Warning—this week's podcast with biologist Michael Miller [36:28] is not exactly uplifting, in fact it's downright depressing. I feel that neonic pesticides are the main reason we have seen dramatic declines of insects on our trout streams and may be even more of a threat to invertebrate populations than climate change. But it is a problem we can remedy more easily than climate change because it's mostly a problem in the United States (Canada and the EU have either banned or greatly restricted their use). I hope this podcast makes all of you take action and raise your voices to get the EPA to ban these dangerous chemicals. On a happier note, we have some wonderful questions in the Fly Box this week, including: It's great to hear that Tom gets skunked as often as the rest of us. Why did I see mayflies when I was a mile from the nearest stream? Do bright fly lines spook fish? Why were fish slashing at my streamer without me hooking them? I am having problems casting a 15-foot leader Where should I take my sons fishing in the Bozeman/Livingston area if I can't afford a guide?  If I hook a fish deep in its throat, should I try to get the fly out or cut the tippet? Can I get closer to fish in a riffle? What are Tom's top 5 trout flies? I am losing a lot of fish on my 10-foot 3-weight rod. What should I do differently? Where do big trout tend to live in a river?  If I am catching just small fish will there be any big fish around? I can't get my floating line to float well, even after cleaning it. What can I do?

The insidious Nature of Neonic Pesticides, with Michael Miller

The Orvis Fly Fishing Guide Podcast provides weekly tips  from acclaimed fly fishing author and lifelong fly fishing enthusiast, Tom Rosenbauer. Get the most from your time on the water!

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  My guest this week is Sarah Foster [54:15], executive director of The American Museum of Fly Fishing, on why she thinks learning about the history and traditions surrounding fly fishing are important and add to our enjoyment.  She talks about recent exhibits and acquisitions, and what is in store for the future of the museum.  It's a must-see for anyone visiting southern Vermont.   In the Fly Box this week, we have some especially interesting questions and tips from listeners, including:   Why do I keep getting strikes on nymphs while stripping them upstream like a streamer?   Is the throat of a pool a common place to find trout feeding?   At what temperature does a brown trout start to actively feed?   When I see a pod of rising trout, why can I only fool one fish even though the other ones continue to feed?   How do older Orvis bamboo fly rods compare to contemporary models?   I found eggs in holdover brown trout in the spring.  Were these fish that never found a mate?   I have trouble with rabbit's foot hair coming loose on my flies.  How do I secure it better?   If you only had one line for striped bass from shore, what line would you choose?   How much time before the incoming or outgoing tide should I fish for striped bass?   Can you explain exactly what a shock tippet is?   What is your "last fly" during the evening hatch when it gets tough to see?   Do polarized sunglasses lose their effectiveness over time?   A listener gives a tip for an easier way to tie a surgeon's knot   A listener gives a caution about fishing below sewage treatment plants after a major flood event   My 70-denier thread keeps breaking.  What could be the problem?   What feathers from a chicken are useful in fly tying?   I fish a 6-weight rod and want a different rod for smaller streams.  What should I pick?   I always use a wading staff.  Is the metal tip on the staff an alarm clock for trout, and have you ever put on a rubber tip to prevent this?  

Are Fly-Fishing Traditions and History Important? with Sarah Foster

Scott [41:18] is an assistant professor of motor control and learning at Long Beach University, as well as a fly fisher and podcast listener.  He has a small number of quick tests you can do at home to check your balance, and then simple exercises you can do at home without any special equipment to improve your balance in a matter of weeks.  Wading safely and comfortably on a river involves both balance and confidence, and what you learn here will give you help with both.  You'll enjoy your time on the water more.   In the Fly Box this week we have so many great tips from listeners that I may be able to retire and turn the podcast over to you.  But we also have some interesting questions that I'm happy to answer as best I can.  Some of these include:   A listener suggests when a self-inflating PFD may be a good option   Two listeners weigh in on how to access scientific articles on fisheries science with paying a fee for access   A listener offers a great suggestion on how to easily attach a dropper to the bend of a hook.   Should I be concerned about fishing below a sewage treatment outlet?   A listener tells a great tale of his momentous catch on one of the new Helios rods   Should I be concerned about angling for fish when they are on their spawning run?   With the new Helios rods, do you still prefer the F version for trout and the D version for salt water?   If I dispose of the shiners I catch will it help the local trout population?   What do you think of using an indicator with a big nymph or crayfish fly for early season smallmouth?   Can you explain the difference between a shooting head and a sink-tip line?   A listener gives some expert advice on the choice of insect repellents   I am having trouble with short roll casts.  Do you think it's my casting technique?   Is it helpful to pre-treat dry flies right after you tie them?   If I fish an indicator and split shot and a nymph, should I use a double taper or weight-forward line?  

How to Test and Keep Your Balance When Wading, with Scott Ducharme

Ralph Cutter [36:53] is an extremely perceptive, pragmatic angler with a lifetime of experience in white water, both fishing and in watercraft and water rescues.  He feels that what we’ve been taught to do if we fall in wearing waders is all wrong, and he has a number of tips for getting to shore safely that most of us don’t know about.  He also recommends a second wader belt for wading in very tricky waters.  He’s proven this through countless experiments on the water.  If you spend any time at all wading in rivers, you must listen to this podcast—or you can read an article in Fly Fisherman magazine he wrote a number of years ago through this link: How to Wade Safely and Get Out of Dangerous Situations - Fly Fisherman     In the Fly Box this week, we have questions that range from the very basic to more advanced, and tips from listeners as well, including:  Why do my CDC dry flies sink like a rock? I am not feeling strikes when I am nymph fishing.  Are there improvements I can make to feel more fish? Would a longer rod help more in nymph fishing? Why aren’t knotless leaders marked with a small segment of color so that the butt, tippet, and transition sections are clearly demarcated? A listener clarifies the issue of whether northern strain brook trout were ever stocked in the southern Appalachians If I want to fish pools that are 8-10 feet deep with a Euro rig, do I need an 8-10-foot tippet? What do I do if I am fishing a dropper rig and my upper dropper tippet breaks off or gets too short?  Do I need to tie another surgeon’s knot? If I am fishing straight upstream, do I need to mend my line? If my hook bends after removing it from a snag and I bend it back into place, will that weaken the hook? I have trouble tying a dropper onto the bend of a hook.  I lose tension and pressure before cinching the knot down.  Do you have any tips to help this? The water temperature was in the 40s and there was a mayfly hatch, but I only caught fish on nymphs and nothing was rising.  Why did this happen? Does choosing a fly rod really depend mostly on the size flies you’re throwing?  When I fish a small bass fly, I don’t want to try to land a bass on my 3-weight.   

This Podcast May Save Your Life, with Ralph Cutter

The use of the natural toxin rotenone to remove invasive, non-native species of trout to protect native species is a controversial topic. Does it really work? What does the poison do to the insect, mammal, and bird populations? Ted Williams [52:36], a proponent of these tactics in selected waters, discusses where reclaiming populations has been successful and also places where it would not make sense. Ted is one of the foremost environmental writers of our time and is never afraid to stick his neck out, so you may agree with what he says or you may not, but you’ll learn some important biology in the process.   In the Fly Box this week, we have a host of interesting questions and some great tips from listeners, including:  A plug for Trout Unlimited’s “Trout in the Classroom” projects What is your favorite rod for small streams, what size flies do you use, and where do I find the biggest trout in small streams? Can I use nymphs in small streams?  They have not worked for me. How do you test water temperature?  Do you need to suspend the thermometer deep in the water? How can I catch walleye on my fly rod? At what water temperature should I fish for bass? How long do you stick with one fly before changing it, and what do you look for in new water? Have you found any difference between painted and unpainted flies on streamers? I want to do some writing about fly fishing.  How do you handle criticism when you do this? What is the best practice for tipping guides? Do you recommend studs for rubber-soled waders, and how often can you remove them and then put them back? On cloudy days I can’t see as much with my polarized glasses?  What should I do? How long does it take for trout to get back into their normal positions after a flood? Should you present streamers differently in the early season than you would later in the spring? The dry fly on my dry/dropper rig keeps twisting.  What can I do to avoid this? How do you get your fly to fish in deep water running along the bottom? I keep breaking my tippet where it connects to my tippet ring even though I am using a lighter tippet to my flies.  What can I do? 

How to Preserve Native Trout Species, with Ted Williams

  This week, my guest is guide BJ Gerhart [33:50], a longtime veteran guide at Three Rivers Ranch in Idaho and one of the savviest anglers I know.  He shares his tips for getting around the common problems of early season trout fishing, mainly cold water and high flows.   In the Fly Box this week, we have some helpful tips from listeners, and some interesting questions for Tom, including:  If adult trout can’t see UV light, as you said in last week’s podcast, what should I do with all the UV and flashy materials I have in my fly-tying collection? What kind of standard trout flies are closest to the kebari flies used in tenkara fishing? When fishing a dry dropper, all the trout took my dry fly yet when I removed the nymph I stopped getting strikes.  What caused this? Why are beads on nymphs usually gold? Why is my casting worse when I use beadhead flies? What are the main differences between the 9-foot and the 8-foot, 5-inch Helios rods for a 10-weight line? Why is fly fishing for salmon in Great Lakes streams not as popular as steelhead fishing? When choosing a fly line for a two-handed rod, should I add the grain weight of the sinking head to the grain weight of the Skagit head? A great tip for wading safety with a buddy A listener raves about the Orvis rod repair team Do you think I should stop trout fishing at 60 degrees just to be safe? Are there public resources I can use to find out if a river might be too high to fish? A listener gives a tip for adding a long mono rig easily without the need to tie a clinch knot to the permanent loop in a fly line. 

The insidious Nature of Neonic Pesticides, with Michael Miller

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