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Cicadas, Sawyer and the Clinic
Just as the Cicada settled again, with its deer hair wing coming to rest and its rubber legs still quivering, the pool boss came to finish what he started. His big head engulfed the fly, and my patience finally released into a sharp hookset on 3X. The stout hook buried itself against the weight of a big trout . . .
Fish With Friends — Doc and Darling, Night Fishing and the Bad Mother Night Fly
The Fish With Friends series continues with Josh and Trevor on a night fishing trip, a few big wild trout and the Bad Mother Night Fly recipe . . .
PODCAST: The One With Sloop – Stories With a Troutbitten Friend — S7 Ep12
Our friends are at the heart of it all. And this episode features the deepest friend to Troutbitten. Because Sloop tied it all together from the beginning . . .
STORIES
Float
Burke and I floated today. It's almost late enough in the season to call it a winter run, but not quite. Need snow for that, and I'd say real winter hasn't started yet. Action was about what we expected for this river at this time of the year, which is to say, it was...
Night Shift – Skunked
I've read a lot of fishing blogs, and I can't recall any accounts of a complete shut out. I've seen lots of hero poses with gorgeous slabs of wild trout spilling over wet, dripping hands with the flash of a fly rod reflecting in the sun. My RSS feed is filled with...
Home-Stream Fish of the Year
My home-water is not full of big fish. Burke likes to call it fishing for midgets. Is that politically incorrect? OK then; it's usually a matter of fishing for little fish. However, this evening we caught a larger one -- easily my fish of the year on this water....
TACTICS
Tight Line and Euro Nymphing — The Lift and Lead
The Lift and Lead is a cornerstone concept for advanced tight line nymphing skills.
Most euro nymphing or tight line studies seem to ignore the lift, focusing only on the concept of leading the flies downstream. 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. The path is more predictable. And more trout eat the fly . . .
Streamer Presentations — The Tight Line Dance
On a tight line rig, things are different. We keep line off the water — so it’s the rod tip that dictates the actions of the fly. Direct contact with the fly lends us ultimate control over every variable. With line off the water, it’s the rod tip that charts the course, the actions and all the movements of the streamer. And that . . . is a very big deal . . .
Nymphing — Free Fall and the Drift
After the nymph falls into position, we want it to spend some time there. But if we constantly set at the end of the fall, the nymph never has the chance to drift, and the trout don’t get an opportunity to eat on anything but the drop.
A good drift should follow the drop. The free fall and the drift are a successful pair. And they work best together . . .
NYMPHING
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STREAMERS
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ANGLER TYPES IN PROFILE
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BIG TROUT
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NIGHT FISHING
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