Nothing is more blood-pressure-raising to me than pinning a big trout on an itty-bitty dry fly. Scoring the take is the fun part, no doubt, but after it happens I just assume the fish won’t make it to the net. It’s a bad attitude, I know, but fishing micro dry flies also means fishing hair-thin tippet.

Joe Demalderis is a fly shop owner and veteran guide on the upper Delaware River, which straddles the border of New York and Pennsylvania. Come late summer, tiny insects like flying ants are common menu items, which means pretty technical dry fly fishing. But Demalderis has been playing this game for over 30 years. He and I recently sat down for episode 30 of the "Quick Strike" Podcast to rap about how physics and keeping calm are the answer to besting behemoths on micro dries. 

This episode is brought to you by Victorinox.

Edited by Mike Pedersen / Eighty Five Audio.

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