The Troutbitten Podcast, Season Two, is available everywhere you listen to your podcasts.
** Note ** The Podcast Player, along with links to your favorite players is below.
Part Seven of this Troutbitten Skills Series focuses on guiding the flies. Once the nymphs are cast and settled into the target seam, it’s time to take them to the trout. Guiding the flies is a blend of two skills that I call leading and tracking. At the core, this skill of guiding the flies is fishing the flies. And this is what anglers tend to focus on most — for good reason. It’s the longest in duration. It’s the most active, and it has the most room for variation.
In truth, there are number of ways to dead drift nymphs through one seam. And the choices we make are about how much influence we want to have on the flies. A leading approach puts the angler in charge, and a tracking approach let’s the river dictate the course of the flies. Guiding the flies is an effort to mix the two.
We Cover the Following
- The advantages of leading
- Control, contact and the dead drift
- Over weighting
- The advantages of tracking
- Less control with fewer options, but a truer drift?
- Under weighting
- Is pure tracking possible?
- Guiding as a mix of the two
- Slipping contact
- Find the perfect weight
- Why use both?
- Why guiding works
Remember, each of these podcasts is supported by a companion article of the same topic. And you can find the full overview of the Nine Essential Skills for Tight line and Euro Nymphing here:
READ: Troutbitten | The Nine Essential Skills for Tight Line and Euro Nymphing
READ: Troutbitten | #7 Guiding the Flies — Nine Essential Skill for Tight Line and Euro Nymphing
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Resources
READ: Troutbitten | The Nine Essential Skills for Tight Line and Euro Nymphing
READ: Troutbitten | Category | The Mono Rig
READ: Troutbitten | Leading vs Tracking vs Guiding the Flies
READ: Troutbitten | Tracking the Flies
READ: Troutbitten | How to Lead the Flies
You can find the dedicated Troutbitten Podcast page at . . .
Episode eight of season two is coming soon. Thanks again for your support.
Fish hard, friends.
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Enjoy the day.
Domenick Swentosky
T R O U T B I T T E N
domenick@troutbitten.com
Thanks, guys, for another great installment in this series. Dom, it occurred to me the other day that, although most comp anglers these days nymph use a micro-leader, one of the best, if not the best, fishes what sounds to me like your preferred mono-rig and has a style (upstream, tuck cast, etc.) that is very similar to yours. I don’t know if it’s possible, but an interview with Pat Weiss would make for a fantastic podcast.
Hi Alex,
I agree that it would be a good interview. I have loose plans to have guests on in the future. Who knows where the podcast will end up.
I know you’ve pointed this out before, that you find it curious that I like a thicker butt section. I fished both today. I fish standard, thin and micro-thin often enough. But yes, the standard is still by far the best tool for most jobs.
I don’t know Pat, but I suspect that our strategies and approaches are similar.
Alex, let me put it this way: the competition scene clearly produces some very good anglers. But just because these anglers are well known does not mean that they have better ideas than you.
The comp scene moves in a group, from one tactic to the next. It seems that there are few outliers, like Pat (perhaps).
I think it’s unfortunate that almost all of the writings and teaching about nymphing these days comes from a competition perspective. As I’ve written, many anglers follow FIPS restrictions and have no idea that they are limiting themselves. To be blunt, the comp way is not the best way. Sometimes, yes it is. Day-to-day, it is not, in my opinion, the best approach. Going ultra thin, for example, has its consequences. And yet, it’s a fun way to fish, too.
To put it another way, what some might consider advancement may very well not be any further forward — it’s just another way to fish and get the job done.
As always, I appreciate your thoughts. I think having you on the podcast would be an interesting interview as well.
Dom
Great podcast as usual. You spoke about leading with heavier I usually tie a second fly off the hook bend but with more weight there takes on the small fly are harder to detect I think. So I tried the tag method up further on the leader many times but it always fouls around the main leader. I use 4 pound Seaguar and a double surgeon knot and about 6-8” long for the tag. Any advice please
Hi Dean,
I was just messaging with another angler who had the same question, or the same issue. He said the tag was tangling around the main line. But I asked him to send a picture of what he considered a tangle. As I suspected, it wasn’t tangled or fouled up. It was just wrapped abound the mainline a few times. I suspect that might be your case too. I’ve seen and heard this a lot. If there’s no knot in the line, then there’s no problem. The tag will wrap and unwrap while casting and fishing. Is that what is going on?
I do think 8 inches is way too long, and it’s just inviting troubles. Try keeping the tag around 4-5 inches.
Dom
Thank you for your reply. Yes it is just wrapping around the main line. I hear you saying that isn’t a problem so I will shorten up and give it a fair trial because when I have lots of weight on I think I will get better strike detection that way. Have a happy day on the water. A cold week in MN for an almost 80 year old to fish.
In previous post. It should read …..leading with a heavier fly…..