The Lagging Curve is a beautiful way to provide slack to a dry fly, and it's my favorite way to get perfect dead drifts to a dry fly in rivers. I fish a lagging curve at just about any angle, using both a forehand and backhand cast, and it provides slack to a dry fly for days.

The lagging curve is really the opposite of what most people mean by a curve cast. This is an underpowered curve and not a power curve.

The leader design matters a lot, and so does the casting stroke. I cover it all in the video . . .

Continue reading VIDEO: The Lagging Curve Cast — Dead Drifts for Days (Fly Casting Skills) at Troutbitten.

My friends and I don't go fishing with our mind set on a certain tactic. We let the trout make those decisions, and we're ready for anything. The Troutbitten Standard Mono Rig is the perfect tool for such an approach.

. . . It's a versatile tool. It's a hybrid system. And to maximize those options, simple adjustments are necessary. This video shows those adjustments in detail . . .

Continue reading VIDEO: Mono Rig Mods — All the Adjustment for a Versatile, Hybrid System at Troutbitten.

Admiring your casting loops makes you less accurate while also removing your focus from the water and your target. It’s a beginner’s habit that anyone can break in a couple hours, And it's worth it.

Continue reading Stop Looking at Your Backcast at Troutbitten.

This video breaks down all of the important things about hook set direction, hook set distance and hook set timing.

Setting the hooks is the most exciting part of the day. For all the time we spend planning, prepping, wading, tying, casting and drifting, it's all in anticipation of that brief moment when a trout eats the fly. You fooled a trout. So, don't screw it up. That's why the hook set matters most. And planning for the hookset, thinking about how a trout might eat the fly and how we will respond, makes all the difference.

Continue reading VIDEO: HOW You Set the Hook Matters Most! — Hook Sets for Dry Flies, Nymphs, Streamers and Wets at Troutbitten.

For over a decade, my Troutbitten friends and I have fished a small yarn indicator that weighs nothing, is extremely sensitive, versatile, cheap, doesn't affect the cast, and flat out catches more trout than any other indicator we've ever used. What we call "the Dorsey" is a daily-use tool that is integral to our nymphing system. We mount it on a tight line rig or a traditional leader with fly line. It floats like crazy. It signals takes and information about the drift like no other indy we've ever used, and it's an unstoppable fish catcher.

Continue reading VIDEO: The Dorsey Yarn Indicator — Our Best and Most Versatile Indy Choice — Building It and Fishing It at Troutbitten.

One rod length over and two rod lengths up. That’s the Golden Ratio. That’s the baseline, and it’s where trust in our drift begins. There are surely moments and situations that call for something different. But a good tight line style starts here, within the Golden Ratio of nymphing . . .

Continue reading VIDEO: The Golden Ratio of Nymphing at Troutbitten.

The Lift and Lead is a cornerstone concept for advanced tight line nymphing skills.

Lift to allow the fly to fall into place. Lead to stop it from falling and to keep it gliding through the strike zone.

For certain, the lift and lead is an advanced tactic. But if you’re having success on a tight line for a few seasons now, you’re probably already incorporating some of this without knowing it. And by considering both elements, by being deliberate with each part of the lift and lead, control over the course of your flies increases. Efficiency with weight improves.

The path is more predictable. And more trout eat the fly . . .

Continue reading VIDEO: Tight Line and Euro Nymphing — The Lift and Lead at Troutbitten.

Control. Options. Precision. These are the most attractive aspects of fishing a tight line system, and the sighter is the key to it all.

A sighter is more than a strike indicator. It also shows depth, angle, speed and contact. It points to our flies and takes away the guesswork. For an angler who learns to read all of this on the sighter, that colored line above the water provides a most significant advantage to the underwater game . . .

Continue reading Five Keys to Reading the Sighter (with VIDEO) at Troutbitten.

Mike had landed on a common phrase that usually triggers a response from me. It’s one of the myths of fly fishing, and it carries too much consequence to let it go. Hook sets are not free. There’s a price to pay. Oftentimes that cost is built into our success. And other times, the costs of too frequently setting the hook pile up, stealing away our limited opportunities . . .

Continue reading Hook Sets Are Not Free at Troutbitten.

Fly distance restrictions unnecessarily limit the common angler from taking full advantage of tight line systems. If you choose to fish under FIPS rules, do so by choice, with your eyes wide open and for good reason. Take a fresh look at why you are choosing your flies, your leaders, your fly rods and your tactics. And be sure that you’ve thought through both the benefits and the consequences inherent.

Continue reading Fly Distance — What You’re Missing by Following FIPS Competition Rules — Part Three at Troutbitten.