #3
Standard Dry Dropper is the industry standard for a reason. Because it’s what you get when you simply add a nymph on behind the dry fly. Sometimes, that pairing is perfect, and with a good cast and even better mending skills, this standard setup catches trout all day long.
But other times, the addition of the nymph, without some planning and attention to detail, creates a situation where neither the dry nor the nymph is setup to fish very well. And we are stuck with hoping something will happen instead of making it happen.
Standard Dry Dropper is a useful style that solves a lot of problems. Especially if you surrender to the idea that the nymph is the primary fly being fished.
Aim to land both flies in one seam. Get the nymph upstream of the dry fly and drifting in line. Then keep the tension of the dry fly with good mending. Treat it like and indicator and never be satisfied with a dragging setup.
All of this sets up a lot better by staying as close as possible to the target, observing the differences in surface currents and staying active throughout the drift. Be willing to make changes. That’s the key to success.
In 2019, I published a full series on these Three Styles of Dry Dropper on the Troutbitten Website. You can find them here:
READ: Troutbitten | Three Styles of Dry Dropper
READ: Troutbitten | Three Styles of Dry Dropper -- Light Dry Dropper
READ: Troutbitten | Three Styles of Dry Dropper -- Standard Dry Dropper
READ: Troutbitten | Three Styles of Dry Dropper -- Tight Line Dry DropperThis podcast series is an excellent companion for the article series.
Because “fishing dry dropper” can really mean a lot of things. And each of these styles has many moments when it's the clear winner.
So, the next time someone talks about dry dropper fishing, ask them what style -- because there's a lot of room for variety.
More Resources:READ: Troutbitten | Three Parts of an Ideal Indicator Leader -- And One Great Formula
READ: Troutbitten | Dry Fly Fishing -- The George Harvey Leader DesignVisit:
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OrvisSun, 28 Aug 2022 - 45 - Light Dry Dropper -- Dry Dropper Skills Series #2
Fishing a nymph under a dry fly is rarely as simple as adding a nymph and casting it out there. Some forethought into what your objectives are, measured against your options for rigging and fly selection, goes a long way toward filling the net with trout.
Do you want to fish the nymph or the dry? That’s the first question to ask. Each dry dropper style allows for the opportunity to catch trout on both flies, but only Light Dry Dropper is tuned for fishing the dry fly at its best.
While Standard Dry Dropper and Tight Line Dry Dropper are great for fishing the nymph first, Light Dry Dropper is perfect for offering the dry fly as a primary choice. And sometimes, the frequency of takes on the added nymph is stunning.
With this Skills Series on the Troutbitten Podcast, my friend, Austin Dando, joins me to dissect this Light Dry Dropper style.
Because “fishing dry dropper” can really mean a lot of things. And each of these styles has many moments when it's the clear winner.
In 2019, I published a full series on these Three Styles of Dry Dropper on the Troutbitten Website. You can find them here:
READ: Troutbitten | Three Styles of Dry Dropper
READ: Troutbitten | Three Styles of Dry Dropper -- Light Dry Dropper
READ: Troutbitten | Three Styles of Dry Dropper -- Standard Dry Dropper
READ: Troutbitten | Three Styles of Dry Dropper -- Tight Line Dry DropperThis podcast series is an excellent companion for the article series.
Because “fishing dry dropper” can really mean a lot of things. And each of these styles has many moments when it's the clear winner.
So, the next time someone talks about dry dropper fishing, ask them what style -- because there's a lot of room for variety.
More Resources:READ: Troutbitten | Dry Fly Fishing -- The George Harvey Leader Design
READ: Troutbitten | One Great Nymphing Trick (One Seam)
READ: Troutbitten | Recognize A Dead Drift
READ: Troutbitten | That's Not A Dead DriftVisit:
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OrvisSun, 21 Aug 2022 - 44 - Three Styles of Dry Dropper -- Dry Dropper Skills Series #1
With season four of the Troutbitten Podcast, we're back to the Skills Series format, with tightly packed, tactical episodes that cover one topic in depth. This season, we're digging into the three styles of dry dropper.
This first episodes is an overview of the three styles, along with a good discussion about why and when we enjoy fishing dry dropper in the first place.
Dry dropper sounds like a great idea. Just add nymph below a dry fly and catch fish on both offerings, right? But it's not that easy. And there are some real consequences. I argue that it's impossible to fish both flies perfectly, so by recognizing three distinctly different styles of rigging and fishing dry dropper, we make choices -- what fly will we prioritize and how will we get great drifts?
In 2019, I published a full series on these Three Styles of Dry Dropper on the Troutbitten Website. You can find them here:
READ: Troutbitten | Three Styles of Dry Dropper
READ: Troutbitten | Three Styles of Dry Dropper -- Light Dry Dropper
READ: Troutbitten | Three Styles of Dry Dropper -- Standard Dry Dropper
READ: Troutbitten | Three Styles of Dry Dropper -- Tight Line Dry DropperNow, with this Skills Series on the Troutbitten Podcast, my friend, Austin Dando, joins me for a deep dive beyond the framework of these styles. This podcast series is an excellent companion for the article series.
Because “fishing dry dropper” can really mean a lot of things. And each of these styles has many moments when it's the clear winner.
So, the next time someone talks about dry dropper fishing, ask them what style -- because there's a lot of room for variety.
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OrvisFri, 12 Aug 2022 - 43 - The Troutbitten Project -- Past, Present and Future
We’re in between podcast seasons and on a bit of a summer break. But I wanted to keep in touch here. I’d like to tell you more about the Troutbitten Project -- about all of the branches, what’s coming next and how all of this ties together.
Season Four of the Troutbitten podcast begins on August 14th. It’s a five-part tactical series on Dry Dropper styles. We followed the same platform — or style — in season two, when we covered the Nine Essential Skills of Tight Line and Euro Nymphing. These are compact, informational episodes that detail one narrowly focused topic. I’ll be joined again by my friend, Austin Dando, to build through the framework of this fun, effective style. And by the end of the series, you should have a thorough understanding of the three styles for dry dropper.
Maybe you’ve never thought of dry dropper this way. But the point is, there are three drastically different ways that we fish dry dropper. The rigs, the casting, the tactics and the intentions for each style are unique to each method. And sure, there’s some crossover, but in many ways, these styles are more different than they are similar. I call them Light Dry Dropper, Bobber Dry Dropper (or standard dry dropper for you purists out there) and Tight Line Dry Dropper.
READ: Troutbitten | Series | Three Styles of Dry Dropper
So that podcast series — Season Four — begins August 14th. But now’s a good time to mention that this full Dry Dropper series already exists on the Troutbitten website. The Three Styles of Dry Dropper is a four part series that I published on Troutbitten a few years ago. That series gets a lot of traffic every year, and I receive a lot of questions on the styles. So there’s more to be said, and I think it’s the perfect choice for our second installment of the skills series format on the podcast.
Here’s the point: everything at Troutbitten ties together. None of it stands alone. Troutbitten started as a fishing blog eight years ago. Then it became the place where I published my tactical articles and best stories. Because as the traffic grew, ad revenue from the site added up to more than I could make with magazine placements and book contracts. By following that route, I maintained the copyright to my own works, so I can still do things like this — taking the Dry Dropper Styles series and building a podcast around the topic.
It ends up that the choices I made years ago, fortuitously setup everything that Troutbitten has grown into. And because it’s so much more than a website now, I refer to all of this as the Troutbitten Project.
The website, the podcast, the YouTube channel and the shop -- all of it ties together . . .
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OrvisSun, 24 Jul 2022 - 42 - Feed Drop -- Troutbitten on the Wade Out There Podcast
Hey Troutbitten friends,
Season three of the podcast is finished, and season four begins in just a few weeks. But in this time off, I have something special for you.
I was recently a guest on the Wade Out There podcast with Jason Shemchuk. We had a fun discussion about family, kids and fly fishing. Then we got technical about streamer tactics, presentations and efficiencies.
Jason started Wade Out There in 2019 as an author and artist focused on fly fishing for trout. He recently published episode 100 of the podcast, and I’m happy to be his first repeat guest. That’s the conversation I’m sharing here.
You can find all of Jason’s excellent work over at WadeOutThere.com. And you can easily find his podcast series through any service or podcast player.
So I hope you enjoy listening to my talk with Jason Shemchuck.
I’ll also be back next week in your podcast feed with a short episode about the Troutbitten project.
So until then . . . fish hard, friends.
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OrvisSun, 17 Jul 2022 - 41 - The Versatile Angler
Versatility is a Troutbitten mantra. It’s the way we fish. In fact, it’s why we fish a fly rod, because whatever way the trout wish to feed, we can show them flies that represent that food form.
And while some anglers hit the river with one thing in mind, with one fly box and one set of tools, it’s our ability to adapt, to adjust and modify our approach, that makes a lifetime on the water so interesting. Sure, we focus on our favorite tactics, and we may spend the next half a year just perfecting our dry fly game in tight cover. But once these skills are learned, then knowing that we can throw anything at any time, having a full set of skills at the ready, is a rewarding and enjoyable approach to fly fishing for trout.
Pursuing this kind of versatility also keeps us in the game for a lifetime. We are forever working on the next idea, refining new casts and another approach. Eventually, we develop such a facility with these skills that we begin to combine them, breaking free from the common and standard approach and landing on new ways to get a dead drift or move a streamer. Creation becomes the goal. Design becomes our drive. And experimentation leads to more answers that lead to more questions.
All of it is our reward for being a versatile angler.
But of course, nothing comes easy either. The beginning angler should probably refrain from branching out too much at first. Because too much versatility becomes confusing. It leads to frustration. There are stages. There are tools. There are systems for being versatile on the water. And there’s a time for all of it.
So that’s what we’re here to talk about tonight. Here for our season three finale is a full house: Austin Dando, Trevor Smith, Josh Darling, Bill Dell and Matt Grobe.
We Cover the Following
Is versatility the opposite of specialization?Learn it all, then use it allThe fly rod is supremely versatileDo you need a lot of gear to be versatile?What is a versatile fly rodCarrying systemsKnowing when to changeFinding a good reason to changeHave a plan and test itVersatility within one styleHow versatility solves the daily mystery
ResourcesREAD Troutbitten | Fly Shop Fluorocarbon Too Expensive? Try Invizx
READ: Troutbitten | Use a Versatile and General Fly Rod
READ: Troutbitten | Find Feeding Fish
READ: Troutbitten | Look for the Changeout Spots
READ: Troutbitten | Find Your Rabbit Hole
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OrvisSun, 03 Jul 2022 - 40 - An Introduction to Night Fishing for Trout
I've been building the Night Fishing for Trout Series here on Troutbitten for many years. It's an ongoing series of chapters that cover some of what I’ve learned about trout after dark.
MotivationPlacesPlanningMoonlight, Starlight and City LightHeadlights, Flashlights and Glow-in-the-Dark stuffThe tactics of drifting and swingingWater TypesFly TypesBig Trout and Finding the Right LocationsFighting FearAccepting the MysteryThe Rods and Lines
But I’m careful with that word “learned.” Sure, I’ve come a long way in the fifteen years or so that I’ve spent night fishing. And time on the water has taught me things both by fish in the net and through repeated failure. I’ve gone through a period of time where I dedicated a few years to night fishing as my primary motivation, fishing after dark at least once a week, even through the winter months, and spending a lot more than that under the dark summer sky.
What I’ve learned is often very different than the stuff that’s supposed to work. And then again, some of it matches up pretty well.
Then, after over a decade of night fishing as a solitary endeavor I met my friends Josh Darling and Trevor Smith, who join me on this podcast episode. These guys somehow found that same rare drive to search and discover after dark, and it’s more than just a passing fad for them. They’ve dug deeper into the shadows than anyone else I’ve met. I Iearn from them. They are my trusted fishing friends. Their experience becomes my own. Their reports, their observations, are nearly as valuable as having my own boots in the water. These guys night fish, and they fish hard.
So for this podcast episode, our goal is to provide an overview, some kind of path down the lonely, dark and wonderfully mysterious road that is night fishing.
We Cover the Following
ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | Category | Night Fishing
READ: Troutbitten | Night Fishing for Trout -- People, Places and Things
READ: Troutbitten | Night Fishing for Trout -- Moonlight, Starlight and City Light
READ: Troutbitten | Night Fishing for Trout -- You're Gonna Need a Bigger Rope
READ: Troutbitten | Night Fishing for Trout -- Spaces
READ: Troutbitten | Hell-Hot Sun and the Strawberry Moon
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OrvisSun, 26 Jun 2022 - 39 - The Airing of Grievances
So, you know how you see something from far away and it looks really great? It’s almost perfect. But if you look a little closer, even from a long distance, you might start to find a few things that aren’t quite right. But it’s good . . . it’s still pretty good.
When you get even closer, you notice more problems. And when you’ve been around it for a long time, you can’t help but see many, many things that could be better.
Well . . . that’s the fly fishing industry.
And I don’t just mean the companies and the big names either. I mean the whole thing: the full scale, from Instagram hashtags and big internet groups to the few anglers that hang out at your local bar. The industry trends, these habits, these practices — some of them just seem wrong. And the gear, the ads, videos and articles, — a lot of it kind of steers people in the wrong direction.
So we thought we’d have a little fun with this and call out as many issues as we can fit into one podcast.
Yes, we’re here to criticize and complain a bit. But it's all in good fun. And quite honestly, I think most of the things we’ll bring up could certainly benefit from a fair dose of constructive criticism. Think of this as a cleansing. It’s a chance to bring everything out into the open — from the dark corners and into the sunlight.
I'm joined by my friends Josh Darling, Austin Dando, Trevor Smith, Matt Grobe and Bill Dell.
We Cover the Following
Purists. ElitismThe warm water policeSpot burningWeather complainersMarketing to lifestyle anglersMean peopleEuro anythingCheap gearTelling anglers to be specializedLeaky WadersThe squeezing fish holdThe knuckles holdPeople who comment without reading article, watching full video, or listening to whole podcastClub FishingThe assumption that "experts" knows more than you about fishingAnyone pretending that catching fish doesn't matter
ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | What to Trust
READ: Troutbitten | Use a Versatile Fly Rod
READ: Troutbitten | Holding a Trout -- Their Heart In Your Hands
READ: Troutbitten | Angler Types in Profile -- Goldilocks
READ: Troutbitten | Why Wild Trout Matter
READ: Troutbitten | Posted -- Club Fish -- 2065
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OrvisSat, 18 Jun 2022 - 38 - What's the Deal With Junk Flies?
What might commonly be referred to as a junk fly makes its way to the end of my line pretty often. And for certain times of the year, through the summer and through the winter, I lean on junk flies as my go-to staples.
But my understanding of junk flies has evolved over time. I get it now. You can’t just put any kind of bright, flashy materials on a hook and fool trout. There’s a reason why trout eat these flies. And there’s a reason why these patterns shine for so long and then fall off at the end of a season. There’s also a huge difference between the way stocked trout respond to some junk flies vs the way wild trout respond.
We fish junk flies because they are fun. Because trout move to them more than other flies, sometimes. And because we can often see the fly in the water, allowing us to sight fish and learn something different.
What is a junk fly? Why and when do they work? These are the questions for this podcast.
I'm joined by the Troutbitten crew: Matt Grobe, Josh Darling, Trevor Smith, Bill Dell and Austin Dando.
We Cover the Following
Defining a junk flyIs it always a nymph?Why do trout eat junk flies?How do trout respond differently?The Bait and SwitchAre they dirty flies?Is it cheating?Does it take less skill to catch trout on a junk fly?. . . and more
ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | Super Fly -- The Story of a Squirmy Wormy
READ: Troutbitten | Mop Fly Thoughts
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OrvisSun, 12 Jun 2022 - 37 - Why Do We Miss Fish, and Why Do We Lose Fish on a Fly?
We all miss fish and lose fish on a fly. Why does it happen? Is it an accident? Is it avoidable? And how can we improve our hookup and landing ratio on the water?
If you’re at the point where you’re worrying about why you are missing and losing fish, then really. . . you know you’re already doing a lot of things right.
Fooling trout is the hard part. Fly fishing is not easy. And trout — especially wild ones — are not forgiving. They don’t grant you much grace. And rarely do trout take lousy presentations. So if you trick a fish into taking your fly, then pat yourself on the back. And when you start to fool them often enough that you notice a trend of missing or losing fish, then again, just know that you’re doing a lot of things right. Convincing trout that a fake fly is the real thing is tough. The rest? Well, it all comes a lot easier.
So, of course we want to land our trout. Missing and losing fish is frustrating after a while, because we sense there’s more that we can do to keep fish buttoned up. And really . . . there is. There are observable causes for trout missing the fly, just as there are mistakes we make on our end that result in another miss or a lost trout.
Like everything else in fishing, there’s a lot of nuance to this topic.
Reasons and strategies for missed and lost trout change whether it’s dry flies, nymphs, wets or streamers. Maybe a trout refuses our dry fly in a quick swirl as it rejects the pattern in a last second decision. It looks like the trout ate, so we set the hook and even feel the hook touch the fish, but we still miss it. This is not a hook setting error. It’s a presentation error. The fish refused the fly.
The same happens with our streamers. And this is where I think we see it the most. When trout charge the streamer and maybe even strike it — but if they don’t eat it, then no amount of perfecting the hook set will catch that fish.
So there’s a lot to see and understand, and this conversation helps bring a lot of that to light.
Future podcast season plans (listener question)The difference between missing and losingSlack!The inevitability of missing and losing fishBarbless flies, small fliesHook set speed and lengthLate setsWhy bad drifts create a lot of missesDifferences between missing fish on all the fly typesThe Phantom hook set. . . and more
We Cover the Following
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OrvisSat, 04 Jun 2022 - 36 - Learning a River and Discovering Its Secrets
You can’t really learn a river until you’ve learned to fish. You need some confidence in your skills to cover a section of new water, to fish it well and then walk away with some opinions about what that river holds rather than asking questions about your techniques and decisions.
Learning a river comes by dedicating your time. You must give a part of your life to a river to learn it from top to bottom. And yes, it takes seasons on the water just to crack the surface. (And it probably takes a decade or more to crack the code.)
But for many of us, for those who live a fly fishing life, who dedicate our free time to pursuing trout and learning the game, the questions that a watershed asks are seductive. Why do you find fewer large trout in the lower island section in the fall? What river conditions are required for trout to move to the shallows and comfortably feed after dark? When should you expect the Sulfur hatch, and are there two sizes or just one?
These questions have answers. And the more we fish one waterway, the more details we discover, the more data we enter into a catalog of knowledge about a favorite trout stream.
Rivers are an ever-changing, complex ecosystem of life, water and land. They are influenced by weather, surrounding community development and sometimes the anglers themselves. Nothing is static. Nothing is truly predictable. But there’s also no denying the habit of trout. And once you spend time wading with these fish, observing their habits and watching how the changes affect their behaviors, then time itself finally stacks in your favor. The observant angler becomes part of that ecosystem. And we begin to predict the paths of trout by instinct.
Achieving that level of knowledge is a rare reward. But it is attainable. And the journey toward that knowledge is a respectable pursuit.
I’m joined again by the Troutbitten crew, Trevor Smith, Matt Grobe, Bill Dell, and Austin Dando. I can tell you that each of these fishermen know their local waters exhaustively, from to deep to shallow, from bank to bank, winter, spring, summer and fall. They know the rhythms of their waters.
We Cover the Following
Listener question about dry flies on the Mono RigResearch via maps, books, etc.Trout population and speciesLearning the flowsExploring from the mouth to the headwatersSeason changes and migratory habits. . . and moreResources
READ: Troutbitten | Dry Flies on the Mono Rig
READ: Troutbitten | The Last Good Island
READ: Troutbitten | Save the Discovery
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OrvisSun, 29 May 2022 - 35 - A Fly Fishing Life, and Doing the Hard Things
Living a fly fishing life, being Troutbitten, is something that you can’t shake off. Your mind always churns over something tactical, like a fresh spin on an old streamer retrieve. Or maybe you’re daydreaming about the upstream reaches above the water that you chose last weekend -- fishing past dusk before walking out, a mile and a half, under the stars, by yourself, full of the satisfaction that good exploration brings. And you know there’s more to find — still miles of river toward those headwaters. So the questions and that allure of discovery taps you on the shoulder all week long, reminding you of what's to come.
The next fishing trip is something to look forward to. And that’s the secret to happiness — always something to look forward to. Something to work on. Something to improve. Something to achieve.
These are life goals. And fly fishing for trout, like so many other great pursuits, gives our life a purpose, just by giving us the next thing to look forward to and the next thing to work on.
This is why we choose a fly fishing life. This is Troutbitten. And I’d guess that most of our listeners want the same.
But here’s the thing: There’s a difference between wanting it and working for it.
I think everyone imagines themselves deep into the middle of a sweetheart spot, with no one else around, casting and fishing for big wild trout that are eating our flies and coming to hand. Maybe it’s the rising trout at dusk, or a frenzied streamer bite in the morning as you cover water quickly. Whatever your favorite scenario, these are the idealized moments we imagine when we think of a fly fishing life. And, of course, those moments are there for us. We get a lot of them.
And yet, the amount of effort it requires to get there, the preparation, the planning, the failure and frustration requires hard work to get through all of it, and on to those best moments.
Doing the hard things. That’s what this podcast is about.
What are those hard things? How do we enjoy them? And what kinds of things are overlooked but seem to make all the difference?
We Cover the Following
Listener question about quantifying improvement in our gameGetting up earlyRefining the casting strokePerfecting our riggingEfficiencyResearch of tactics and locationsGear purchase and maintenanceTying and testing flies. . . and more
ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | Al the Things
READ: Troutbitten | What to Trust
READ: Troutbitten | How to Stay in the Fly Fishing Game for a Lifetime
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OrvisSat, 21 May 2022 - 34 - Rude on the River, Front Ended and the Golden Rule
In the last podcast, episode 7 of season 3, we talked about finding your water and finding space. And we acknowledged that everyone wants this. Everyone. I don’t know any fisherman who sets out to fish beside a bunch of strangers for the day. Because part of the experience we seek is getting away from everything else in life, for just a bit. No matter where you are, having some space and some water to call your own is a primary draw.
So when you do find a section of river, when you’re deep into the process of dissecting a riffle, run or pool, one of the worst and most frustrating things that can happen is having another angler walk in on you. Specifically, when they wade into the water you are fishing or that you planned to fish very shortly.
It’s no fun. It can be maddening. And it can absolutely ruin your day.
In some ways, this experience is inevitable. If you fish often enough, you’re going to get front ended, probably sooner than later. And how should we deal with it? Is there really any good way to open a dialogue with someone who rudely jumps in front of you? Does it ever end well?
And how much water should we expect to be granted? What’s the standard, anyway?
Also, if you round the bend on your walk in, and you see another angler set up in exactly the same water you planned to fish, where should you go? What’s the acceptable distance? How much room should we give each other on the river?
Just like the previous episode, this podcast deals with space on the river. But this time, it’s not about finding space as much as how we share it. Sometimes, we’re forced to share more than we’d like. Other times, there’s simply no question that another angler has broken the code. And how do we deal with that? This is our topic.
Thoughts on secret patternsSome worst cases of front-endingThee two types of anglers who front end youCan you actually educate anyone about the code?What are the unwritten rules about fishing space?Ethics and etiquette
We Cover the Following:Resources
READ: Troutbitten | Front Ended -- Can We Stop Doing This to Each Other?
READ: Troutbitten | Why Everyone Fishes the Same Water, and What to do About It
READ: Troutbitten | Some Days Are Diamonds -- Some Days Are Rocks
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OrvisSun, 15 May 2022 - 33 - Find Your Water -- Find Space
Every angler wants to fish somewhere new — someplace untouched. We want novel experiences. Something about trout fishing, about catch and release and about throwing flies, attracts the explorer. Long term anglers are most often the adventurers. They’re the pathfinders — the ones who find the qualities of solitude and peace more important than fishing big-name waters or catching a bunch of trout.
And these days, one of the most common complaints heard among fishermen is about crowded waters. People say there are more anglers than ever and that you can’t get away from all the fishermen out there. But I think you can. And, In turn, one of the most common questions I receive is how to find the offbeat waters, where are the places that everyone doesn’t fish? Inevitably, people ask about these places because they want to see fewer anglers.
That solitude on a trout stream is there if you truly want it. By putting in the time to learn your waters, you’ll find the under-fished areas.
If you want space, if you want to find your own water, it’s there for you.
Think about where and when. Consider the conditions. And learn to recognize the habits of anglers — because they are always predictable. Avoid every access with a clever name like Rainbow Riffle or Three Dollar Bridge. Sure, the fishing might be great, but these are not the places to find your space.
And if you roll up to a popular access of a blue ribbon trout stream, if it’s noon on a Sunday, if it’s June with prime flows and sunny skies, then stop complaining about the cars and anglers.
That’s your choice. It’s on you. And by making that choice, you’re now part of the predictable habits of anglers.
We Cover the Following
Are there really more anglers?The effects of weather on angler pressureHow the habits of anglers are predictablePopular water, unpopular spotsPopular waters, uncommon timesLesser known watersExploring, walkingResources
READ: Troutbitten | Why Everyone Fishes the Same Water, and What to do About It
READ: Troutbitten | Cover Water, Catch Trout
READ: Troutbitten | Explore | Learn | Return
READ: Troutbitten | Save the Discovery
READ: Troutbitten | One Thing at a Time
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OrvisSun, 08 May 2022 - 32 - Why It Always Comes Down to Fly Casting -- And What Matters Most
This episode is about fly casting — why it matters more than anything, and how we can improve our accuracy and control over the system with just a few key adjustments.
All fly fishing styles require good casting skills. My friends and I fish a Mono Rig for most underwater presentations. But this tight line approach for nymphs and streamers falls apart without the ability to cast and manage a long leader, through the air, exactly like a fly line. I say it all the time about tight line and euro nymphing — it’s casting, not lobbing — at least, it should be. Lobbing can get things done for a while, but to get anywhere beyond the basics, or even to get under the bankside tree limbs, we need good casting form. So we build loops with a great casting stroke, and then place not just the fly where we want it, but the tippet and leader in the best position too. Ironically, it takes refined fly casting skill to cast a Mono Rig.
All of us here fish long leaders and short ones. We choose a powerful Mono Rig for pushing nymphs and streamers around, and we cast dry flies with a fly line too. We fish a pure tight line with a single nymph, we fish dry dropper styles, yarn indys with short leaders and fly line, and streamers with sinking lines sometimes.
All of it, every bit of it, requires the same casting fundamentals and the ability to control lengths of line in the air. And we must build casting loops with speed for the line to go anywhere.
It’s fly fishing. So it starts with fly casting.
We break down some of our best tips for fly casting that apply to beginners and advanced anglers alike. We go through the essentials and some advanced ideas that apply to all fly casting styles, from dry flies to nymphs to streamers.
We Cover the Following
Correcting casting mistakes in the driftCradling the rod, and finding the balance pointSpeed. short, crisp motions and clean stopsTurnoverLimit false casting, but use it for purposeOval in the rod tip travelThe casting V (10 and 2)Distance disciplineDon’t reach
ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | Category | Fly Casting
READ: Troutbitten | Bob's Fly Casting Wisdom
READ: Troutbitten | Fly Casting -- Squeeze It
READ: Troutbitten | Fly Casting -- Acquire Your Target Before the Pickup
READ: Troutbitten | Fly Casting -- Don't Reach
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OrvisSat, 30 Apr 2022 - 31 - Find Feeding Fish - Exploring Water Types and More
This episode is about exploring the water types of a river to find hungry trout. And we’re thinking beyond just fast water, slow water, riffles, runs and pools. Sure, recognizing the basic features of the stream you’re fishing is a great starting point. But this is Troutbitten, so you know we’re going to take things a bit further. We want to know more.
And what matters most is where trout are feeding -- and why.
Find feeding fish. When we’re on the water, it’s priority one. The rivers we fish are full of wild trout. They are everywhere. But just because trout are holding in a piece of water doesn’t mean they are feeding there. And, moment to moment, we’re searching for where trout are feeding in the river.
We talk a lot about solving the daily puzzle, about the on-the-river mystery presented anew every time we wet our boots, and even every time we round the next bend. That mystery really begins with finding feeding fish. Where are the hungry ones? What event or condition has trout ready to feed, on the hunt, or eager to intercept an easy meal?
Rivers are in a perpetual state of change, and the trout’s feeding patterns respond to those changes.
There are a number of factors that encourage trout to move into and feed in certain types of water. While the real-world conditions and events are infinite, there are five major factors that influence where and how trout feed in a river. They are: water temperature, water levels and water clarity, hatches, bug and baitfish activity, light conditions, and spawning activity.
And if we learn to recognize all of this, we have the keys to the puzzle.
We Cover the Following
Listener question about leader changesTrout response to various water temperaturesTrout response to water levelsTrout response to water clarityHow trout respond to hatchesHow baitfish activity influences trout feedingHow the spawning activity of various species provides feeding opportunities for trout
ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | Find Feeding Fish
READ: Troutbitten | Finding Bite Windows
READ: Troutbitten | Where to Find Bigger Trout
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OrvisSun, 24 Apr 2022 - 30 - How to Fight Bigger Trout
Something electric happens when we hook into the fish of the day, the fish of the season or maybe the fish of a lifetime. Our hearts beat faster. The adrenaline pumps because the stakes are raised. This is the fish we’ve been waiting for, and we don’t want to lose the opportunity.
And that feeling never fades. Across fishing styles and over the centuries, fishermen are captivated by these big-fish moments. And though the feeling never grows old, our ability to control our response and control the fish using the right moves with the rod, the reel and the line improves. With each loss, we learn the hard way. With each story about the one that got away, we replay our mistakes and plan to avoid the same errors next time.
And as we wait, as we hunt for the next big trout, we practice these moves on the average trout. We form good habits for line recovery, for slack management, side pressure, optimal fighting angles and the all-important closing moves of the last ten feet.
So, as much as we focus on the intricacies of fly selection, casting technique and drift speed, often, what we remember most is the moment when the biggest trout we’ve ever seen makes it to our net. It’s that conclusion — that happy ending that provides the capstone to so much of our journey.
Fighting bigger fish is an equal-parts mix of preparation, instinct and luck. And at least a third of that formula, we’re in control of.
In this episode, I’m joined by my fishing friends, Trevor Smith, Bill Dell, Austin Dando, Josh Darling and Matt Grobe.
We Cover the Following
The largest trout we've ever lostForming good habits with smaller troutFighting fish upstreamWorking with a trout and not against itWhere in the water column to fight a troutKnowing the strength of your toolsSide pressureClosing the distance, and the last ten feet
ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | Category | Fighting Fish
READ: Troutbitten | Category | Big Trout
READ: Troutbitten | Fighting Fish -- The Last Ten Feed
READ: Troutbitten | Fighting Fish -- Work With a Trout and Not Against It
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OrvisSun, 17 Apr 2022 - 29 - Hatches and Strategies
One of the greatest attractions to fly fishing can also present one of the biggest barriers.
It’s the bugs.
The aquatic insects that make up the bulk of a trout’s food base are intriguing, but they’re also somewhat mysterious
The advanced angler explores the nuances of these bugs. Some insects are good swimmers and emerge fast, so a presentation outside of a pure dead-drifted nymph might be the trigger that turns trout on. Likewise, understanding the life cycle of a mayfly helps us realize why seeking out and imitating the spinner stage is one of the best dry fly opportunities on the river.
These are the kinds of things to know about trout bugs. This is why we follow the hatches. We pay attention and try to meet the trout on their own terms -- give them more of what they’re eating right now.
Understanding everything we can about these bugs and how trout respond to them is a big piece of the puzzle that we’re trying to solve out there. And sometimes, it’s the keystone. Because at certain times, the bug life of a river is the central player in a trout’s daily life.
In this episode, I’m joined by my fishing friends, Trevor Smith, Bill Dell, Austin Dando, Josh Darling and Matt Grobe.We Cover the Following
Listener question about the sustainability of catch and releaseA walk-through of the major hatches throughout our seasonDifferences from east to west and moreHow mayflies, caddisflies, stoneflies and midges differ in their availability to troutWhy spinner falls are such a great opportunityHow the hatches affect our strategy from top to bottom
ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | You Don't Have to Match the Hatch
READ: Troutbitten | The George Harvey Leader Design
READ: Troutbitten | Are We Taking the Safety of Trout Too Far?
READ: Troutbitten | In Defense of Catching and Counting Fish — Why numbers in the Net Matter
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OrvisSat, 09 Apr 2022 - 28 - The Inefficiencies That Waste Your Fishing Time
Casting, drifting, swinging and stripping -- everything else is downtime. As Paul said, “Brother, there are no flying fish in Montana” — or anywhere else, for that matter.
Flies in the water — that’s where we want them. A trout at the end of the line. That’s what we’re aiming for. But there are seemingly endless tasks required for a fishing trip. And how we approach those chores really defines the way our day will go — simply because our fly is either in the water . . . or it’s not.
How we prepare the night before, our system for carrying tippet, our strategy for choosing the next fly, and even what we do with the net after releasing a trout — what we do with our time on the water . . . matters. And all of us experience that nagging feeling that something is amiss, that so much more is possible, on those days when we know that we are inefficient.
Fly fishing is for the pragmatist. Successful anglers see failure and make the changes to turn it around. And no matter what our natural tendencies — whether we’re a neat freak or a slob at home and at work, the river quickly teaches us that the only way forward is through efficiency. So every long term angler that I know becomes efficient, even if they weren’t born that way.
In this episode, I’m joined tonight by my fishing friends, Trevor Smith, Bill Dell, Austin Dando and Matt Grobe.
Finding a system. Finding routines for everything.Vest/ Pack strategiesOrganizing gearPre-trip preparationLeader changesKnot tyingWading staffTraveling strategyDon't be late!Rod storage
We Cover the Following
ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | Find Your System
READ: Troutbitten | The Inefficiency of Inexperience
READ: Troutbitten | Look for the Changeout Spots
READ: Troutbitten | What About the Wading Staff?
READ: Troutbitten | Find Your Rhythm
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OrvisSat, 02 Apr 2022 - 27 - Secrets and Spot Burning
Season Three begins with a round-table discussion about fishermen's secrets and what happens when we give up the most sensitive of them -- spot burning.
My full panel of fishing buddies is back for this third season: Austin Dando, Trevor Smith, Josh Darling, Bill Dell and now Matt Grobe. We kick off season three with one of the most contentious topics in fly fishing. Holding secrets is human nature. And some of us keep confidential our favorite flies, tactics and more. But when it comes to spots -- locations and where we fish -- discretion is a kindness that we lend to other anglers.
Secrets are part of the legacy of fishing. Exploring and locating places that are special to each of us is part of what keeps us coming back. We like to think that we’ve discovered something that is uncommon or unknown. And we learn that sharing information with the wrong people or in the wrong way can easily destroy a secret by making the uncommon, common.
As for spot burning, it’s bad because of what it does to other anglers.. Every piece of water is someone else’s sweetheart spot. So we refrain from naming names and locations out of respect for everyone else. And if you hear yourself saying, “It’s okay because everybody knows about that spot,” think again.
That’s our take on it.
We Cover the Following
Question from a listener regarding knot tying tipsQuestion from a listener regarding the toughest skill in fly tyingTypes of secretsSecret fliesSecret tacticsWhat is spot burningThe negative impact of spot burningNuances of spot burningSharing without sharing too muchThe hypocrisy of secretsRemember, each of these podcasts is always supported by a companion article of the same topic.
READ: Troutbitten | Podcast: Secrets and Spot Burning -- S3 Ep1
Resources
READ: Troutbitten | The Secret
READ: Troutbitten | Respect the Spots! A Fisherman's Thoughts on Secrets and Spot Burning
READ: Troutbitten | Coffee and Secrets
READ: Troutbitten | Super Fly -- The Story of a Squirmie WormieSeason Three of the Troutbitten podcast continues with Episode 2 -- Inefficiencies That Waste Your Fishing Time.
So look for that one in your Troutbitten podcast feed.Fish hard, friends.
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OrvisSun, 27 Mar 2022 - 26 - Feed Drop -- Troutbitten on the Wet Fly Swing Podcast
Hello, friends.
Season two of the Troutbitten podcast is finished, and season three begins soon. So in this off week, I have something a little special for you.
Recently, I was a guest on the Wet Fly Swing podcast with Dave Stewart. So this is a feed drop of that episode in full. Dave runs a great show, and he’s been at it for a long time. I was happy to be a guest for the second time with Dave. And in this episode, we dig into a lot of streamer tactics, some nymphing techniques, and we have a good talk about what happens during the transition from winter into spring fishing.
I hope you enjoy it. And if you do, go check out more at wetflyswing.com. With over 300 episodes in the bank, Dave talks with some of the most knowledgeable and entertaining fly fishers in the game. I’ve learned a lot from Dave’s podcast over the years.
I hope you enjoy listening to my talk with Dave Stewart.
So until next week . . . fish hard, friends.
** NOTE ** Season Three begins next week. We return to the Season One format of full-panel discussions covering all things fly fishing for trout. And we're looking forward to it.
Mon, 21 Mar 2022 - 25 - Bonus Round Q&A with Full Panel -- Tight Line and Euro Nymphing Skills, #10
Season Two concludes with a round table discussion for answering the most common questions about tight line and euro nymphing skills. My full panel of friends, Austin, Bill, Trevor and Josh join me to get deep in the weeds of the tactics, to clear up misconceptions, and offer their own ideas.
As Episode nine published, I realized there were many questions left to be answered. Daily, I received messages about a variety of techniques discussed in these nine essential skills. And the same themes cropped up. Anglers struggled with the same concepts. And those misunderstandings made their way to my inbox. It made sense to do one more podcast and answer these most popular, important questions.
So here's your bonus round . . .
We Cover the Following
Tuck casting in cover and using sidearm anglesTuck casting doesn't need to be verticalReading sighter for contact vs reading sighter for the strike zoneMore tips on finding the strike zoneForcing contact and using the extremesTippet length variabilityDeveloping accuracy with more speedRefining the castLeader diameter vs leader powerTips for fishing around structureRemember, each of these podcasts is supported by a companion article of the same topic. And you can find the full overview of the Nine Essential Skills for Tight line and Euro Nymphing here:
READ: Troubitten | Bonus Round Q&A with Full Panel -- Tight Line Skills Series, #10RESOURCES
READ: Troutbitten | The Nine Essential Skills for Tight Line and Euro Nymphing
READ: Troutbitten | Category | The Mono Rig
READ: Troutbitten | Full the Mono Rig System -- All the Variations, with Leader Formulas and Adjustments
READ: Troutbitten | Fly Fishing Strategies -- Tuck Cast
READ: Troutbitten | Put More Juice in the Cast
READ: Troutbitten | The Top Down Approach
READ: Troutbitten | Over or Under -- Your Best Bet on Weight** NOTE ** Season Three begins in a coupe weeks. We return to the Season One format of full-panel discussion covering all things fly fishing for trout. And we're looking forward to it.
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OrvisSun, 13 Mar 2022 - 24 - Putting It All Together -- Tight Line and Euro Nymphing Skills, #9
Here we are at the finish line. In this ninth installment of this Troutbitten Skills Series, my friend, Austin Dando, and I walk through some of the best tips for putting it all together. Because this set of skills, performed in order and flowing from one to the next, results in a great drift that starts and finishes in a convincing, trout-catching presentation.
Here are those nine skills:
- Angle and ApproachTurnover and Tuck CastSticking the LandingRecovering SlackFinding ContactLocating the Strike ZoneGuiding the FliesThe StrikePutting it all Together
Each of them now has its own podcast and its own article that lays out the tactics in detail.
Tight line tactics are infinitely refinable. There is no end to how much better you can make the next drift. And if you get it perfect, then the next seam challenges you all over again. Contact and true control over the flies is a responsibility, and I’ve seen it overwhelm people at times. So, putting a number on the most basic skills and putting them in order makes things manageable. That is the purpose of this system -- this series -- of nine essential skills.
We Cover the Following
Practice by imaginingDon't be intimidatedTrusting the transitionsFinding the failuresFocusing on just oneSeeing successHow fast the middle steps happenWatching the entrance and the exit of the fliesJudging success
ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | The Nine Essential Skills for Tight Line and Euro Nymphing
READ: Troutbitten | Category | The Mono Rig
READ: Troutbitten | Get a Good Drift, Then Move On
READ: Troutbitten | What To Trust
READ: Troutbitten | Trout Like to Do What Their Friends Are Doing
READ: Troutbitten |Asking the Best Questions to Catch More Trout
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OrvisSun, 06 Mar 2022 - 23 - The Strike -- Tight Line and Euro Nymphing Skills, #8
The strike is the best part of fishing. It’s what we’re all out there waiting for, or rather, what we’re trying to make happen all day long. And the trout eats because we get so many things right. When the fish strikes, we strike back. Short, swift and effective, the hook finds flesh. Then we try to keep the trout buttoned up, and get it to the net.
In this podcast episode, there are two types of strikes that my friend, Austin Dando, and I focus on.
First, there’s the strike from a trout — the take, the hit, the “gimme that I wanna eat it,” from a fish. So we need to recognize and sense that strike.
Second, there's our strike — the hook set, the swift rod tip motion that drives the hook point home and attaches us to the trout. So it helps to have a plan and give some thought to how that’s done too.
Remember, fooling trout is the hard part. The rest of this — hooking and landing a fish, comes much easier.
We Cover the Following
Are hook sets really free?Set on anything?Set on anything unusual or unexpectedDifference of over or under weightingIs there a sixth sense?Direction of the hook setHow far? How fast?Fly rod types and hook setsThe Check SetCan you ever set too fast?Slack and hook setsRemember, each of these podcasts is supported by a companion article of the same topic. And you can find the full overview of the Nine Essential Skills for Tight line and Euro Nymphing here:
READ: Troutbitten | The Nine Essential Skills for Tight Line and Euro Nymphing
READ: Troutbitten | #8 The Strike -- Nine Essential Skill for Tight Line and Euro Nymphing
READ: Troutbitten | Category | The Mono Rig
READ: Troutbitten | Fly Fishing Strategies -- Plan for the Hookset
READ: Troutbitten | Don't Guess -- Set the Hook and Set Hard
READ: Troutbitten | Hook Set at the End of Every Drift
READ: Troutbitten Tight Line Nymphing Skills -- The Check Set
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OrvisSun, 27 Feb 2022 - 22 - Guiding the Flies -- Tight Line and Euro Nymphing Skills, #7
Part Seven of this Troutbitten Skills Series focuses on guiding the flies. Once the nymphs are cast and settled into the target seam, it's time to take them to the trout. Guiding the flies is a blend of two skills that I call leading and tracking. At the core, this skill of guiding the flies is fishing the flies. And this is what anglers tend to focus on most — for good reason. It’s the longest in duration. It’s the most active, and has the most room for variation.
In truth, there are number of ways to dead drift nymphs through one seam. And the choices we make are about how much influence we want to have on the flies. A leading approach puts the angler in charge, and a tracking approach let's the river dictate the course of the flies. Guiding the flies is an effort to mix the two.
We Cover the Following
The advantages of leadingControl, contact and the dead driftOver weightingThe advantages of trackingLess control with fewer options, but a truer drift?Under weightingIs pure tracking possible?Guiding as a mix of the twoSlipping contactFind the perfect weightWhy use both?Why guiding works.Remember, each of these podcasts is supported by a companion article of the same topic. And you can find the full overview of the Nine Essential Skills for Tight line and Euro Nymphing here:
READ: Troutbitten | The Nine Essential Skills for Tight Line and Euro Nymphing
READ: Troutbitten | #7 Guiding the Flies -- Nine Essential Skill for Tight Line and Euro Nymphing
READ: Troutbitten | Category | The Mono Rig
READ: Troutbitten | Leading vs Tracking vs Guiding the Flies
READ: Troutbitten | Tracking the Flies
READ: Troutbitten | How to Lead the Flies
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OrvisSun, 20 Feb 2022 - 21 - Locating the Strike Zone -- Tight Line and Euro Nymphing Skills, #6
Part six of this Troutbitten Skills Series is about locating the strike zone. This zone of water -- this cushion near the bottom of the river -- is the default target and the baseline location for our flies.
Most of what happens in a river occurs in the strike zone. It's where the trout spend most of their time. It's where the bugs and baitfish live. Understanding everything about the strike zone allows us to know exactly how and where we want to present the nymph.
My friend, Austin Dando, joins me to help break down and understand this crucial concept.
Unlocking this knowledge — understanding the strike zone -- then finding it and drifting your flies there, is perhaps the most pivotal moment in your nymphing skills progression. It changes everything.
We Cover the Following
What is the strike zone?Why is the strike zone important?Why gliding the strike zone outperforms touching the bottomTouching bottom to find the strike zoneWatching the sighter speed to find the strike zoneGliding through the strike zoneDeviating our drifts in and out of the strike zoneThe downshiftDepth and speed of the strike zoneMore on reading the sighterRemember, each of these podcasts is supported by a companion article of the same topic. And you can find the full overview of the Nine Essential Skills for Tight line and Euro Nymphing here:
READ: Troutbitten | The Nine Essential Skills for Tight Line and Euro Nymphing
READ: Troutbitten | #6 Locating the Strike Zone -- Nine Essential Skill for Tight Line and Euro Nymphing
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OrvisSun, 13 Feb 2022 - 20 - Finding Contact -- Tight Line and Euro Nymphing Skills, #5
Part five of this Troutbitten Skills Series is about finding contact. Because after the tuck cast, after we stick the landing and begin to recover slack, we need to find contact on sighter.
Contact is visual. It's about reading the sighter to know that we are in touch with the flies from rod tip to the nymph or split shot. It's not about touching or ticking the riverbed. Instead, the contact we're looking for is seen on the sighter.
With contact, we know everything about the depth and speed of our flies. We know where they are, and we determine where they are going. That's the advantage of a tight line (contact) nymphing system.
Importantly, this does not mean we are directly in touch at all times with the fly, because we often get better drifts without such direct influence over the nymphs. But without contact at points through the drift (and sometimes the whole way) we are simply guessing about the location of the flies. To take advantage of the ultimate control that tight line and euro nymphing rigs offer, we must learn to read contact on the sighter -- to know we are in touch and know where the flies are.
Reading the sighter and finding contact is critical.
My friend, Austin Dando, joins me on episode five for an in-depth discussion of this technique.
Contact is seen, not feltReading the sighterSighter material and constructionThe Backing BarrelThe bow in the sighterNervous sighterSeeing beyond the sighterContact let's us trust the sighterForcing contact
We Cover the FollowingRemember, each of these podcasts is supported by a companion article of the same topic. And you can find the full overview of the Nine Essential Skills for Tight line and Euro Nymphing here:
Resources
READ: Troutbitten | The Nine Essential Skills for Tight Line and Euro Nymphing
READ; Troutbitten | #5 Finding Contact -- Nine Essential Skill for Tight Line and Euro Nymphing
READ: Troutbitten | Category | The Mono Rig
READ: Troutbitten | Contact is Visual
READ: Troutbitten | The Backing Barrel might be the best sighter ever
READ: Troutbitten | Design and Function of the Standard Troutbitten Mono RigVisit:
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OrvisSun, 06 Feb 2022 - 19 - Recovering Slack -- Tight Line and Euro Nymphing Skills, #4
Part four of this Troutbitten Skills Series focuses on recovering slack. To dead drift a nymph, we cast it upstream. And as the river flows downstream, it sends the fly back toward us, creating slack. Usually, we simply pick up that slack and maintain contact with the fly (sometimes directly, sometimes slightly).
Slack maintenance is a critical skill. It’s line management. And if the goal is to be in contact with the nymphs and know where they are -- if this is a tight line rig -- then allowing too much slack in the system destroys everything that we’re working toward.
Managed slack is part of an advanced skill set. And that’s very much what we do by starting with a tuck cast. Then, after sticking the landing, we’re in a great position to continue those advanced skills.
We recover the slack in three ways: by lifting the rod tip, by leading the rod tip, and with the line hand.
My friend, Austin Dando, joins me on Episode Four for an in-depth discussion of these techniques.
(Season three will return to my full panel of friends, with longer form discussion about all things fly fishing.)
We Cover the Following
Maintaining contactSlipping contactLetting the river decideManaged slackThe Lift and LeadLine hand recoveryThe Pulley RetrieveTrimming the sighterDealing with windRemember, each of these podcasts is supported by a companion article of the same topic. And you can find the full overview of the Nine Essential Skills for Tight line and Euro Nymphing here:
READ: Troutbitten | The Nine Essential Skills for Tight Line and Euro Nymphing
READ; Troutbitten | #4 Recovering Slack -- Nine Essential Skill for Tight Line and Euro Nymphing
Resources
READ: Troutbitten | The Nine Essential Skills for Tight Line and Euro Nymphing
READ: Troutbitten | Category | The Mono Rig
READ: Troutbitten | The Pulley Retrieve (with VIDEO)
READ: Troutbitten | The Lift and Lead
READ: Troutbitten | Leading vs Tracking vs Guiding
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OrvisMon, 31 Jan 2022 - 18 - Stick the Landing -- Tight Line and Euro Nymphing Skills, #3
Part three of this Troutbitten Skills Series focuses on sticking the landing. Because after putting ourselves in great position to present the fly, we shouldn't waste the perfect tuck cast and delivery. As the fly hits the water, all the elements of our system are in position and ready to drift. That's sticking the landing.
Like a gymnast who tumbles, somersaults and then lands on two feet with no body movement, the best completion of a cast happens with no extra movement. Instead of landing and then recovering or correcting, we stick the landing, ready to drift.
My friend, Austin Dando, joins me on Episode Three for an in-depth discussion of this technique.
(Season three will return to my full panel of friends, with longer form discussion about all things fly fishing.)
We Cover the Following
What sticking the landing looks likePosition of rod tip, leader, sighter and tippetWhy it mattersMaximizing the drift timePreserving good slack with tippet positionSighter angleLeading angleThe negative results of reachingWhere to stop the forward castCorrecting mistakesRemember, each of these podcasts is supported by a companion article of the same topic. And you can find the full overview of the Nine Essential Skills for Tight line and Euro Nymphing here:
READ: Troutbitten | The Nine Essential Skills for Tight Line and Euro Nymphing
READ; Troutbitten | #3 Stick the Landing -- Nine Essential Skill for Tight Line and Euro Nymphing
Resources
READ: Troutbitten | The Nine Essential Skills for Tight Line and Euro Nymphing
READ: Troutbitten | Category | The Mono Rig
READ: Troutbitten | Stick the Landing While Tight Lining
READ: Troutbitten | When the First Cast Matters Most
READ: Troutbitten | It's Casting, Not Lobbing
READ: Troutbitten | Put More Juice in the Cast
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OrvisWed, 26 Jan 2022 - 17 - Turnover and Tuck Casting -- Tight Line and Euro Nymphing Skills, #2
Part two of this Troutbitten Skills Series focuses on the tuck cast. A good tuck is a turnover cast -- where the loops unfolds completely in the air. In fact, a tuck cast is a fly-first entry, and it's perfect for setting up the tight line advantage, where we keep everything up and out of the water that we possibly can.
We tuck cast not just to get deeper, but to setup the fly, tippet, sighter and leader in the best possible position to drift the flies down one seam. Accuracy starts with a good tuck, and not just accuracy over where the fly goes, but where all the parts of the leader go too.
My friend, Austin Dando, joins my on Episode Two for an in-depth discussion of this technique.
(Season three will return to my full panel of friends, with longer form discussion about all things fly fishing.)
Remember, this is part two of a nine-part skill set. Think of a Troutbitten Skills series as a course in one topic or one aspect of fly fishing, with different sections that eventually build a full set of knowledge.
Each of these podcasts is supported by a companion article of the same topic. And you can find the full overview of the Nine Essential Skills for Tight line and Euro Nymphing here:
READ: Troutbitten | The Nine Essential Skills for Tight Line and Euro Nymphing
READ; Troutbitten | #2 Turnover and Tuck Casting -- Nine Essential Skill for Tight Line and Euro NymphingWe Cover the Following
The fly first entryThe tight line advantageTrue turnoverCasting vs lobbingPut more juice in the castLeader designRod powerLoading the rod and feeling the tugLeader power / Leader pushAngles and depths of a good tuck castResources
READ: Troutbitten | The Nine Essential Skills for Tight Line and Euro Nymphing
READ: Troutbitten | Category | The Mono Rig
READ: Troutbitten | Turnover and Tuck Casting
READ: Troutbitten | The Tuck Cast
READ: Troutbitten | It's Casting, Not Lobbing
READ: Troutbitten | Put More Juice in the Cast
READ: Troutbitten | Turnover
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OrvisWed, 19 Jan 2022 - 16 - Angle and Approach -- Tight Line and Euro Nymphing Skills, #1
Season two of the Troutbitten podcast comes in a new format. It's a mini-series of connected episodes that build out a set of specific tactics. The topic for this first skills series is the Nine Essential Skills for Tight Line and Euro Nymphing, and I'm joined by my friend, Austin Dando.
(Season three will return to my full panel of friends, with longer form discussion about all things fly fishing.)
These episodes are short, deeply tactical and packed with the how-to of just one technique -- a tightly focused look at one topic. Each episode is intertwined or woven together with the others that surround it. By the end of this skills series, you’ll have a detailed picture of the tactics — and hopefully a thorough understanding of what’s possible on the water.Think of a Troutbitten Skills series as a course in one topic or one aspect of fly fishing, with different sections that eventually build a full set of knowledge.
The tight line advantageLimiting the rangeUpstream two and over oneFlies track to the rod tipOne lane -- one seamForty-five to forty-fiveWhen to end the driftThe trouble with casting acrossWading disciplineWater type
Nine for Nine
I recently published the last chapter in the nine skills essential for tight line and euro nymphing. Now, we're taking each of these skills and building a podcast around them. The article series and the podcast series go hand in hand.
Why?
Tight line and euro nymphing is very popular right now. Because it’s an efficient system, and it’s fun. But tight line and euro nymphing is misunderstood too. The many different rigs and methods of casting or delivery are what make all of this so interesting, but it’s what leads to confusion and mistaken concepts about what this is and how to get it done.
These nine skills are critical — they are the foundation for everything else that we do with a Mono Rig -- all the indy styles, dry dropper, streamer fishing, etc.
Episode One of this skills series is about angle and approach.
We Cover the FollowingResources
READ: Troutbitten | The Nine Essential Skills for Tight Line and Euro Nymphing
READ: Troutbitten | Category | The Mono Rig
READ: Troutbitten | Angle and Approach
READ: Troutbitten | One Great Nymphing TrickVisit:
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Troutbitten Instagram
Troutbitten YouTube
Trout
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and
OrvisSun, 16 Jan 2022
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