Orvis CEO Perk Perkins gave Tom an important job and Tom is excited to show him the results.

This week’s podcast interview is with John Rickard, Orvis-Endorsed Guide with Wild Waters Fly Fishing in Shasta, California. Our main topic is winter steelhead in California, but John also gives us some helpful insights on California trout fishing as well. In The Fly Box, we ramble through topics like when to anchor a drift boat and when to keep moving, packing your gear for trips, weighting flies, Softex vs. epoxy, the difference between switch rods and long single-handed rods, and the importance of white nymphs. We also get a stern warning on road-killed songbird feathers—spoiler—even possessing them is a federal felony. Yikes!

One of the most common questions I get on this podcast and in person is "how can i take my fishing to the next level?".

My new book, "Fly Fishing for Trout--The Next Level" is out and I'm really proud of it.

I made this video to tell you why I wrote the book and how it can help you have more fun on the water.

I hope you check it out!

I am betting that this week’s podcast will be one of the most popular of the year. Entitled “Rare, Unusual, and Under-Utilized Fly Tying Materials” it’s an interview with superb videographer and fly tier Tim Flagler of Tightline Productions. As typically happens with us, we go off on some crazy tangents but it’s all about fly tying and it gets a bit geeky. Which I have found that lots of our listeners enjoy. And if that’s not enough, the Fly Box covers carrying a second rod on the river, picking hackle capes, DT vs. WF lines (again!), fall-spawning rainbows, casting leaders with heavy flies and weight on them, midging trout during the winter, night-fishing tips, and fluoro vs. nylon for tippets.

We get many questions about tactical nymphs, tactical fishing, and tactical hooks. What do we mean by this? Listen this week as we talk to Jesse Haller, resident Orvis Tactical Master. We’ll be talking about tying tactical flies and using tactical hooks. And Jesse will give up his go-to fly patterns and tell us how to tie them. Also in the fly box this week we explore fly fishing for largemouths and smallmouths, swinging flies for big brown trout, winter fly fishing, how to measure leader sections, how to pick a trout net and how to use it, and whether “western” fly patterns can be used in the East.

In this podcast Stefan Woodruff, Orvis-endorsed guide with Ellensburg Anglers in Washington State, reveals (some of) his secrets to catching steelhead, plus an overview of ths steelhead opportunities in his state. Trout anglers will also enjoy his tips on fishing the Yakima River, tips that should work anywhere. In The Fly Box we range from tying gel-spun backing to fly line, how to fish with a friend and really fish together, what to do if you get snagged on a small stream, hooking fish on fiberglass rods, identifying jumping fish, what materials to save for fly tying from hunting trips, how to avoid drag when fishing to fish in a slow pocket on the other side of fast current. I also decline to give marital advice to one listener.

This podcast is an interview with an old friend and fishing buddy, Mike Connor of Bullsugar.org. Mike is a fishing guide whose livelihood has been threatened by the inaction and foot-dragging of politicians on the Lake Okeechobee/Everglades water issues, as Mike’s home waters are at the mouth of the St. Lucie River. We don’t like to talk politics in the podcast but unfortunately this issue, one of the biggest environmental issues in the United States, needs a political solution as the science has been completed, the funds have been approved by voters and Congress—but somehow not much has happened. Of course we also talk lots of fishing in this podcast, with a clarification on what the Tactical Fly and hook series is, why few flies are colored white, the five easiest but effective trout flies to tie, lots of discussion on head cements for fly tying, more on sight-fishing for trout, casting off to the side,—and other earth-shaking issues.

This week I interview Chuck Hawkins, one of the most experienced Great Lakes steelhead guides, who also travels the world in search of trout and other species when he’s not guiding steelheaders. As usual when talking to such an experienced guide, I discovered many cool tips and tricks I had never thought of. I’m sure you’ll find this podcast educational, whether you fish for steelhead in the Great Lakes or on the West Coast—or even if you fish for non-migratory trout with nymphs and streamers. Lots of these techniques translate well. In the Fly Box, we answer questions on deeply-hooked trout, straightening tippets, casting on grass, sight-fishing for trout, avoiding crowds, bite tippets for pike and pickerel, fishing in the middle of the day, and other little tidbits.