2 Guys and a River

Spring is no where to be seen in the Chicago area. Winter is still roaring like a lion. If spring comes in like a lion as well, then we’re toast. But at least the days are getting longer, and inevitably, spring fly fishing will be in full swing. In this episode, we interview Peter Stitcher, … Continue reading "S4:E37 Peter Stitcher on Spring Fly Fishing" The post S4:E37 Peter Stitcher on Spring Fl...

Trout Unlimited is a distributed army of passionate conservationists, united by the mission to save the coldwater fisheries of North America. Recently, the Lee Wulff Trout Unlimited chapter invited us to share the story of 2 Guys and a River at one of their monthly meetings. This episode is an edited version of that wonderful … Continue reading "S4:E36 Live at the Lee Wulff TU Chapter" The post S4...

The best fly fishing advice comes in bits and pieces over a long period of time. One accrues advice. In this episode, the second in a series, we offer up some some bits of fly fishing advice that has helped us catch more fish. Some of this will be obvious to many of you, but … Continue reading "S4:E35 Best Fly Fishing Advice, Part 2" The post S4:E35 Best Fly Fishing Advice, Part 2 appeared first o...

Steve has fished in Alaska, but other than that, neither of us has gone on a fly fishing trip outside North America. We’ve recently been wondering if it is time. But where to start? We decided to interview Toby Swank, who owns one of the premier fly fishing shops in Bozeman, Montana, and has conducted … Continue reading "S4:E34 Taking an Exotic Fly Fishing Trip" The post S4:E34 Taking an Exotic Fl...

Fly fishing goals may seem like a bit of overkill when thinking about the new year. But life often crowds out the good, so setting some fly fishing goals helps us focus on what, truly, is most important. In this episode, we discuss our goals for 2019, which includes more time on the water (with … Continue reading "S4:E33 Setting Fly Fishing Goals for the New Year" The post S4:E33 Setting Fly Fishi...

Success on the river comes in part from knowing your river. There’s an intimacy that forms between the fisher and the river: You know the primary runs on the stretch you fish and the lies where the fish hang out and the time of year it fishes best. In this episode, we offer seven questions … Continue reading "S4:E32 7 Questions for Knowing Your River" The post S4:E32 7 Questions for Knowing Your R...

Our most-read post on this site is the one Steve wrote on “The 10 Commandments of Wading.” Using the phrase “wading commandments” is a good way to talk about a subject that carries with it the great risk of the sport. In this episode, we revisit each of the ten commandments, adding in comments from … Continue reading "S4:31 Wading Commandments Revisited" The post S4:31 Wading Commandments Revisite...

Have you ever had one of those days on the river that transported you to a different dimension? Not every day of fly fishing is a day of mystique, but through the years, we’ve had special moments that are burned into our memory. It’s not merely about catching lots of fish or hooking into a … Continue reading "S4:E30 Days of Mystique on the River" The post S4:E30 Days of Mystique on the River appea...

A day on the river always comes with a series of decisions that can make or break your fly fishing day. In this episode, we identify a few of those and discuss how we go about moving from decision to decision. For example, one nagging question is, “How quickly should I move to something else … Continue reading "S4:E29 Decisions that Make or Break Your Fly Fishing Day" The post S4:E29 Decisions tha...

The East Gallatin River would look like a piece of ribbon candy, if you viewed it from a drone. It’s a slow moving creek that for the most part runs through private property north of Bozeman, Montana. One fall day, Steve found himself in the middle of a BWO hatch. In this episode, Dave interviews … Continue reading "S4:E28 One Fine Day on the East Gallatin River" The post S4:E28 One Fine Day on th...

The best fly fishing advice often comes with a small dose of humiliation. Or at least with a palm to the forehead, “Duh!” That’s how we felt when a guide recently said to us, “Why are you trying to cast harder into the wind. It won’t improve your distance. Your mechanics need to be the … Continue reading "S4:E27 Best Fly Fishing Advice, Part 1" The post S4:E27 Best Fly Fishing Advice, Part 1 appea...

Fly fishing burnout seems like a malady for someone with too much time on his or her hands. But there can be too much of a good thing. Some have taken time away from the sport, others have stopped fly fishing altogether. In this episode, we grapple with the topic and try to frame the … Continue reading "S4:E26 Avoiding Fly Fishing Burnout" The post S4:E26 Avoiding Fly Fishing Burnout appeared firs...

Catch and release fly fishing has been around for more than a half century. In recent years, there has been a renewed push for fish survival with the Keep ‘Em Wet movement (#keepemwet), the idea being to make sure the fish stays wet the entire time it’s out of water. In this episode, we interview … Continue reading "S4:E25 The Angling Interval: Key to Fish Survival" The post S4:E25 The Angling Int...

Protecting your fly rod is as simple as obeying this rule: “Slow down!” We’ve lost rods, stepped on rods, and broke other fly fisher’s rods. In this episode, we step back to offer up some “Don’t be like us” tips – to help you protect your investment. Just a modicum of thought goes a long … Continue reading "S4:E24 Protecting Your Fly Rod" The post S4:E24 Protecting Your Fly Rod appeared first on 2...

Quake Lake was formed in 1959 when an earthquake triggered the collapse of a side of a mountain. The mountain fell into the Madison River, creating a natural dam. This fall, we fished Quake Lake near West Yellowstone, both for the first time. In this episode, we reflect on the experience, describing the emotion of … Continue reading "S4:E23 One Fine Day on Quake Lake" The post S4:E23 One Fine Day...

Is fly fishing truly a hobby for you? We recently read a New York Times column called “In Praise of Mediocrity,” which ripped on America’s fascination with turning every hobby into a “pursuit of excellence.” We fish less than 25 days a year; we’re not professionals. So how good should an amateur get? How should … Continue reading "S4:E22 Are You Too Serious about Fly Fishing?" The post S4:E22 Are...

You’ve read all about all the wonderful places to see or things to do the next time you visit Yellowstone National Park: Old Faithful, Mammoth Hot Springs, Tower Fall, Yellowstone Lake – just to name a few. This episode, though, is all about the dont’s – what NOT to do the next time you enter … Continue reading "S4:E21 Top 10 Dont’s When Visiting Yellowstone National Park" The post S4:E21 Top 10 D...

At the request of our listeners, we’ve now published an episode on euro nymphing. Our take is a bit different. Instead of interviewing an expert, Steve interviewed someone who is clearly a non-expert – Dave. In the last six months, Dave picked up euro nymphing on his own, watching videos, reading books, and fumbling with … Continue reading "S4:E20 How to Learn the Basics of Euro Nymphing" The post...

Bigger fish on streamers is common promise. Often you hear, “If you want to catch bigger fish, throw on a streamer. Yet fly fishing with streamers is not popular among many fly fishers. In this episode, we interview Dave Kumlien, who has been a fly fishing guide for forty years, owned a successful fly shop … Continue reading "S4:E19 Catching More and Bigger Fish with Streamers" The post S4:E19 Cat...

When starting out in the sport, most fly fishers struggle to build skills in all the areas required for success: casting, reading waters, grasping a cursory understanding of entomology, and simply identifying places to fish. It’s a fire hose of information, knowledge, and skill. In this episode, we focus on a different set of problems … Continue reading "S4:E18 Overcoming a Fly Fishing Plateau" Th...

The fly fishing universe is filled with mysteries. One deep, unsolvable mystery is how few calories a day of fishing burns relative to the large amount of calories consumed at the Supper Club or steak house later in the day. The mysteries are dense. Virtually impenetrable. But in this episode, we peer behind the curtain, … Continue reading "S4:E17 Mysteries of the Fly Fishing Universe, Part 3" The...

Planning a memorable fly fishing trip is pretty easy if you do a few things right. There are factors that you can control, of course, and then there is the weather – and whether the fish are in the mood. In this episode, we lift the veil on our do-it-yourself fishing trips. Which is probably … Continue reading "S4:E16 How to Plan a Memorable Fly Fishing Trip" The post S4:E16 How to Plan a Memorabl...

Fly box chaos is real. You start out nice and organized, with pretty little rows, and then the Law of Entropy kicks in. Next thing you know, your fly box looks like a tossed salad. In this episode, we interview Peter Stitcher, with Ascent Fly Fishing. Peter has come up with a simple but biologically … Continue reading "S4:E15 Organizing Your Fly Box Chaos" The post S4:E15 Organizing Your Fly Box C...

What fishing does for our day job is more than just relieve stress. That’s important, of course. But fly fishing is about something bigger, or maybe deeper. While both of us would love to fish more days each year, we certainly don’t wish we could fly fish full-time as professionals (and certainly not possible, given … Continue reading "S4:E14 What Fly Fishing Does for Our Day Job" The post S4:E14...

No where are there more pictures of fly fishers handling and photographing fish than on Instagram. Everyone has a unique angle on the fish – close up, far away, underwater, one-handed, two-handed – and a thousand other ways. How should a fly fisher who expects to release the fish handle the fish? How long should … Continue reading "S4:E13 Properly Handling and Photographing Fish" The post S4:E13 P...