2 Guys and a River

Fly casting is the first skill that newbies learn. Every Trout Unlimited chapter and every fly shop offers classes. Yet, until a fly fisher hits the river, it’s all academic. There it gets messy. There may be precious little room for one’s back cast or the only approach to the run is at an awkward …

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Fathers and a love for the outdoors – a few of us had fathers who opened our eyes to the big world of the outdoors. In this episode, we recall the role our fathers played in giving us a love for fly fishing and hunting. Steve’s father, who has been gone for many years, instilled …

Continue reading "S3:E1 Fly Fishing, Fathers and a Love for the Outdoors"

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It has been two years. We’re now at 104 fly fishing podcast episodes. In this 104th episode, the finale of our second year, we reflect on the past year and tease out some insights and lessons from the journey. This is not our day job. It’s our avocation, and we are looking forward to another …

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Fly fishing lies are everywhere. Well, maybe not downright lies. Maybe half truths. And maybe they’re not everywhere. In this episode, we identify five fly fishing lies (or half truths) and then wax eloquently about what we think the real truth is. One of the fly fishing categories that we discuss is “Biggest Gear Lie.” …

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Hiring fly fishing guides is core to how we improve our craft. It’s not cheap, and we do it sparingly (about once a year), but we have found great value in learning from the experts. Click now to listen to “Our Top 7 Lessons from Hiring Fly Fishing Guides.” http://podcasts-1.feedpress.co/10651/S2%20E50%207%20Lessons%20Learned%20from%20Guides_mixdown.mp3 Listen now to “Our Top …

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Two-fly combos are a staple for many fly fishers. Whether fishing nymphs or dries, rigging up with two flies (the top fly and the dropper or trailer) often increases the odds of success. This is especially true when fishing nymphs in the spring or fall spawning season. We often will tie on an egg pattern …

Continue reading "S2:E49 Our Favorite Two Fly Combos"

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Canfield Creek is a gorgeous spring creek fishery in southeastern Minnesota. We love fly fishing in the area, because there seems to be less pressure on the creeks than there is in southwestern Wisconsin, which is also part of what is called the Driftless. We live in the Chicago area, so it’s a bit of …

Continue reading "S2:E48 One Fine Day on Canfield Creek"

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Trying to net your son’s first big brown – and causing him to lose the fish – may require psychotherapy for him later in life. We all have a fly fishing net, and we probably use it more or less, depending on the size of fish or where we fish. In this episode on how …

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Unlimited fly fishing sounds too good to be true. No doubt, most of us would love an extra couple days each year on the river. But if you had the chance to do unlimited fly fishing would you? The topic raises some great questions about the role of leisure and when it moves from joy …

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Dangerous moments are not always recognized fully in the moment. Several years ago while we fished the Wyoming Bighorn, the temperature dropped 25 degrees in a two-hour period. We drifted the Bighorn while stopping to wet-wade periodically. At the mid-point of the drift, however, we were shivering, unprepared for precipitous drop in temperature. In addition …

Continue reading "S2:E45 Our 5 Most Dangerous Moments on the River"

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