PODCAST: The Airing of Grievances — Four (S15, Ep10)

by | Jun 22, 2025 | 3 comments

 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.

Welcome to the fourth annual Airing of Grievances on the Troutbitten Podcast. Buckle up. Because it’s time to clear the air about a few things, to complain about some other things and get all the frustrations out in the open.

We look forward to this episode every year, because honestly, it’s a lot of fun. I know that listeners anticipate this one as well, and just like last year, we have a bunch of guest grievances to add to the mix.

We’re here to complain. Why? Because acknowledging the absurdity of some stuff in the fly fishing world can do a lot of good. And because it’s fun and probably healthy to get things out in the open once in a while. And we start to realize that the stuff that bothers us, seems to bother a lot of other people too.

The truth is, we’ve seen a lot of good changes in our industry in the last few years as well. And some of that is about topics that made it into our grievances podcasts three or four years ago. Most people really are being more discreet about spot burning, for example. I think the message is out there, that hey, spot burning isn’t cool, and it kind of shows your inexperience if you do it.

I honestly see better angler etiquette out there as well — all the way around. Sure . . . I know, not everywhere. But overall, I think the messages about giving other anglers space, about how to hold a trout and other ethical guidelines are starting to hit home. Good things are beginning to stick. This is the best part of social media and the large community of anglers. The truth is, most people really want to do the right things — or at least, they don’t want to harm others or ruin another angler’s fishing experience. And a podcast like this can really help to give voice to some of the supposedly unspoken or unwritten rules of fly fishing.

So yeah, we think that airing of grievances really is beneficial to the overall scene.

This all started because most of us are big Seinfeld fans. And part of Frank Costanza’s Festivus holiday is what he calls the airing of grievances, where the whole family sits around the dinner table and lists what they don’t like about one another.

“I gotta lotta problems with you people, and now . . . you’re gonna hear about it . . .”

My friends, Trevor Smith, Josh Darling, Matt Grobe and Austin Dando join me for a fun discussion.

Resources

PODCAST: Troutbitten | The Airing of Grievances — One
PODCAST: Troutbitten | The Airing of Grievances — Two
PODCAST: Troutbitten | The Airing of Grievances — Three

Listen with the player above, or . . .

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— Apple Podcasts
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. . . and everywhere else where you listen to podcasts.

You can find the dedicated Troutbitten Podcast page at . . .

podcast.troutbitten.com

Season Sixteen of the Troutbitten Podcast begins in a few weeks. So look for it 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

 

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Domenick Swentosky

Central Pennsylvania

Hi. I’m a father of two young boys, a husband, author, fly fishing guide and a musician. I fish for wild brown trout in the cool limestone waters of Central Pennsylvania year round. This is my home, and I love it. Friends. Family. And the river.

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3 Comments

  1. I think this is the closest thing there is to a Troutbitten holiday.

    Reply
  2. Kvetching Your Way To Happiness isn’t necessarily my favorite podcast series on Troutbitten, but it very well might be. Keep up the disgruntlement.

    Reply
    • One can only throw nymphs or midges or dries if your going to refer to yourself as a fly fisherman. U talkin to me?

      Reply

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Domenick Swentosky

Central Pennsylvania

Hi. I’m a father of two young boys, a husband, author, fly fishing guide and a musician. I fish for wild brown trout in the cool limestone waters of Central Pennsylvania year round. This is my home, and I love it. Friends. Family. And the river.

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