Today's article is a remix from fall of 2018. You can find it here: Redd Fish -- Should we fish for trout through the spawn or stay home? Enjoy the day. Domenick Swentosky T R O U T B I T T E N domenick@troutbitten.com
Articles With the Tag . . . winter fly fishing
Redd Fish — Should we fish for trout through the spawn or stay home?
Today was full of colors well past their season. Patchy green grass lay beside dying moss on limestone, and a sprig of blushing maple stubbornly gripped its parent branch through early white frost. All if it was accompanied by wild trout in the richest oranges and...
Night Shift — Tracks
** Note: This January 2015 post is rewritten and revisited here. So many of our favorite waters are accompanied by railroad tracks, and walking the familiar but odd stride required by the spacing of the wooden ties has become instinctive to me. The tracks are a...
Winter Welcome Home
Author's Note: I first published this to Troutbitten in the winter of 2016. This past week I had a day so strikingly similar that I had to dig this one up. I edited a few things and added some pictures from the latest trip. God, I love the winter. I slammed my...
Kinda Slow
I was either born or raised with an abundance of fishing optimism.
. . . No matter the situation, I have an ability to regroup and believe in big possibilities again. Within a few hours of making it home and saying to my sons, “It was kinda slow,” I’m ready for more. After a bowl of cereal and a few talks with friends, after a couple flies tied with something just a little different than last time, I always find a reason to believe the next trip will be better . . .
Streamers as an Easy Meal — The Old School Streamer Thing
So far this winter my nymphing game has been a little off — the numbers aren’t there. Maybe it’s me and maybe it’s the fish, but either way, my best efforts to recreate what I’ve gotten used to in the winter haven’t produced. So on many days, after receiving the...
Fair-weather or foul-weather | Troutbitten on Hatch Magazine
Hatch Magazine published an article that I wrote. You can find it here. "Truth is, most diehard fishermen aren't all that diehard. A lot of fishermen are looking for reasons not to fish. Sound absurd? I’ve had enough people cancel plans to believe it. I also live...
Trophy Hunting: Meet Jercules
. . .I’ve gone through a couple phases of trophy hunting, but I’m always careful to return to my roots before the obsession overtakes me. I don’t want to lose my enjoyment for the simple things on the water: the friendships, the forests, the mountains, the mysteries and the way thick, cool moss on limestone feels like a sofa cushion for a mid-stream lunch. Those are the good things that are available every time I put on my waders, even though the big fish usually aren’t.
While going in and out of these phases of trophy hunting for wild browns, I’ve learned that I was looking for big trout in the wrong places. I had to seek out new rivers. And sometimes, I simply had to find new places on my old rivers. Point is, I learned that trophy hunters need a target. It’s not enough to go to the same places and fish the same ways as you always have. You have to learn where the big fish are, go there, and put on your patience pants — because Whiskeys don’t come easily . . .
Two Days in the Deep Freeze
I spent most of the last two days in, on and around it, partially covered and burdened by it; and breaking, chipping and melting it --- ICE. I've fished the single digit temps a handful of times before, but it's been a while since I've had that chance, so when I read...
It’s All About Time On the Water
There's a large clearing on the far side of the cold river underneath some tall spruce trees. It's a steep but quick hike to get on top of the ledge, but the canopy of evergreens have often provided me considerable shade in the summer, and I knew that on this winter...