Fish Untamed

Charles Harper Webb is a Professor of English at California State University, former psychotherapist, poet, and author. His recent book, Ursula Lake, is a dark and thrilling story about a husband and wife trying to save their marriage and a rock musician trying to get his career back, all centered around a fly fishing trip in the Canadian wilderness. In this episode, Charles and I talk about how h...

Holden Ryu and Adam Thiret, both going to school the rest of the year, spend their summers chasing a challenge they made for themselves: catching every gamefish species in CO. They’re not far from completing their challenge, and in this episode we talk about how the challenge came to be, some memorable experiences and species along the way, and the species they’re still working on (including a fun...

Barry deCocq is the owner of American Fork Anglers and specializes in custom leaders, including Euro, tightline, and standard. Barry believes the leader is the most important part of a fly fishing setup and has the experience to back it up. In this episode, we discuss Euro nymphing, the differences between custom and storebought leaders, how different styles of leaders vary, what goes into custom...

In 2018, I traveled to Japan with a group of friends to ski the famous Hokkaido powder. One member of the group, Nick Hill, fell in love with Japan and decided to move there. Not long after, he became a trout bum, and he’s been immersing himself in Japan’s amazing fishing opportunities ever since. This is a pretty relaxed episode where we catch up on what he’s been up to, what it’s like being a tr...

Kyle Kamp is a dietician and owner of Valley to Peak Nutrition, a company designed to help people fuel themselves properly for rigorous backcountry adventures. After losing 140 pounds himself and moving out west where he was immersed in the outdoors, Kyle wanted to help others get the proper nutrition for their trips into the backcountry. In this episode, we discuss how to get the right amounts of...

Brian Chan is the owner/operator of Riseform Flyfishing Ventures and guides stillwater fly fishing trips. Before guiding, Brian was a Provincial Fisheries Biologist for 35 years. He also writes a regular column in Fly Fusion Magazine and co-hosts the Sport Fishing on the Fly TV show. In this episode, we start by going over trout biology in lakes, including their feeding patterns, seasonal movement...

Phil Rowley is the owner of Phil Rowley Fly Fishing and has over 35 years of fly fishing experience, primarily focused on stillwaters. He is also an author, speaker, video producer, brand ambassador, online instructor, YouTube creator, guide, and co-host of The New Fly Fisher TV show. In this episode, we discuss all things stillwater including flies, leaders, techniques, and finding fish. Phil als...

Erica Nelson is the cofounder of REAL Consulting, host of the Awkward Angler Podcast, Orvis Endorsed fly fishing guide, and Brown Folks Fishing Ambassador. She is currently working on season 3 of her podcast. Erica loves to fish and guide on the beautiful waters around Crested Butte, CO, and also works to make fly fishing a more inclusive sport for all. In this episode, we talk about the fishing i...

Rehan Nana works in the Outdoor Recreation department of Garmin and is also an avid fly angler and upland hunter. In this episode, he tells me about the amazing fishing opportunities in his area of the midwest and how he believes the world record brown trout may one day come out of southern Missouri. Then we get into the importance of carrying satellite devices in the backcountry and some of the o...

Dr. Vince Hill is the Chief of the Waterborne Disease Prevention Branch of the CDC. In this episode, I got to pick his brain about backcountry drinking water. If you’ve ever spent a night in the backcountry, you’ve probably had to deal with water filtration or purification. We covered three main topics in this episode: the basics of contaminated water, what causes the contamination, and how we can...

This episode first aired on the Modern Carnivore Podcast, hosted by Mark Norquist. Mark was on Fish Untamed in 2021 (episode 51) and invited me up to MN to try my hand at darkhouse spearing. I decided to take him up on his offer this past January. In a nutshell, darkhouse spearing involves sitting over a large hole in the ice and throwing spears at passing fish. In reality, though, there’s much mo...

Bob Romano and his wife have owned a seasonal cabin in the Rangeley Lakes Region of western Maine for nearly 40 years. He is an author and has written novels, short stories, essays, and magazine articles about the people that gravitate to this region where the brook trout are as large as you’ll find north of Labrador, its rich sporting history, and the many fly fishing opportunities that can be fo...

Mel Moss is back again to discuss our favorite 2021 fishing memories and what we have planned for 2022. We talk about my first greenback cutthroat trout and carp, as well as some fun trips Mel took last year. Looking ahead, I hope to do more tying this coming year and land a pike on the fly, and Mel fills me in on her upcoming trip to Guam, where she hopes to catch a jungle perch.  Youtube video m...

This episode with Aldo Pescatore-Tardioli is the third in a series of episodes I’ve been doing with the crew of So Fly. In this episode, Aldo tells me about the group’s adventures backcountry ice fishing, and also their home river that’s known for being a challenging spot to fish. When he’s not fishing with the rest of the So Fly crew, Aldo works as a bartender, so we also dive into that aspect of...

Yilma Campbell is one of the creative minds behind the So Fly Podcast and other So Fly digital media. This is the second episode in a series of three I’m doing with the crew from So Fly. In this episode, Yilma tells me about what draws him to different species and techniques, how focusing on nothing but streamers for a whole year has made him a better angler, and what it’s like to produce high-qua...

Mitch Duesling is one of the three crew members of So Fly, a fly fishing podcast and digital media brand based in Toronto. This is the first of three episodes I’m doing with them. In this episode, Mitch tells me about how his first fish on the fly was a unique one (walleye!), shares his love of a good cocktail, and fills me in on Temagami, one of Ontario’s most beautiful and wild places for an ang...

Shawn Larson (also appearing in episode 63) is back on the show to discuss his backcountry fly fishing equipment. In this episode, Shawn and I share what’s in our packs for two- to five-day fishing trips, including our sleep systems, food and cooking equipment, accessories, mapping software, and fishing gear. We also discuss some simple but effective skills for staying safe and knowing where you a...

Hank Shaw is a cook, author, and procurer of wild and whole foods. He has written several wild game cookbooks, including Buck, Buck, Moose; Pheasant, Quail, Cottontail; Duck, Duck, Goose; and his newest called Hook, Line, and Supper. In this episode, Hank walks me through the entire process of eating your catch, from care in the field, to gutting and filleting, and finally cooking. We end with a s...

Preston Smith (also appearing in episode 47) is the Managing Partner of Wildwood Environmental Credit Company and President of Trout Headwaters, Inc. In his last episode, we discussed environmental offsets and conservation, but in this episode, he’s back to talk about fishing. Specifically, we talked about the angler’s progression from wanting to catch a fish, to many fish, to big fish, and finall...

Brian Barney (also appearing in episode 31) is a bowhunter, fly fisherman, and host of the Eastmans’ Fly Cast podcast, which focuses on adventure fly fishing all over the world and close to home. This episode first aired on his podcast, and he interviewed me about all things high country fishing in Colorado. It was fun to be on the other side of the microphone, and Brian and I had a great time get...

Shawn Larson has been on a mission to backpack all the Wilderness areas in Colorado. Although he hasn’t quite completed his goal yet, over the course of his trips, he’s gotten to fish in the majority of the Wildernesses. In this episode, Shawn and I crack a few beers and hear some fun stories from his time in the backcountry chasing wild fish. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/a...

Palmer Henson is an avid angler from Georgia (also appearing in episode 3), who has spent the last few years trying to hunt down as many brook trout streams as he can in Georgia. Sarah Baker is a fisheries biologist with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources who focuses on trout. Palmer and Sarah have been working together on a sort of “citizen science” project, in which Palmer’s personal pa...

Rick Wallace runs Tackle Village, a site for gear, reviews, and advice from people who fish. Rick lives in southern Australia and also spent four years in Japan, giving him a wide range of international fly fishing experience. In this episode, we discuss Japan, New Zealand, and Tasmania. He covers the fisheries as a whole, as well as some tips for making a trip to one of these locations successful...

Chris Ballerini is a guide in the Bristol Bay area of Alaska, and also my former coworker. Although he now pursues his love of music full time, he did manage to get up to Alaska for a month to go back to the guide life this fall. We recorded this episode just before he flew out, and he filled me in on what goes on in an Alaska fly fishing camp, including some great stories of bears and helicopter...

Jon Hill is a writer, angler, and rodbuilder. He also appeared in episode 58 on building your own fly rod. This is a much more casual conversation that we recorded immediately afterward. In this one, we cracked a few beers and chatted about some of the trips we’ve taken over the years, the allure of rare fish in hard-to-reach areas, the ethics of asking people for their fishing spots, and the rewa...