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. Casting, drifting, swinging and stripping -- everything else is downtime. As Paul said, “Brother,...
** NOTE ** Video for The Easy Way to Release a Snag appears below. Get your nymphs down to the fish. Put them in the strike zone — low — where the trout live. Keep your streamer near the riverbed because that’s where the baitfish are. Cast your flies over by that wet...
You’re working through the river, wading upstream or down, aiming for dead drifts or otherwise. And you’re moving, covering water and searching for active trout while trying to draw every possible insight from the experience. You learn with each step, with every cast,...
** NOTE ** A video for Splitting the Rod appears below. Many of my formative lessons about trout fishing remain today, as guiding principle that shape the way I spend my moments streamside.. Some of these are simple things. Don't waste time on the water. Give other...
Only a small percentage of anglers have the necessary accuracy to tackle the tough situations. And big trout seem to know where to hide from average anglers.
In fact, accuracy is the most important skill an angler can learn. The simple ability to throw a fly in exactly the same place, over and over, with subtle, nuanced differences in the tippet each time, is the most valuable skill for any fisherman . . .
In short, turnover gives us freedom to choose what happens with the line that’s tethered to the fly. How does the tippet and leader land? With contact or with slack? And where does it land? In the seam and partnered with the fly, or in an adjacent current? By having mastery of turnover, we dictate the positioning of not just the fly, but the leader itself. And nothing could be more important . . .
Find water you can fish close up, and work on deadly accurate casting. You’ll find that, when fishing shorter, you can fish harder. Instead of hoping a trout eats or wishing for a strike, the kind of precision possible at short range lets you make something happen with intention . . .
This is the direct advantage of knowing your weights. Fly changes become more deliberate and less experimental. Efficiency improves, as does your confidence to read water and the ability to fish it well.
Knowing your weights and measures is about understanding how to balance the elements of your fishing rig. It’s a give and take. But it’s up to you to first know what is being balanced. It’s the design of the leader, the weight of the flies, material resistance and distance. Put numbers to these things, and know your stats . . .
Of all the reasons why I fly fish for trout, two captivating things keep me coming back: refining a system, and breaking it all apart.
Go into any new exploration with a clear head and without expectations. Remove your prejudices and forget your preferences. Achieve this, and you may well be surprised by what you find with a fly rod in your hand. Ignore this, or fail in the attempt, and you’ll likely learn nothing. Worse yet, you may learn the wrong thing.
Let the river teach. Let time be the gauge. Let the fish have their say. Forgo conclusions and look instead for certainty in trends. Test honestly and without bias — always . . .
When a big part of your life is fishing, how you carry fishing gear is a big deal. The Simms G3 Guide Vest starts with a classic design and modernizes it in all the best ways.
With a stacked layout, molded pockets, bulletproof materials, dual front closure, a unique collar and massive rear storage, the G3 is built for fly fishers.
The G3 is the versatile angler’s perfect, efficient carry-and-access system . . .