Here we are at the part of the season where we address everybody’s favorite question — what fly are you using?

We’ve argued for years that the leader is the most consequential element in the system — much more important than the fly. That said, the fly must be reasonable.

Most anglers are so focused on the flies because it’s the easiest thing to change. We’re quick to blame the pattern. And it’s a lot easier to clip off one fly and tie on another than to really break down your approach, your cast and your dead drift.

The better approach is to perfect those elements and then . . . maybe change the fly.

I carry a box of dry flies, just like I carry a box of streamers and a box of nymphs and wets. The flies matter. But more than anything, it’s about matching the moment, the water type, the lifecycle of the bug - and even the wind conditions. For us, those conditions -- those situations -- dictate our next fly choice. We don't guess on patterns. Instead, we think about things, develop a theory and test it with the next fly choice and (hopefully) a great presentation.

My friend, Matt Grobe, joins me for this discussion.


Resources

READ: Troutbitten | Category | Dry Fly Fishing
VIDEO: Troutbitten | The Perfect Parachute Ant
READ: Troutbitten | When Should You Change the Fly?

Visit

Troutbitten Website

Troutbitten Instagram

Troutbitten YouTube

Troutbitten Facebook

Thank You to Pre-Roll Ad Sponsors:

Skwala

and

Orvis

Our discussion here is about casting dry flies, and that’s where all good fly casting starts. With a dry fly, there’s no weight at the end of the line to help us out. No split shot, no tungsten bead, conehead or bobber. Refining the dry fly stroke truly teaches us what the fly rod is built to do.

Ten and two. Acceleration and crisp stops between two points. Pause and allow turnover to happen. Feel the rod load and watch it all happen with the fly line in the air. Once you have that timing, your baseline is set, and you can take that same stroke to any rod angle, punching the fly around and laying things out just how you want them with a few adjustments.

Good mending is setup by good casting. Put the two together, and you can feed slack to a dry fly for perfect drag free drifts.

Having command over all of that . . . is a lot of fun.

My friend, Matt Grobe, joins me to for a great discussion on casting and mending dry flies.


Resources

READ: Troutbitten | Category | Dry Fly Fishing
READ: Troutbitten | Ten and Two
READ: Troutbitten | Put More Juice in the Cast
READ: Troutbitten | Five Tips for Better Mending

Visit

Troutbitten Website

Troutbitten Instagram

Troutbitten YouTube

Troutbitten Facebook

Thank You to Pre-Roll Ad Sponsors:

Skwala

and

Orvis

Thank You to Pre-Roll Ad Sponsors:

Skwala

and

Orvis

For our Season 12 Intermission, my wife, Becky, joins me for a lighthearted look at what's going on in the Troutbitten world. We talk about the upcoming leader sale in the Troutbitten Shop (August 21). We talk about the New Trail Troutbitten beer, the event and the video. And we talk about the Fish and Film series on YouTube.

Becky and I also answer a bunch of fun questions from listeners.

Resources

VIDEO: Troutbitten | Fish and Film - One Morning For Versatility
VIDEO: Troutbitten | Beer and Friends -- Good Times and Good Stories with New Trail and Troutbitten
SHOP: Troutbitten | Category | Leaders

Visit

Troutbitten Website

Troutbitten Instagram

Troutbitten YouTube

Troutbitten Facebook

Thank You to Pre-Roll Ad Sponsors:

Skwala

and

Orvis

Thank You to Pre-Roll Ad Sponsors:

Skwala

and

Orvis

The leader should match the moment and match the angler. It should match the fly, the river and the wind conditions. Adjustments are necessary, and when they're performed often enough they become intuitive.

An objective look at real goals for the dry fly, along with the true capabilities of the leader materials at hand, will lead anyone down the path toward a great leader formula for dry flies.

While many anglers might consider the leader as an afterthought, we believe the leader is the most consequential element in the system. The leader always matters, but it’s most important while trying to achieve dead drifts with a dry fly.

My good friend, Matt Grobe, joins me to discuss dry fly leader design. Like me, Matt looks for every opportunity to fool trout at the surface.

Resources

READ: Troutbitten | Category | Dry Fly Fishing
READ: Troutbitten | Dry Fly Fishing -- The Forehand and Backhand Curve
VIDEO: Troutbitten | Casting Forehand and Backhand
READ: Troutbitten | The George Harvey Leader Design
VIDEO: Troutbitten | The George Harvey Dry Fly Leader -- Design, adjustments and tips
READ: Troutbitten | That's Not a Dead Drift
VIDEO: Troutbitten | Real Dead Drifts -- Up Top and Underneath

Visit

Troutbitten Website

Troutbitten Instagram

Troutbitten YouTube

Troutbitten Facebook

Thank You to Pre-Roll Ad Sponsors:

Skwala

and

Orvis

Thank You to Pre-Roll Ad Sponsors:

Skwala

and

Orvis

The drag free drift -- a high percentage of the time, that’s what catches trout on top. So aiming for perfection on a dead drift sets the baseline. And if you get those great drifts, but they won’t eat it, try some animation. Think slight, small and subtle for those movements to the fly, and you just might fool some trout that are keyed in on motion.

Everything works sometimes. So we’re ready to try anything. But we spend the most time with tactics that produce with the highest rate of return. That’s just common sense.

Whatever fly you're fishing, whatever bait, lure or fly you’re presenting across the spectrum of fishing, it pays to watch the food form you’re trying to imitate. In this case, watch how a mayfly rides on the water. Set up and watch rising trout for a while, and see if they’re eating caddis that are dapping and skittering, or if they’re eating something unseen, perhaps just under the surface. Also, get close to the water and see how a carpenter ant or a hopper behaves once it’s made the mistake and found itself on the water. How do these bugs move, and how do the trout respond? Imitate that with your fly.

My friend, Matt Grobe, joins me for this second episode in our dry fly skills series.

Resources

READ: Troutbitten | Category | Dry Fly Fishing
READ: Troutbitten | That's Not a Dead Drift
VIDEO: Troutbitten | Real Dead Drifts -- Up Top and Underneath
READ: Troutbitten | Dry Fly Fishing on the Mono Rig

Visit

Troutbitten Website

Troutbitten Instagram

Troutbitten YouTube

Troutbitten Facebook

Thank You to Pre-Roll Ad Sponsors:

Skwala

and

Orvis

Thank You to Pre-Roll Ad Sponsors:

Skwala

and

Orvis

Season twelve begins. It’s a seven-part skills series dedicated to dry fly fishing. My friend, Matt Grobe, joins me to build the framework — a method and a system — for presenting dry flies to trout.

In this first episode, we ask when and why we fish dry flies. What’s the reason we might choose to fish dries over streamers, wets or nymphs?

We argue that dry flies are the heart and soul of fly fishing. The visual aspect is fun and exciting. And the pleasures of top water fishing should not be missed.

Also, presenting dry flies is what makes fly fishing unique. And learning the skills to cast a dry teaches you everything about what a fly rod can do.

Resources

READ: Troutbitten | Category | Dry Fly Fishing
READ: Troutbitten | If You Can't Fish Dry Flies, You're Missing the Point

Visit

Troutbitten Website

Troutbitten Instagram

Troutbitten YouTube

Troutbitten Facebook

Thank You to Pre-Roll Ad Sponsors:

Skwala

and

Orvis

Thank You to Pre-Roll Ad Sponsors:

Skwala

and

Orvis

Prospecting is a strategy for covering water. It’s about pace. A lot of what we do, day to day on the water, is searching. We’re looking for activity. We’re trying to find feeding fish.

Sometimes we’re looking to find the fish themselves, and other times, we know the trout are there, but they won’t eat, so we’re faced with the choice to change tactics or change flies . . . or we can move on and look for the next opportunity.

All of that can fairly be called prospecting. But for this discussion, we want to think about how covering water and looking for the players — for the hungry ones, is a unique strategy. It’s a lot different than settling in over risers or even working a hundred yards of some pocket water with nymphs.

The truth is, we’re searching for something on every cast, no matter what our approach is. But what we call prospecting is a bit different. It’s about canvassing an area, casting a wider net, searching for that next fish and then the next one. Then we take that data about where and how trout are feeding, and we use it to inform our next decision.

Often we might dedicate a whole day to prospecting. And on other days, it’s a prospecting approach that helps us dial in the rhythms of trout. So we’d like to find where trout are feeding and what they’re feeding on most. Then we might sort of change gears to a more targeted approach and do the opposite of prospecting.

Resources

PODCAST: Troutbitten | Cover Water, Catch Trout
PODCAST: Troutbitten | Cherry Picking or Full Coverage

Visit

Troutbitten Website

Troutbitten Instagram

Troutbitten YouTube

Troutbitten Facebook

Thank You to Pre-Roll Ad Sponsors:

Skwala

and

Orvis

The third annual Airing of Grievances on the Troutbitten Podcast has arrived. Some of this is playful and some is serious.

Complaining’s not a bad thing if it accomplishes something productive -- or if it’s kinda fun. Or if it draws attention to some of the absurdities around you.

Some things need to change. Because there are plenty of influences and influencers leading us all down a road to nowhere, or really, to a place that loses the depth of this fishing experience — of what we love about the woods and the water in the first place.

So let’s be a voice for that stuff too. Let’s complain a little more against those things that are pulling us all in the wrong direction. Keep fishing fun. Keep it pure. Keep it a simple match between fish and a fisherman, surrounded by mystery and embedded with the wild, unpredictable nature of the outdoors and everything it holds for us.

Whatever you believe, take a stand for it. That’s what we try to do here with the Airing of Grievances.

Resources

PODCAST: Troutbitten | The Airing of Grievances (One)
PODCAST: Troutbitten | The Airing of Grievances (Two)

Visit

Troutbitten Website

Troutbitten Instagram

Troutbitten YouTube

Troutbitten Facebook

Thank You to Pre-Roll Ad Sponsors:

Skwala

and

Orvis