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 . . .

Continue reading Fish and Film – Fishing Fall Streamers (VIDEO) at Troutbitten.

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 . . .

Continue reading The Jerk Strip – Streamer Presentations VIDEO at Troutbitten.

Our skill for leading the nymphs through a good drift and aiming for perfection is what puts trout in the net more predictably than any other approach.

Continue reading Learning To Lead Nymphs On A Tight Line System at Troutbitten.

Most anglers are tempted by big water. We fall for the trap. The river dares us to fish the far side, and it tricks us away from the things we do well.

. . . These are easy mistakes to make on big water. But discipline solves the problems. Actively planning and following through is an elusive quest with a fishing rod in hand. Most of us want to be creative. We want to follow our whims. The shady side of that boulder sure looks good, right? So why not make a few casts? Then fifteen minutes later, you’ve wasted time, energy and confidence with bad drifts and poor judgment . . .

Continue reading Fishing Big Water – One Key Tip at Troutbitten.

Riverside is a new video series from Troutbitten. It's a place for sharing some of the latest articles from Troutbitten and streamside thoughts . . .

Continue reading Introducing . . . The Riverside Video Series at Troutbitten.

Our small-window trout isn’t discriminating about the quality of drift, but it is picky about the location. And our larger window trout might be extra-selective about the quality of the dead drift, but it’s probably less picky about the exact location.

. . . Why did the trout eat the fly? Was it drifting naturally for a long distance, or did it enter the tight window of a waiting wild trout?

Continue reading Are Trout Selective About the Drift or the Position? at Troutbitten.

This third installment of the Fish and Film series highlights the technical aspects of good, adaptive nymphing. It's a look at a full morning of fishing riffles, runs and flats, while making the necessary and natural changes to find fish.

There are many adjustments along the way. And I comfortably switch between pure tight line tactics and tight line to the indicator style, along with weight adjustments, using both beadhead flies and additional split shot . . .

Continue reading Fish and Film — Tight Line Nymphing and Tight Line to the Indicator (VIDEO) at Troutbitten.

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.

Fishing is a story . . . On a summer morning of fishing, I fish terrestrials in two different ways -- first as a dry fly and then as a nymph.

The concepts of terrestrial fishing are largely centered around the dry fly. And I show that in the first half of this video. Target the edges and fish some of the middle stuff along the way. But the terrestrial fishing mindset -- the concepts and strategies -- are effectively taken over to a nymphing rig as well, often producing more and larger trout.

Continue reading Fish and Film — Home Waters – Terrestrial Dries and Terrestrial Nymphs (VIDEO) at Troutbitten.

The Troutbitten Shop Summer Sale '24 is here, with all leaders, hats and stickers back in stock, along with two new leader designs.

Continue reading Troutbitten Shop Summer Sale ’24 — All Leaders, Hats, Stickers and Two New Leader Designs at Troutbitten.