Podcast: Angle and Approach — Tight Line Skills Series, #1

by | Jan 16, 2022 | 8 comments

 The Troutbitten Podcast, Season Two, is available everywhere that you listen to your podcasts.

** Note **  The Podcast Player, along with links to your favorite players is below.

With season two of the Troutbitten podcast, I’m introducing a new format. It’s a mini-series of connected episodes that build out a set of specific tactics. This is what I call a Troutbitten Skills series, and it’s something we’ll do again in future seasons too. The topic for this first skills series is the Nine Essential Skills for Tight Line and Euro Nymphing, and I’m joined by my friend, Austin Dando.

(Season three will return to my full panel of friends, with longer form discussion about all things fly fishing.)

These episodes are short, deeply tactical and packed with the how-to of just one technique — a tightly focused look at one topic. Each episode is intertwined or woven together with the others that surround it. By the end of this skills series, you’ll have a detailed picture of the tactics — and hopefully a thorough understanding of what’s possible on the water.

Think of a Troutbitten Skills series as a course in one topic or one aspect of fly fishing, with different sections that eventually build a full set of knowledge.

Nine for Nine

If you’re a Troutbitten regular, then you know that I recently published the last chapter in the nine skills essential for tight line and euro nymphing. Now, we’re taking each of these skills and building a podcast around them. It’s a chance flesh thing out a little more and reach anglers on a different level, with a different format, to enhance the sharing and learning. The article series and the podcast series go hand in hand.

READ: Troutbitten | The Nine Essential Skills for Tight Line and Euro Nymphing

Why?

Tight line and euro nymphing is very popular right now. Because it’s an efficient system, and it’s fun. But tight line and euro nymphing is misunderstood too. The many different rigs and methods of casting or delivery are what make all of this so interesting, but it’s what leads to confusion and mistaken concepts about what this is and how to get it done.

Also, there’s already an abundance of beginner level material out there. Anglers are ready for more. You want the details. I believe these episodes are for everyone, but they’ll probably connect most with the intermediate and advanced angler.

These nine skills are critical — they are the foundation for everything else that we do with a Mono Rig — all the indy styles, dry dropper, streamer fishing, etc.

Lastly, understanding these skills in depth is what allows the advanced angler to make decisions to adapt their own rig and discover their own variations on the tactics.

Episode One of this skills series is about angle and approach.

We Cover the Following

 

Listen with the player above, or . . .

Find the Troutbitten podcast on any of these services:

— Apple Podcasts
— Spotify
— Google Podcasts
— Amazon Music
. . . and everywhere else where you listen to podcasts.

Resources

READ: Troutbitten | The Nine Essential Skills for Tight Line and Euro Nymphing
READ: Troutbitten | Category | The Mono Rig
READ: Troutbitten | Angle and Approach
READ: Troutbitten | One Great Nymphing Trick

You can find the dedicated Troutbitten Podcast page at . . .

podcast.troutbitten.com

 

Episode two of season two is coming soon. Thanks again for your support, everyone.

Fish hard, friends.

 

** Donate ** If you enjoy this podcast, please consider a donation. Your support is what keeps this Troutbitten project funded. Scroll below to find the Donate Button. And thank you.

 

Enjoy the day.
Domenick Swentosky
T R O U T B I T T E N
domenick@troutbitten.com

 

Share This Article . . .

Since 2014 and 1000+ articles deep
Troutbitten is a free resource for all anglers.
Your support is greatly appreciated.

– Explore These Post Tags –

Domenick Swentosky

Central Pennsylvania

Hi. I’m a father of two young boys, a husband, author, fly fishing guide and a musician. I fish for wild brown trout in the cool limestone waters of Central Pennsylvania year round. This is my home, and I love it. Friends. Family. And the river.

More from this Category

Fish and Film – Fishing Fall Streamers (VIDEO)

Fish and Film – Fishing Fall Streamers (VIDEO)

Nothing compares to actively fishing streamers and watching trout attack the fly. In early November, I found good streamer action in some favorite water. The takes were spotty enough that I had to work for them, but frequent enough that I could learn the preferences of the trout and dial in a presentation . . .

PODCAST: Why We Fish — S13, Ep6

PODCAST: Why We Fish — S13, Ep6

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?

It’s the same natural pursuit that brought us all down to the water from the beginning.

The Jerk Strip – Streamer Presentations VIDEO

The Jerk Strip – Streamer Presentations VIDEO

Moving the fly with the rod tip and not just the line hand is a fundamental skill that opens up many presentations that bring trout to a streamer.

The jerk strip is critical for any serious streamer angler. It’s a must-have skill for animating the fly — for selling the streamer to a fish. And it’s the baseline for what I think of as a jig strip, a twitch strip, a glide strip, a head flip and twitch, a lane change, and much more. At its core, the jerk strip is a hand off from left to right — it’s about moving the fly with the rod tip and then recovering with the line hand. In this way, the jerk strip sets the table for everything else . . .

PODCAST: Barbed Hooks or Barbless? Does It Really Matter? — S13, Ep5

PODCAST: Barbed Hooks or Barbless? Does It Really Matter? — S13, Ep5

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.

PODCAST: Finding Your Confidence Flies — S13, Ep4

PODCAST: Finding Your Confidence Flies — S13, Ep4

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.

What do you think?

Be part of the Troutbitten community of ideas.
Be helpful. And be nice.

8 Comments

  1. Awesome first episode for the nine skills. On my home water, working upstream and within two rod lengths makes for some exciting sight fishing. When casting up two rod lengths and across one, are you casting in line with with your target seam, or casting straight from you to it? What side of the triangle does your rod tip follow?

    Reply
    • Interesting question. I think I understand, but I had to think on it for a while.

      I do not reach to cast.
      https://troutbitten.com/2019/09/08/fly-casting-dont-reach/

      So, I cast TO the spot, tuck my fly into the target and then immediately put my rod overtop of the same seam (hence, the over one rod length).

      That’s why I like this question — because it addresses something important. We need to put the rod tip in leading position immediately after the power stroke on the forward cast. Neat point.

      Dom

      Reply
      • Thank you Dom. That is exactly what I was trying to ask.

        Reply
      • Great pod ,so if I’m understanding this the line is 90degrees to the rod hence 1rod length from our rod hand.Thanks Pete

        Reply
        • Hi Pete.
          Thanks for listening.
          But no, not really. That means the fly would land right under your rod tip. It shouldn’t at all.
          Don’t complicate it too much. Look upstream and find a place that is about twenty feet upstream and over from that ten feet. Then land your fly there. Use the rod tip to drift the fly back in one seam.
          Make sense?
          Dom

          Reply
          • Yes thanks I guess the point I was making was over a rod length from your tip or 1 rod length from where we stand.Thank you for response.Pete

  2. Damn Dom, this series is the gift that keeps on giving. I must have listened to it all the way through 10 times over the last year. Everything couple of weeks when I start thinking I have things dialed in, I listen again. The more I learn on the water the better I understand what you guys are explaining which makes it painfully clear just how deficient I am at all of these skills. Seriously it’s some powerful stuff. You and Austin hit it out of the park.

    I can wait until I get proficient enough at these skills that I can move unto the dry dropper series.

    Reply
    • Thanks, Matt. Glad to hear that you connect with the material. Cheers.

      Reply

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Articles

Recent Posts

Domenick Swentosky

Central Pennsylvania

Hi. I’m a father of two young boys, a husband, author, fly fishing guide and a musician. I fish for wild brown trout in the cool limestone waters of Central Pennsylvania year round. This is my home, and I love it. Friends. Family. And the river.

Pin It on Pinterest