I field questions from Troutbitten readers, listeners and watchers every day. And there are common themes within the questions. The same things give people trouble on all trout streams, all around the world. This Q&A series is a chance to answer some of those...
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. In this episode, we talk about weight and fly fishing. Because if you’re not fishing a dry fly on the...
Here’s my argument. The water haul has its place. It’s the perfect once-in-a while casting solution for tricky situations, and it’s a problem solver. But for day-to-day life on the water, it’s a lousy approach to fly fishing. Real quick . . . The water haul or water...
Here are two great things about nymph fishing: One, good drifts with a nymph catch trout in almost any river scenario. And two, there’s an endless set of variables to play with. The other fly styles — dry, streamer and wet fly, are easier to master. Dries, being...
You need the right tools, the right shot and the right methods for using all of it. None of this is complicated, but simplicity in fishing is often elusive, until time on the water eventually reveals what is best. Honestly, I believe there’s no better way to carry and use split shot than what is shown here . . .
Casting to the bank with my back against the wind, the medium copper conehead on the Half Pint wasn’t enough to drop my fly through the stained water and out of site, so I needed split shot . . .
. . . I turned into the wind with my head down. The rain pummeled the hood of my raincoat, creating a buckshot spray that sounded like small hail on a tin roof. With soggy fingers poking out through wool gloves, I reached into my vest for the disc-shaped container of split shot. I plucked out two #4 shot and quickly squeezed them onto the line . . .
. . . Use whatever kind of weight makes sense. Use whatever fits the situation and matches the objectives, and I don’t limit yourself.
So you hate split shot, right? I’ve never had anyone tell me that they like using it. But for me, split shot is a convenient and useful tool in my vest, and I think it’s underrated. It does things for me that can’t be done any other way, and I like it. Yes, I like split shot. Sure, I prefer weighted flies over having shot crimped to the line. (My nymph box is full of tungsten beaded flies.) But I also carry a selection of unweighted patterns that get a regular workout while using split shot for the weight.
Here are some thoughts about all that . . .
Why so much hate for the split shot? Guys grumble about attaching it to the line, bitch about removing it and snarl when it slides. That's too much hate for such a timeless and effective tool. Sometimes, using split shot just makes the most sense. In a variety of...