TROUTBITTEN
Fishing Wild Rivers
For Wild Trout
Refining Techniques That Build Experiences
This Is Troutbitten
THE LATEST
PODCAST: Our Favorite Rivers — S9, Ep7
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.
The Easy Way to Release a Snag (with VIDEO)
Snags happen. I’ve fished with people who see every hang up as a failure — every lost fly as a mistake. But inevitably, that mindset breeds an overcautious angler, too careful and just hoping for some good luck.
Hang ups are not a failure. For a good angler, they’re a calculated risk — an occasional consequence after assessing probability against skill, opportunity against loss. We all hang up the fly sometimes. So what.
Now let’s talk about how to pop that underwater snag loose . . .
Q&A: Split Shot Tangling Issues?
Split shot doesn’t create tangles. Bad casting and bad rigging does. Don’t blame the shot. Have a plan and learn the system.
TROUTBITTEN ARTICLES
Welcome to Troutbitten.
Since 2014, I’ve published over 1000 stories, commentaries, tips, tactics and reviews.
As the Troutbitten Project has grown branches, these articles continue to be the heart and soul of my work. Some of these writings are organized in series form, where a group of articles reads like chapters in a book.
Adding to this collection of articles and sorting them, so you can find what interests you most, is an ongoing work. Please visit the Troutbitten Articles Page to begin.
Thanks for being here, and thank you for your support. Fish hard, friends.
— Domenick Swentosky
TROUTBITTEN ARTICLES
Welcome to Troutbitten.
Since 2014, I’ve published over 900 stories, commentaries, tips, tactics and reviews.
As the Troutbitten Project has grown branches, these articles continue to be the heart and soul of my work. Some of these writings are organized in series form, where a group of articles reads like chapters in a book.
Adding to this collection of articles and sorting them, so you can find what interests you most, is an ongoing work. Please visit the Troutbitten Articles Page to begin.
Thanks for being here, and thank you for your support. Fish hard, friends.
— Domenick Swentosky
PODCAST: Our Favorite Rivers — S9, Ep7
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.
The Easy Way to Release a Snag (with VIDEO)
Snags happen. I’ve fished with people who see every hang up as a failure — every lost fly as a mistake. But inevitably, that mindset breeds an overcautious angler, too careful and just hoping for some good luck.
Hang ups are not a failure. For a good angler, they’re a calculated risk — an occasional consequence after assessing probability against skill, opportunity against loss. We all hang up the fly sometimes. So what.
Now let’s talk about how to pop that underwater snag loose . . .
Q&A: Split Shot Tangling Issues?
Split shot doesn’t create tangles. Bad casting and bad rigging does. Don’t blame the shot. Have a plan and learn the system.
PODCASTS
The Troutbitten Podcast launched in the fall of 2021, and it quickly became the most popular independent fishing podcast on the charts.
While in season, the podcast publishes once a week, and there are four seasons each year.
Troutbitten Podcasts seasons follow two formats.
In the first format, a full panel of my best fishing friends covers a topic in the wide world of fly fishing for trout. These free-form episodes with the Troutbitten crew are uniquely entertaining and deeply informative.
In the second format, my friend, Austin Dando, joins me to break down one specific topic in a multi-episode exploration of advanced tactics. These seasons are part of the Troutbitten Skills Series.
Visit the Troutbitten Podcast Page to find them all . . .
PODCAST: Our Favorite Rivers — S9, Ep7
The Troutbitten Podcast is available everywhere that you listen to your podcasts. ** Note ** The Podcast Player, along with links to your favorite players is below. Some favorite rivers meander and roll through stunning scenery and enchanting tracts of wilderness....
PODCAST: Different Mono Rigs and Euro Rigs — What Works, When and Why? — S9, Ep6
The Troutbitten Podcast is available everywhere that you listen to your podcasts. ** Note ** The Podcast Player, along with links to your favorite players is below. This episode is a conversation about tight line leader styles. We share what we like best, what works...
PODCAST: — Coffee and Secrets (a story), and Catching Up — S9 Intermission
The Troutbitten Podcast is available everywhere that you listen to your podcasts. ** Note ** The Podcast Player, along with links to your favorite players is below. Here we are in the middle of season nine, and we’re doing something a little different. This is like...
TROUTBITTEN VIDEOS
The Troutbitten YouTube Channel began in 2017. But I took it to the next level in 2020, by partnering with my friend, Josh Darling of Wilds Media, to film a video that is still one of my favorites — The River Doesn’t Owe You Anything.
In 2022, Josh and I committed to publishing every other week, and I’m excited to bring his artistic and deeply professional video production to some of the ideas and stories that I’ve wanted to share for years.
Troutbitten videos currently feature the Tips Series, Fly Fishing the Mono Rig Series, and Gear Reviews. Who knows what’s coming next . . .
Visit the Troutbitten Videos Page to watch them all . . .
How We Cover Water (with VIDEO)
Here are a few ideas and guiding principles that work for me every day on my rivers. I don’t try to cover everything. I don’t make grids, but I do make plans. I like to stay creative and follow the signs that trout give me. And for my wading approach, I break things down into three simple strategies: the typewriter, the zig zag and following up one lane . . .
The Corner Cast — Rounding the Corner Might Be Better Than a Roll Cast (with VIDEO)
Rounding the corner with a Corner Cast often outperforms a Roll Cast. It’s faster, more efficient and easier. But remember, it requires great casting from, with good line speed and crisp stops. That’s where good fly casting always begins. So develop a good baseline and everything else will follow. . . .
Troutbitten Fly Box — The Harvey Pusher Night Fly (with VIDEO)
When you work the Pusher, imagine the wings flexing and pulsing as you hand twist retrieve and pulse the rod tip on a three count. See the fly in your mind’s eye and make it come alive in the dark. Then hold on tight . . .
Leaders, stickers, hats, shirts canvases and more.
The Troutbitten Shop features logo-branded apparel and hand-tied leaders in all our favorite formulas.
GUIDED TRIPS
Guided fly fishing trips on central Pennsylvania’s best waters.
With an emphasis on education, Troutbitten trips are tailored toward your goals, your skill level and your interests. It’s your adventure.
These limestone spring-fed rivers are full of of wild brown trout that teach the right things.
No setups. Just wild trout in wild places.
Visit the Troutbitten Trips page for more.
SUPPORT
Troutbitten is an independent resource for all anglers. To help support this project, please consider the following.
— Make purchases through ads, through affiliate links. and on the Recommended Gear page
— Visit the Troutbitten Shop
— Donate directly to the Troutbitten Project