Troutbitten

In the last couple of weeks we  talked a lot about choosing the next fly, when to change, and what informs our decision about what to change to — basically, how do we develop that next theory about what fly, water type and presentation style we want to test. Last week we talked about watching how trout are rising to naturals, how they are taking our fly or even how they’re rejecting it. That infor...

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...

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...

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. Re...

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 flie...

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 t...

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 fish...

 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 l...

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 nowhe...

There are many different ways to set the hook while fly fishing for trout, because there are many different ways to fish for those trout. One size does not fit all. So we adapt our hook sets to suit the situation. In this episode, we cover what is meant by a trout set. We address the differences between hook sets for dry flies, wets, streamers and nymphs. We talk about setting distance, setting sp...

Here's a story about the solitude that so many of us seek on the water — how the full experience of planning for a trip, driving before dawn, walking in and exploring a river valley provides a respite from our daily life. It’s a chance for a clear mind and for renewed energy. "The Further You Walk, the More You Leave Behind" is about what we recover when we commit to full days and l...

We're here for a tough conversation. This one's about fishing the pay-to-play setup of a club. These are the troubles with club fishing . . . One club leads to the next. One private stretch invites another down the road. So clubs lead to the loss of public water for the average angler. And that’s not good. The manufactured fishing scenario of most clubs can teach anglers the wrong things...

There's an intangible quality built into the best anglers. It's about being comfortable and natural around the water. It's about having an instinct and a guiding intuition on a river that informs decision without even giving it much thought. It's an innate knowledge of the environment and what will happen next. Knowledge of the woods, water, weather and the trout comes together...

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 t...

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 nece...

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. S...

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...

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 angler...

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=EjXoavzV8p...

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. Resources READ: Troutbitten | One-On-On...

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 aimi...

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, j...

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 t...

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 multip...

In the third part of this critical nymphing concepts series, we consider the advantages and disadvantages of fishing with a suspender. We cover the following Indicator styles and why the type matters Not all indicators are created equal Choosing tight line or indy, or combing both What you lose by adding and indy What you gain by adding an indy Complications of an indy style What is commonly misse...