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I’ll Meet You Upstream . . .
I was in that stage of learning where I’d read more than I could put to use, while Rich had already fished more than he could ever find the words to tell.
. . . Stunned by the beauty of it all, I fell silent and let time creep along, until the slow motion whitewater of the falls mixed with the endless emerald shades reflecting in the softwater glides. An impenetrable canopy above stood guard against the angle of the sun and disguised the true time of day. This timeless valley was either day or night — with the details of everything in between insignificant . . .
True All-Purpose Leader — The Harvey Gold
The Harvey Gold has the heart of the Harvey Dry leader, with a little more heft in the butt section and a piece of Gold Stren for a short sighter. The system allows for the quick swap of tippet sections, each specifically built for the river conditions, making this a truly modular leader without sacrifices (almost) . . .
VIDEO: Beer and Friends: Good Times & Good Stories with New Trail & Troutbitten
Here’s a short film celebrating our brewing collaboration with New Trail. It’s a great memory of the brew day, the release day and some wonderful friendships.
Back in April, the Troutbitten crew got together with our long-time friends over at New Trail Brewing company to brew a beer together. The result: Troutbitten Hazy IPA. We worked on this project for over a year, and it was a lot of fun to partner with our favorite brewery. At the end of June, we hosted a beer release party at New Trail, and it was fantastic to see so many familiar faces from the Troutbitten community.
STORIES
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 . . .
You Need Contact
Success in fly fishing really comes down to one or two things. It’s a few key principles repeated over and over, across styles, across water types and across continents. The same stuff catches trout everywhere. And one of those things . . . is contact.
. . . No matter what adaptations are made to the rig at hand, the game is about being in touch with the fly. And in some rivers, contact continues by touching the bottom with something, whether that be a fly or a split shot. Without contact, none of this works. Contact is the tangible component between success and failure.
Find Your Rabbit Hole
Understanding the ideas of other anglers through the decades is how I learn. It’s how we all learn. The names change, but the process remains. We build a framework from others. Then we fit together the pieces of who we are as an angler . . .
TACTICS
Q&A: Can I Dead Drift the Nymphs Without Contact?
Can we truly drift nymphs without any influence over them? No. And while I agree that too much contact or too much influence over the nymph can look unnatural, I disagree that being out of contact is the best approach . . .
(VIDEO) The George Harvey Dry Fly Leader — Design, Adjustment and Fishing Tips
The George Harvey Dry Fly leader is a slackline leader built for dead drifting. With intentional casting, with the right stroke, the Harvey lands with slack in all the right places, with curves and swirls through the entire leader and not just in the tippet section. The Harvey is a masterful tool built for the art of presenting a dry fly on a dead drift. But success begins by understanding how the Harvey is different, and why it works.
Troutbitten Shop Summer Sale ’23 — Leaders, Hats, New Trail Merch and More
The Troutbitten Summer Sale ’23 is here, with all leaders, hats and stickers back in the Troutbitten Shop. With this round, I have a few special items to offer, from the Troutbitten and New Trail Brewing company collaboration. There’s a Fish Hard / Drink Beer hat, sticker and t-shirt. The Troutbitten Shop is fully stocked. Hats, leaders, stickers, shirts, hoodies and more are ready to go.
NYMPHING
Roll Your Eggs — Tips For Nymphing With Egg Patterns
Eggs drift slowly. They roll over the rocks with a neutral buoyancy of sorts, ready to rest and settle on the rocks, but easily transported by whatever currents pick them up . . .
Playing it safe will have you cautiously trying to keep your egg pattern from sticking and hanging up. And you might get really good at bringing that little morsel through the strike zone, without touching and snagging up at all. But you won’t catch trout . . .
(VIDEO) The Tight Line Advantage for Nymphs, Indicators, Streamers and Dry Dropper
For effective, convincing underwater presentations of flies to a trout, the tight line advantage is the cornerstone concept. Nothing else is more important.
Because a river is composed of changing and moving seams, defeating that unwanted drag is the nymph angler’s ongoing battle. How do we defeat that drag? With the tight line advantage. Watch this video to see it in action.
Your Indicator Is Too Big
Choosing the right indicator is the first step to setting up and effective system. Balance between indy and weight is the key.
STREAMERS
Streamer Presentations — The Endless Retrieve
. . . Remember that Mark taught me to keep the streamer moving downstream at one pace, without pause. Now think about the way you fish a streamer. You strip it, right? Strip, strip, jerk, strip, strip, jig, strip.
And at the end of every strip, there’s a pause when you let go of the line and re-grasp it further ahead (preparing for the next strip). That pause, and the look that it gives the streamer, is completely different than what Mark showed me at fourteen years old.
Like anything else in fishing, you can get the tactic pretty close and have some success, or you can dig deep into the details, refine it and triple your production . . .
Troutbitten on the Orvis Fly Fishing Guide Podcast — Talking Streamers
Tom and I talked about streamers, mostly — about how fast the industry has moved into what I think of as the modern streamer code. And about how, in my mind, I juxtapose that with an old-school streamer style that (maybe) a lot of anglers have forgotten about . . .
Troutbitten Fly Box — The Jig Streamers
With the jig tied in, I quickly learned that nothing rides the bottom of the river like a ball jig. It bounces, canters, pivots and tap dances around rocks and gravel like nothing else. The ball itself is the key. It allows for some very unique presentations and movements. And when you really want to hug the bottom, you can set up your rig to feel those taps, as the jig glides and scratches along the river bed.
That’s not to suggest that I constantly present a jig deep down and glued to the rocks. Not at all. But when I do want to touch the bottom, to feel the rocks, hold a position or reach into the depths with precision, a jig is the perfect vehicle. That is the key. That’s the special sauce of the jig . . .
ANGLER TYPES IN PROFILE
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BIG TROUT
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NIGHT FISHING
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MORE
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