Troutbitten

Tonight we’re here to talk about why we fish. It’s a simple question. Why do we commit so much of our free time and efforts, our thoughts and our daydreams . . . to fishing?

Why, after all these years, do we keep coming back?

Why, when we could do hundreds of other things — with three hours on a weekday evening or every daylight hour on a Saturday, from dawn to dark — why do we choose to lace up the boots and string up the fly rod?

In all the seasons of this Troutbitten podcast, we’ve often said that fishing, for us, isn’t about hoping to get lucky out there. It’s about making something happen. And surely, the act of fishing is a wonderful draw. But as I talked with the Troutbitten guys a few days ago about this topic of why we fish, it was clear their most important answers really didn’t have that much to do with the actual fishing.

So what we’ll talk about tonight are more of the intangible qualities of fishing. It’s what I think many anglers imagine when they decide to pick up a rod and venture into the woods. Yes, all of us are quickly captivated by the details, the flies, the flows, and the tactic necessary to catch trout. But perhaps for most anglers, it’s that elusive, almost transcendental experience that draws us in today, yesterday and tomorrow. And it’s the same natural pursuit that brought us all down to the water from the beginning.

We’re here to talk about it.

Resources

READ: Troutbitten | How To Stay in the Fly Fishing Game for a Lifetime
READ: Troutbitten | We Wade
READ: Troutbitten | Lost Fishing Friends

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We’re halfway through Season 13, and tonight we have a discussion that’s been on our backburner for quite a while -- barbed hooks or barbless, and does it really matter?

Should we always fish barbless? Maybe not. The answer isn’t that simple. So the Troutbitten guys are here for a conversation and a few thoughts about barbs on hooks.

Each one of us has fished for long enough that we’ve used both barbed and barbless flies. We’ve also used barbs on lures and bait hooks, because we all grew up fishing in different ways. Some anglers who jump right into the fly fishing game — especially for trout — are exposed to a another sentiment. So their reference points are different. And like anything else, what might seem almost outlandish to one person can seem like no big deal to another.

So . . . barbed hooks or barbless? And does it really matter?

Resources

READ: Troutbitten | Are We Taking the Safety of Trout Too Far?
READ: Troutbitten | Category | Catch and Release Safely
READ: Troutbitten | Fight Fish Fast
READ: Troutbitten | Nymph Hook Inversion and the Myth of the Jig Hook
PODCAST: Troutbitten | How To Handle a Trout - S1, Ep2

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Every angler needs a set of flies to call their own. Among the thousands of patterns, options and choices out there, eventually, we sort out a handful of confidence flies.

Our faith in these flies gives us conviction when choosing them and tying the knot. We’ll fish THIS fly in THIS water. That’s what will catch the next trout. And if it doesn’t, then we’ll change something — maybe the water type, maybe the presentation, maybe the rig. Or maybe we’ll reach for the next confidence fly.

Some anglers have a dozen go-to flies. Others might have fifty patterns, and some carry just a few. But a good set of confidence flies is adapted for the angler, for their water, for their season and their preferences. Most importantly, these flies catch trout.

But how do we find the right flies? How do you find your confidence flies? That’s our topic for tonight, season 13, episode 4.

The Troutbitten guys join me to break all of this down.

Resources

READ: Troutbitten: Category | The Troutbitten Fly Box
READ: Troutbitten | Troutbitten Confidence Flies -- Seventeen Nymphs
READ: Troutbitten | Pattern Vs Presentation

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Orvis

What's right and wrong? That's what ethics really boils down to. Certainly, there are nuances about how much space to give other anglers on the river or how long we should hold a trout out of the water for a picture. But doing the right thing and being an ethical angler is probably best achieved by asking ourselves one question: Does this action makes things better or worse? And are you helping or hurting the woods, the water, the fish and other anglers?

The best ethics probably happen when no one is looking. And holding ourselves accountable to do the right thing is a reward based in the satisfaction of self-discipline.

There is no handbook for ethics in fishing, of course. And much has been written and discussed on the topic through the years. In this podcast episode, the Troutbitten crew holds a philosophical discussion about ethics in fishing. It's not a list of concrete examples or rules. It's an interesting, thought provoking conversation.

Resources

PODCAST: Troutbitten | The Ethics of Guiding -- More Harm Than Good?
READ: Troutbitten | Category | Catch and Release Safely
READ: Troutbitten | A Fisherman's Thoughts On Spot Burning

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Orvis

The Troutbitten guys are here to talk about two flies. Why do we fish two dry flies, two streamers, wets or nymphs? Why don’t we? Why might we fish with just one fly instead? Multiple fly rigs are a common solution to fishing problems, but extra flies on the line can certainly create more issues than they solve.

The one or two fly debate, across fishing styles -- this is our topic. What works, when and why? What’s the upside? What’s the downside?

Resources

READ: Troutbitten | Tangle Free Tandem Rigs
READ: Troutbitten | Q&A: Why Do Multi-Nymph Rigs Tangle, and How to Avoid It
READ: Troutbitten | Three Styles of Dry Dropper

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The full Troutbitten crew is back for season thirteen. In this fall and early winter season, our theme is casual conversations. After three years of podcasting, we've recorded many episodes that go deep into the weeds on one specific topic. We've also dedicated full seasons to the Skills Series format, where a topic like night fishing or tight line nymphing is broken into multiple episodes to try and cover it well. But this season, we're ready to hit record and just riff on a topic.


For episode one, our topic is . . . Why do we catch trout in patches? Because when we get to the end of the day, we often look back to remember catching three trout in one spot, then nothing for a while. Maybe we missed two and landed five in another spot. We had three at the best undercut bank and another handful at the tailout . . . but in between, there were often long periods of inactivity. Why is that?

That's our topic for episode one.

Resources

READ: Troutbitten | Find Feeding Fish
READ: Troutbitten | Cover Water, Catch Trout
READ: Troutbitten | Cherry Picking vs Full Coverage

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For this final episode in the dry fly skills series, we work through some scenarios that anglers frequently encounter. Because, just like nymphing, fishing streamers and fishing wets, we fish dry flies for many different reasons and in many different ways.

We addressed some of this in episode one, and in this final episode, we complete the bookend by thinking about how things layout and going through some strategy and thought processes. Now that we’ve spent a good bit of time on leader design, fly selection, casting, building in slack, we consider these four scenarios:

Head Hunting
Fishing Terrestrials
Small Stream Stuff
Working a Hatch

My friend, Matt Grobe, joins me to put a cap on this Dry Fly Skills series.

Resources

READ: Troutbitten | Category | Dry Fly Fishing
READ: Troutbitten | Two Ways to Spat a Terrestrial Dry Fly
READ: Troutbitten | Twelve Small Stream Fly Casting Tips

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In the last couple of weeks we  talked a lot about choosing the next fly, when to change, and what informs our decision about what to change to — basically, how do we develop that next theory about what fly, water type and presentation style we want to test.

Last week we talked about watching how trout are rising to naturals, how they are taking our fly or even how they’re rejecting it. That information goes a long way. It’s often the predominant factor for choosing an appropriate fly style — a low rider, an emerger or maybe one that rides high and rolls on the surface.

So when you fish long enough, you start to notice these kinds of details, and like anything else worth pursuing, you realize that there’s an endless world of data out there for you to pick up on. The trout are telling us a lot — even by not rising. We learn by not catching trout too. If you get a great presentation in a spot that you know holds trout, but no trout eats it . . . fair enough. And you start to consider the next adjustment.

It’s all a lot of fun when you realize that good fishing isn’t luck. It’s attention to detail with an open mind and a willingness to dive into the mystery.

This podcast is all about rise forms and hook sets.

My friend, Matt Grobe, joins me for this discussion.

Resources

READ: Troutbitten | Category | Dry Fly Fishing
PODCAST: Troutbitten | Set The Hook! All About Different Hook Sets
READ: Troutbitten | Hook Set Direction --  Downstream

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Here we are at the part of the season where we address everybody’s favorite question — what fly are you using?

We’ve argued for years that the leader is the most consequential element in the system — much more important than the fly. That said, the fly must be reasonable.

Most anglers are so focused on the flies because it’s the easiest thing to change. We’re quick to blame the pattern. And it’s a lot easier to clip off one fly and tie on another than to really break down your approach, your cast and your dead drift.

The better approach is to perfect those elements and then . . . maybe change the fly.

I carry a box of dry flies, just like I carry a box of streamers and a box of nymphs and wets. The flies matter. But more than anything, it’s about matching the moment, the water type, the lifecycle of the bug - and even the wind conditions. For us, those conditions -- those situations -- dictate our next fly choice. We don't guess on patterns. Instead, we think about things, develop a theory and test it with the next fly choice and (hopefully) a great presentation.

My friend, Matt Grobe, joins me for this discussion.


Resources

READ: Troutbitten | Category | Dry Fly Fishing
VIDEO: Troutbitten | The Perfect Parachute Ant
READ: Troutbitten | When Should You Change the Fly?

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Our discussion here is about casting dry flies, and that’s where all good fly casting starts. With a dry fly, there’s no weight at the end of the line to help us out. No split shot, no tungsten bead, conehead or bobber. Refining the dry fly stroke truly teaches us what the fly rod is built to do.

Ten and two. Acceleration and crisp stops between two points. Pause and allow turnover to happen. Feel the rod load and watch it all happen with the fly line in the air. Once you have that timing, your baseline is set, and you can take that same stroke to any rod angle, punching the fly around and laying things out just how you want them with a few adjustments.

Good mending is setup by good casting. Put the two together, and you can feed slack to a dry fly for perfect drag free drifts.

Having command over all of that . . . is a lot of fun.

My friend, Matt Grobe, joins me to for a great discussion on casting and mending dry flies.


Resources

READ: Troutbitten | Category | Dry Fly Fishing
READ: Troutbitten | Ten and Two
READ: Troutbitten | Put More Juice in the Cast
READ: Troutbitten | Five Tips for Better Mending

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Thank You to Pre-Roll Ad Sponsors:

Skwala

and

Orvis