Troutbitten

This episode features what might be the most important concept of nymph fishing. There are three different ways to present a dead drifted nymph to the trout -- three ways to imitate what trout commonly see from the naturals. While trout eat dry flies in one plane (the surface) the complexity of currents underneath introduces more difficulty, simply because trout might be looking for food in multiple ways.

My friend, Austin Dando, and I break down one of my favorite topics in fly fishing -- the three ways to dead drift nymphs: bottom bouncing, strike zone rides and tracking the flies.

All three of these methods are viable. All of them produce. A nymphing angler dedicated to improving should consider what level to focus the presentation and how those nymphs might best look natural within that level.

This is a technical topic that is built on many Troutbitten resources that have come before it . . .

Resources

READ: Troutbitten | Nymphs: Three Ways to Dead Drift: Bottom Bounce, Strike Zone Rides, Tracking
PODCAST: Troutbitten | Locating the Strike Zone -- Tight Line Skills #6
READ: Troutbitten | The Water Column and the All-Important Strike Zone
READ: Troutbitten | Drop Shot Nymphing Series
READ: Troutbitten | Tight Line and Euro Nymphing: Leading vs Tracking vs Guiding the Flies
READ: Troutbitten | That's Not  a Dead Drift

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In the third part of this critical nymphing concepts series, we consider the advantages and disadvantages of fishing with a suspender.

We cover the following

• Indicator styles and why the type matters
• Not all indicators are created equal
• Choosing tight line or indy, or combing both
• What you lose by adding and indy
• What you gain by adding an indy
• Complications of an indy style
• What is commonly missed when using an indy
• Reading an indicator
• A few more tips  . . .

Resources

READ: Troutbitten | It's a Suspender, Not Just an Indicator
PODCAST: Troutbitten | Nymphing Tight Line to the Indicator Style -- Tight Line Advantage to the Indicator
READ: Troutbitten | The Backing Barrel Might Be the Best Sighter Ever
READ: Troutbitten | Tight Line to the Indicator -- a Mono Rig Variant
READ: Troutbitten | Your Indicator is Too Big
READ: Troutbitten | The Dorsey Yarn Indicator -- Everything You Need to Know and  a Little More

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In this second episode of our Critical Nymphing Concepts series, my friend, Austin Dando, and I walk through the idea — the concept — of having more influence or less over the flies. Meaning, who or what is in charge of the nymphs? Is it you or the river? And do we want to have more influence over the flies or less? What looks more natural? Which choice — which method — fools more trout?

We cover the following

• What is influence and what's in charge of the nymph's path?
• Does less influence look more natural?
• How weight and tippet diameter relate to influence.
• Why taking dry fly principles to the nymphs underneath leads to big mistakes.
• How slack hurts or helps the drift.
• The principle of slipping contact.
• Good and bad things about more influence.
• Good and bad things about less influence.
• Better systems for each method.

Resources

READ: Troutbitten | Tight Line and Euro Nymphing: Tracking the Flies
PODCAST: Troutbitten | #7, Nine Essential Skill for Tight Line and Euro Nymphing | Guiding the Flies
READ: Troutbitten | Tight Line and Euro Nymphing: Leading vs Tracking vs Guiding
READ: Troutbitten | Slipping Contact -- Tight Line and Euro Nymphing
READ: Troutbitten | Tight Line Nymphing With an Indicator
READ: Troutbitten | Your Indicator Is Too Big

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This Season Ten skills series is about the critical concepts of nymphing. In seven episodes this season, we're covering the what and the why of nymphing. The techniques we work on are physical skills necessary to get great drifts and fool fish. But these nymphing concepts are about putting a reason behind everything we do.

Why do we make the changes? How do we adapt to meet the preferences of trout for the moment? This is the other side of the coin. And once you put all of this together, you have a full picture of what it takes to regularly catch trout on a nymph.

Importantly, these concepts apply to all nymphing styles, tight line, indicator or otherwise.

Episode One covers the three most important questions in nymphing.

My friend Austin Dando joins me this season to walk through these concepts.

Resources

READ: Troutbitten | Three Nymphing Questions to Solve Any Problem
PODCAST: Troutbitten | #1, Nine Essential Skill for Tight Line and Euro Nymphing | Angle and Approach
READ: Troutbitten | The Water Column, and the All-Important Strike Zone
READ: Troutbitten | When Drifting Low Isn't Low Enough

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For this final episode of Season Ten and of 2023, we wanted  to have some fun. In this episode we walk through a bunch of Troutbitten . . . terms, words, sayings, phrases . . . and talk about what all of this means. Let’s call it a Troutbitten glossary.

If you’re lucky enough to have your own group of long-time fishing friends, then I’m sure you have your own phrases too — your own idioms and ways of talking about things. It’s all a lot of fun.

Long-time listeners understand what it means when Austin says he could have caught a lot more trout — if he really wanted to. Most of you also understand what it means to play bartender for a friend, and you know how many inches a trout should be to fall under the Troutbitten classification, Whiskey.

Our lingo is part of the Troutbitten culture. Here we go . . .

Resources

READ: Troutbitten | Category | History
PODCAST: Troutbitten | The One With Sloop, Stories with a Fishing Friend S7 Ep12
PODCAST: Troutbitten | Fishing Buddies S5 Ep12

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We’re here to talk about bad habits — things that aren’t personal style but just bad form. These are bad habits that come with a consequence. These are, quite simply, mistakes. And in every case, there’s a much better way to do things.

We meet anglers from all over the country and the world, we often see these bad habits from good anglers. And inevitably, these are some of the key things that hold people back from going further — from catching more trout.

These are deal breakers --  bad habits that come with consequences, and habits that, once changed, open up new avenues and better opportunities.

Our intention here is to be helpful and not critical. We want to point out some of the worst habits that we see most often — the mistakes that a lot of good anglers still make and that hold them back. And these are mistakes — it’s almost right and wrong.

I always say there are no experts in fly fishing. So we are not experts. But all of us here are experienced. In fact, we’re experienced enough to have gone through many of these bad habits on our own and have corrected them. Our goal is to share a few of these habits and highlight what might go unnoticed by a pretty wide segment of our friends.

Resources

READ: Troutbitten | All the Things
PODCAST: Troutbitten | The Inefficiencies that Waste Your Fishing Time - S3,Ep2
READ: Troutbitten | How Many Effective Fishing Minutes?

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This one is about taking photos and videos on the water, about camera gear, about keeping that gear safe but available, and even a few tips on taking a good fish selfie.

Photography is something that we see most anglers get into, at least a little bit. I’ve often described the fish selfie as the grand compromise of catch and release fishing. We don’t kill the trout and take it home to show it off to friends anymore. But we do want to share some of the best trout and our most memorable situations on the river. So we take photos and videos.

We plan for these trips, we look forward to them, we tie flies, we think about leaders, buy gear and read books about the region and the tactics. And when we finally get our boots in the water, we want to document these experiences — especially when the stars align and something remarkable happens.

Resources

READ: Troutbitten | Fishing With a Camera
READ: Troutbitten | All the Things
PODCAST: Troutbitten | How to Handle a Trout, S1 Ep2
READ: Troutbitten | Their Heart in Your Hands

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Some favorite rivers meander and roll through stunning scenery and enchanting tracts of wilderness. And most trout fishermen quickly realize that the pursuit of wild trout takes them into some of the most beautiful valleys on earth.

But some other favorite rivers run through towns or behind old factories. Maybe they’re paralleled by a highway or narrowly channeled by railroad tracks on either side. These places can be just as special, just as meaningful and treasured, for what they hold — for what they teach.

All of our favorite rivers have made an impact on who we are as a person — not just as an angler. Because, for so many fishermen, a home water is precisely that — a home. A place to rest. A place to seek comfort and rejuvenation. These rivers are places to share with those we love . . . or to seek an adventure alone.

Our favorite rivers are as integral to our experience as the rods, leaders, lines and tactics. They define our fishing, and they become part of our lives. In this episode, we share some history with these places and discuss what connects us to these moving waters.

Resources

READ: Troutbitten | The Secret
READ: Troutbitten | Right Here
PODCAST: Troutbitten | What to Love About Small Stream Fishing S7 Ep6
PODCAST: Troutbitten | Secrets and Spot Burning S3 Ep1
VIDEO: Troutbitten | The River Doesn't Owe You Anything

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This episode is a conversation about tight line leader styles. We share what we like best, what works for each of us and what does not. This is Part Two for the podcast that we two weeks ago, titled, “Tight Line, High Stick, Euro Nymph, Mono Rig -- What's the Difference and How Did We Get Here?”

While that first episode laid out a history of tight line tactics, this conversation is focused on how we use these leaders. How do we fish the different leader builds for tight lining? What are the advantages and disadvantages of Standard, Thin and Micro-Thin Mono Rigs? What can we do with each of them?

My friends join me for a great discussion, full of deep experience and strong opinion.

Resources

READ: Troutbitten | Category | The Mono Rig
READ: Troutbitten | Beyond Euro Nymphing
PODCAST: Troutbitten | Fly Fishing the Mono Rig — Versatility and the Tight Line Advantage Taken Further
READ: Troutbitten | Design and Function of the Troutbitten Standard Mono Rig
VIDEO: Troutbitten | Mono Rigs and Euro Rigs -- Micro Thin or Standard?
READ: Troutbitten | Thin and Micro-Thin Leaders for Euro Nymphing and the Mono Rig
READ: Troutbitten | The Full Mono Rig System — All the variations, with formulas and adjustments
READ: Troutbitten | What You're Missing By Following FIPS Competition Rules

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Here we are in the middle of season nine, and we’re doing something a little different. This is like an intermission between sets.

My wife, Becky, is here, and we’ll catch up on a few Troutbitten things, like updates to the Recommended Gear page and the upcoming fall leader sale.

I also have a listener email to share that really gets to the heart of what we all love about being out there on the water.

And then, I  read one of my favorite Troutbitten stories from the archives. It’s titled, Coffee and Secrets,  and I think it strikes at a similar sentiment about the intangible motivations that keep us involved in a fishing life.

Resources

READ: Troutbitten | Recommended Gear
SHOP: Troutbitten | Leaders
READ: Troutbitten | Design and Function of the Troutbitten Standard Mono Rig
READ: Troutbitten | Coffee and Secrets
READ: Troutbitten | Some Days are Diamonds, Some Days are Rocks


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