Season twelve begins. It’s a seven-part skills series dedicated to dry fly fishing. My friend, Matt Grobe, joins me to build the framework — a method and a system — for presenting dry flies to trout.

In this first episode, we ask when and why we fish dry flies. What’s the reason we might choose to fish dries over streamers, wets or nymphs?

We argue that dry flies are the heart and soul of fly fishing. The visual aspect is fun and exciting. And the pleasures of top water fishing should not be missed.

Also, presenting dry flies is what makes fly fishing unique. And learning the skills to cast a dry teaches you everything about what a fly rod can do.

Resources

READ: Troutbitten | Category | Dry Fly Fishing
READ: Troutbitten | If You Can't Fish Dry Flies, You're Missing the Point

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 Prospecting is a strategy for covering water. It’s about pace. A lot of what we do, day to day on the water, is searching. We’re looking for activity. We’re trying to find feeding fish.

Sometimes we’re looking to find the fish themselves, and other times, we know the trout are there, but they won’t eat, so we’re faced with the choice to change tactics or change flies . . . or we can move on and look for the next opportunity.

All of that can fairly be called prospecting. But for this discussion, we want to think about how covering water and looking for the players — for the hungry ones, is a unique strategy. It’s a lot different than settling in over risers or even working a hundred yards of some pocket water with nymphs.

The truth is, we’re searching for something on every cast, no matter what our approach is. But what we call prospecting is a bit different. It’s about canvassing an area, casting a wider net, searching for that next fish and then the next one. Then we take that data about where and how trout are feeding, and we use it to inform our next decision.

Often we might dedicate a whole day to prospecting. And on other days, it’s a prospecting approach that helps us dial in the rhythms of trout. So we’d like to find where trout are feeding and what they’re feeding on most. Then we might sort of change gears to a more targeted approach and do the opposite of prospecting.

Resources

PODCAST: Troutbitten | Cover Water, Catch Trout
PODCAST: Troutbitten | Cherry Picking or Full Coverage 

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The third annual Airing of Grievances on the Troutbitten Podcast has arrived. Some of this is playful and some is serious.

Complaining’s not a bad thing if it accomplishes something productive -- or if it’s kinda fun. Or if it draws attention to some of the absurdities around you.

Some things need to change. Because there are plenty of influences and influencers leading us all down a road to nowhere, or really, to a place that loses the depth of this fishing experience — of what we love about the woods and the water in the first place.

So let’s be a voice for that stuff too. Let’s complain a little more against those things that are pulling us all in the wrong direction. Keep fishing fun. Keep it pure. Keep it a simple match between fish and a fisherman, surrounded by mystery and embedded with the wild, unpredictable nature of the outdoors and everything it holds for us.

Whatever you believe, take a stand for it. That’s what we try to do here with the Airing of Grievances.

Resources

PODCAST: Troutbitten | The Airing of Grievances (One)
PODCAST: Troutbitten | The Airing of Grievances (Two)

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There are many different ways to set the hook while fly fishing for trout, because there are many different ways to fish for those trout. One size does not fit all. So we adapt our hook sets to suit the situation.

In this episode, we cover what is meant by a trout set. We address the differences between hook sets for dry flies, wets, streamers and nymphs. We talk about setting distance, setting speed, setting direction, whether we should pause before a hook set, and many other broad and finer points about setting the hook.

Resources

READ: Troutbitten | Set the Hook at the End of Every Drift
READ: Troutbitten | Don't Guess -- Set the Hook and Set Hard
READ: Troutbitten | Hook Sets Are Not Free 

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Here's a story about the solitude that so many of us seek on the water — how the full experience of planning for a trip, driving before dawn, walking in and exploring a river valley provides a respite from our daily life. It’s a chance for a clear mind and for renewed energy. "The Further You Walk, the More You Leave Behind" is about what we recover when we commit to full days and long distances, and how even after we return, we are changed.

In this episode I also share information about the New Trail Troutibtten beer and the release event on June 29th.

I also announce the next Troutbitten Live Stream event on YouTube, which is Wednesday, June 5th at 8:00 pm, EST. Our guest is Tom Rosenbauer. Our topic is stocking and club water.

I also ask for emails to the Pennsylvania Fish Commission supporting their efforts to stop stocking over wild trout. Here is the information for that:

Resources

READ: Troutbitten | Be a Voice for Wild Trout -- Your Most Effective Conservation Measure is Also the Easiest

** Send the Pennsylvania Fish Commission a simple email of support for eliminating stocking on wild trout waters. **
ADDRESS
[email protected]

READ: Troutbitten | The Further You Walk, The More You Leave Behind

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We're here for a tough conversation. This one's about fishing the pay-to-play setup of a club.

These are the troubles with club fishing . . .

One club leads to the next. One private stretch invites another down the road. So clubs lead to the loss of public water for the average angler. And that’s not good.

The manufactured fishing scenario of most clubs can teach anglers the wrong things, with easier fishing that does not translate well outside of the clubs. That then leads to unrealistic expectations or even a generous self-assessment of one’s skills.

But why does that matter? Because anglers begin to favor easier fishing and (often) stocked trout scenarios. All of this feeds into the hatchery trout system, and that’s something this country should be moving away from wherever possible.

Stop stocking over wild trout. This really should be our universal message, anywhere that wild trout can thrive. But how many clubs deliver that message? Let’s be honest about it — very few.

Not all clubs stock fish, and not all clubs are a bad choice. But in short, we believe things can be better.

This is an important episode. Please pass it around.

Resources

READ: Troutbitten | Posted - Club Fishing - 2065
READ: Troutbitten | Wild vs Stocked -- The Hierarchy of River Trout In Pennsylvania
PODCAST: Troutbitten | S1, Ep4 -- Wild Trout or Stocked -- The Hierarchy of River Trout
READ | Troutbitten | Tags | Wild Trout

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There's an intangible quality built into the best anglers. It's about being comfortable and natural around the water. It's about having an instinct and a guiding intuition on a river that informs decision without even giving it much thought. It's an innate knowledge of the environment and what will happen next. Knowledge of the woods, water, weather and the trout comes together with ease and adds up to something that is hard to identify.

In this episode, we call it woodsmanship, outdoorsmanship, riversmithing and being river smart. Some might just call it being fishy.

Regardless of the word to identify this quality, it's something every angler wants. This episode is about what it is and how to attain it.

Resources

READ: Troutbitten | Fish Hard
READ: Troutbitten | It's All About Time on the Water
READ: Troutbitten | Life on the Water

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We're here to talk about floating down a river, about why we like boats, how floating is so much different than wading, how some opportunities are uniquely available and how others are shut off too.

It’s the companionship and teamwork, along with the effort and commitment required to get down the river. It’s about a good lunch and friendly banter as much as the novel approach to tactics and the pure advantage of accessing more water.

From the put in to the take out, boating changes everything. It’s a wonderful way to learn a river and to connect with friends.

Resources

READ: Troutbitten | We Watched Daylight Race the River Downstream
READ: Troutbitten | Slow Float


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Like anything else in fishing, you can take the emerger concept just about as far as you want. You get technical, or you can spin up a couple wet flies, float them in the film, and keep things simple.

I’ve often argued that you don’t have to match the hatch when fly fishing. I think it’s a fun approach, but having exactly the right shade of dubbing to match the most prevalent insect is rarely necessary. Most often, you can fish caddis imitations during a mayfly hatch and do pretty well, because there’s a lot more food in a river than what our eyes see at the surface.

But we don’t ignore the hatches either. Far from it. In fact, we look forward to these events, anticipating the response from the trout, observing their behaviors day to day, and often using flies and tactics that imitate the emergence. From the bottom to the top, when the bugs transform from water born to airborne, meeting them with an emerger often sells the presentation.

Our conversation in this episode covers those emergences.

Resources

READ: Troutbitten | You Don't Have to Match the Hatch
PODCAST: Troutbitten | Night Fishing and the Mouse Emerger Concept
PODCAST: Troutbitten | Category | Dry Fly Fishing

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My friends join me for a tough discussion. What are the benefits of guiding? What are the good things? How does it help anglers? Does it actually help people and make our sport or this fishing scene better, or does it just put money in the guide’s pocket and put more pressure on the trout?

Also, what kinds of guided trips are there? Different types of guided trips are offered across the country. Some cater to the first timer, introducing new anglers to the fly rod. Other trips feature education first, with a strong focus on refining the tactics for more experienced anglers. Many guides sell the river itself. Others sell trips by promising big trout. Some guide for clubs with stocked and fed fish, sometimes catering to lodges with clients that are not anglers, but vacationing guests where fly fishing is just another highlighted activity.

When does guiding trout water do more harm that good? There are no right or wrong answer to all of this, but we’re here to work through a few things — to think about all of it and to have the conversation that others might avoid.

Resources

READ: Troutbitten | Respect the Spots! A fisherman's perspective on friendship and spot burning
READ: Troutbitten | Fish Hard
PODCAST: Troutbitten | Angler Pressure TWO -- What It Does to the Fishing

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