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Casting, drifting, swinging and stripping — everything else is downtime. As Paul said, “Brother, there are no flying fish in Montana” — or anywhere else, for that matter.
Flies in the water — that’s where we want them. A trout at the end of the line. That’s what we’re aiming for. But there are seemingly endless tasks required for a fishing trip. And how we approach those chores really defines the way our day will go — simply because our fly is either in the water . . . or it’s not.
How we prepare the night before, our system for carrying tippet, our strategy for choosing the next fly, and even what we do with the net after releasing a trout — what we do with our time on the water . . . matters. And all of us experience that nagging feeling that something is amiss, that so much more is possible, on those days when we know that we are inefficient.
Fly fishing is for the pragmatist. Successful anglers see failure and make the changes to turn it around. And no matter what our natural tendencies — whether we’re a neat freak or a slob at home and at work, the river quickly teaches us that the only way forward is through efficiency. So every long term angler that I know becomes efficient, even if they weren’t born that way.
In this episode, I’m joined tonight by my fishing friends, Trevor Smith, Bill Dell, Austin Dando and Matt Grobe.
We Cover the Following
- Finding a system. Finding routines for everything.
- Vest/ Pack strategies
- Organizing gear
- Pre-trip preparation
- Leader changes
- Knot tying
- Wading staff
- Traveling strategy
- Don’t be late!
- Rod storage
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Resources
READ: Troutbitten | Find Your System
READ: Troutbitten | The Inefficiency of Inexperience
READ: Troutbitten | Look for the Changeout Spots
READ: Troutbitten | What About the Wading Staff?
READ: Troutbitten | Find Your Rhythm
You can find the dedicated Troutbitten Podcast page at . . .
Season Three of the Troutbitten podcast continues with Episode 3 — Hatches and Strategies
So look for that one in your Troutbitten podcast feed.
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 for the podcast. I think that I enjoy listening to you guys talk as much as I value the information you share. Talking about which, did I miss Dom’s trick to putting on and taking off waders?
Exactly. Solution = Tenkara.
Ha. Don’t get be going on that. I’m the oddball that thinks Tenkara is actually not very efficient.
https://troutbitten.com/2018/05/30/the-trouble-with-tenkara-and-why-you-dont-need-it-2/
Cheers.
Dom
Nice job as always guys! I think you missed maybe the biggest efficiency of all: live close to good trout water! Living in trout hell of Allegheny county, I am at least two hours from what I consider good trout water. So in my circumstances, four to six hours of driving is extremely inefficient! Will hopefully be retiring in the next year or so and hope to do something about this most dreaded inefficiency!
Like many sports, the mental component (confidence, persistence, optimism, alertness, analysis, game planning, readiness, etc.) in fly fishing is as important as the physical skills and requisite knowledge.
Inefficiency produces frustration and distractions which can quickly destroy the frames of mind necessary for success on the river.
For me, efficiency does far more than just save time, it also preserves all of the positive mental states of mind the make a huge difference on any given day.
For me, efficiency requires exact routines, gear preparation, and proper sleep/rest.
Maximizing efficiency is truly one of the most important challenges in fly fishing.
Great topic. Can’t wait for the granular articles or podcasts that are on the way.
Efficiency = Smoothness = Good Rythm = In the Zone
Great points
This is a topic that I love. I am an efficiency freak on the water, and love a good hack for efficiency as much as I love finding a new prime lie to target. A couple of things that you didn’t directly address, that I’d love to hear your solution for:
– Working fly storage. having a place to put and retrieve flies that you’ve fished, but need to swap out is a place I see folks waste a ton of time. I haven’t found pack yet that has the right working fly storage, so I always hack that. I use a Richardson chest box because it has a huge working station, where I can store flies, rigging foams and all the dorseys I can imagine. I also put strong magnets on my packs so I have places to snap loose flies, or simply stash a dropper fly while I’m retying the point fly, for example.
– Leader storage. You mention swapping out leaders on the water – which I also do quite often. I store my dry fly / mono rig / streamer leaders that I’m swapping between for super fast access. BUT, I don’t think I’ve found the perfect way to store a mono rig when it’s off the reel. Even with a rigging foam, I find that winding up and unwinding 30′ of 20# maxima can lead to an on-river disaster. What’s your solution?
Using Rare Earth ring magnets on my vest and on my waders is like having a third hand, absolutely indispensable!
I store a C & F Design midge threader in each of my fly boxes for those slightly clogged or tiny flies, especially useful during low light. One less bit of potential frustration.
I have considered wearing Depends for the ultimate in efficiency, but Dom’s wader hack is almost as good and less stigmatizing. And if I’m alone no need to leave the river.
I just like being outside enjoying nature,8 days a week . (I crack myself up)
Off to a great start in season 3! Highly enjoyable and instructive. It was nice to have you guys affirm the challenges I’ve also experienced over my 4 years as a new fly angler. I especially appreciated your endorsement of using a wading staff, not leaving rods on top of the car (I also walked 30 minutes to a favorite spot only to disco er that I’d left my rod leaning against my mirror), having leaders/tippet prepared, etc. I have also cycled through various packs, slings, zingers, and gadgets to hone in on my current most efficient array. I agree that the Smith Creek rod clip is really helpful, freeing up both hands on the river. You made a strong case for practicing tying knots and changing flies. I also resisted, way too long, changing flies while fishing because of the challenges of less dexterity, poorer vision with age, wind and cold. In this regard, I have found the Knot Needle to be among the most valuable tools I’ve acquired! I makes changing flies and tying knots much less intimidating and faster! Take care!