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ALL ARTICLES
VIDEO: Floating the Sighter
There may be nothing more misunderstood in the tight line game than floating the sighter. But it’s a great tactic that solves a lot of problems and offers some unique presentations that fool trout.
However, there’s a lot more to floating the sighter than simply laying line on the water. In fact, without a solid understanding of what’s going on, laying the floating the sighter can hurt the presentation . . .
Are Trout Selective About the Drift or the Position?
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?
Everything Has a Flip Side
What do you believe in? What can you fish hard enough and long enough to effectively convince a sluggish trout that it’s hungry? That’s the fisherman’s confidence. And it beats out the hatch chart, the guide’s advice and last week’s river stories every time . . .
STORIES
Midnight Vise
Two more turns to anchor the tail. Keep it tight. Build a solid foundation, or the whole thing falls apart after a few fish — and that costs time. The shortening days steal enough of that already.
Who Knows Better Than You?
Anglers cling to the stories and accounts others. We believe in the experts. We want masters of this craft to exist and to tell us the answers.
Sure, you might have a group of wild trout dialed in for the better part of a season. Maybe it’s a midge hatch every summer morning, or a streamer bite on fall evenings, for one hour on either side of dusk.
But it will end. That’s what’s so special about chasing trout. Like the wings of a mayfly spinner, predictability is a fading ghost . . .
Lessons from the Salt (2022) — Strike Zones, Sensitivity and Persistence
The churning waves, the cuts, troughs and sandbars of beach water mimic the flows of a good river that is full of structure. And tearing apart the differences to find the similarities between the two water systems is a challenge that’s renewed with each trip to the salt . . .
TACTICS
VIDEO: The Dorsey Yarn Indicator — Our Best and Most Versatile Indy Choice — Building It and Fishing It
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.
Tippet Protection and Nymphing Rods
Here’s the bottom line: You do not need an extra-soft rod tip to protect delicate tippets while nymphing. Skip past that selling point in the marketing jargon, and make your fly rod decision on the other factors that matter.
Patagonia Nymphing
I don’t know another time when I approached a slot with so much confidence. Better. Slower. This was it. At the end of the fishless drift, my certainly wasn’t questioned, it was simply re-informed. “Need more weight,” I said. It was an unforgettable, prove-it kind of moment . . .
NYMPHING
PODCAST: Tight Line, High Stick, Euro Nymph, Mono Rig — What’s the Difference and How Did We Get Here? — S9, Ep5
In this episode, Austin Dando and I walk through the differences between all of these styles. We provide some history and think objectively about how far the tight line game has come . . .
VIDEO: Tight Line and Euro Nymphing — The Lift and Lead
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 . . .
Land With Contact or Without, When Using a Tuck Cast — Tight Line and Euro Nymphing
The tuck cast presents a fly-first entry, from very steep and vertical with extra slack, to almost flat, with immediate contact. That’s how flexible the tuck cast is. It’s useful. In fact, it’s critical to how I present nymphs and streamers.
STREAMERS
Streamer Presentations — Glides and Slides
Rolling the bottom, gliding mid-current along a knee-deep riffle and slow-sliding off the bank — these maneuvers are just as enticing and catch just as many trout as do flashy retrieves. But we tend to forget them. Or rather, we might not have the discipline to stay with an understated look for very long, because the modest stuff isn’t as exciting as the razzle-dazzle.
This handful of subtle moves requires an angler with restraint and commitment. Otherwise, the rod tip and line hand are back to big motions and brash, bold movements in no time . . .
Podcast — Ep. 9: Breaking Down Streamer Presentations
Make that fly swim. Give life to the streamer. Convince the trout that they’re looking at a living, swimming creature.
That’s what this podcast conversation is about. How do we move the fly with the line hand and the rod tip, with strips, jigs, twitches and more? We talk about head position, depth, speed and holding vs crossing currents and seams. We touch on natural looks vs attractive ones. Should we make it easy for them or make them chase?
Don’t Guess — Set the Hook and Set Hard
Here’s what I see: Too much guessing. Too much assuming that it’s not a trout rather than assuming that it is. So don’t guess. Set the hook. And set it hard.
If you’re trying to get long drifts, change that. If you’re trying to guess what’s a rock and what’s a trout, change that. If you’re trying to lift the nymph off a rock, and then you realize it was fish — bump buh-bump and gone — change that. I suggest a fundamental shift in your approach . . .
ANGLER TYPES IN PROFILE
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BIG TROUT
Night Fishing for Trout — You’re gonna need a bigger rope
Big trout after dark are never predictable. And they give you everything they have — right now. So your tippet better be strong.
Catching Big Fish Does Not Make You a Stud . . . Necessarily
Go ahead. Look back through the Troutbitten archives and you’ll find a bunch of photos featuring big, beautiful trout. Chasing the biggest wild browns is part of our culture. It’s a challenge, and it’s a motivator — something that pulls us back to the rivers time and again.
I have friends who are big fish hunters to their core. Nothing else satisfies them. For me, I guess chasing big trout is a phase that I roll in and out of as the years pass. And although I don’t choose to target big trout on every trip, I always enjoy catching them. Who wouldn’t?
Hooking the big ones is part of the allure of fishing itself, no matter the species or the tactics used. What fisherman doesn’t get excited about the biggest fish of the day? It’s fun. And it’s inherent in our human nature to see bigger as better. But is it? Better what? Better fish? Better fisherman? . . .
The Big Rig: The Two Plus One — Two Nymphs and a Streamer
Multi-fly rigs are nothing new. We pair one nymph with another all the time. Many of us fish two streamers, and most of us cast a dry fly with a nymph for the dropper once in awhile. But the pairing of a streamer and a nymph is less common. And maybe that’s because the typical presentations for each fly type are quite different — we tend to think we’re either streamer fishing or nymph fishing, but rarely both at the same time.
The Big Rig combines two nymphs and a streamer. With some minor leader adjustments and some outside-the-box thinking on tactics, you can kinda have it all . . .
NIGHT FISHING
Night Shift — Tracks
** Note: This January 2015 post is rewritten and revisited here. So many of our favorite waters are accompanied by railroad tracks, and walking the familiar but odd stride required by the spacing of the wooden ties has become instinctive to me. The tracks are a...
Back in Black — The Night Shift
Night fishing requires some sacrifice. High catch rates are exchanged for a couple fish large enough to fill out the net — a hopeful bargain. Visual excitement is traded for an adrenaline rush, sustained by roaming among the unseen. And sleeping hours are swapped for...
Of Mice and Fishermen
Night fishing isn’t for everyone. And for that I’m thankful, because the prime attraction for me is solitude. I like the exquisite loneliness of the dark. Mix in the edgy spark of fear every so often, and an unusual feeling hangs on the black curtains limiting your...
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