 The Troutbitten Podcast is available everywhere that you listen to your podcasts. ** Note ** The Podcast Player, along with links to your favorite players is below. What’s the best way to carry your gear? Should you use a vest, a chest pack, hip pack, sling pack or...
Covering water effectively, easily changing from dry flies to streamers and then methodically working across a fifty-foot wide riffle — this is how we find our fishing pace. It’s the way we transition from one section of water to the next. It’s about how smoothly we...
Being a versatile angler comes down to changing things. And on the river, that means tying knots. Maybe the situation calls for a fly change, requiring just one knot. But maybe we need to change leaders and tie a few knots to rebuild a tippet section, modifying it to...
Control. Options. Precision. These are the most attractive aspects of fishing a tight line system. This is also why euro nymphing and the Mono Rig continue to gain so much support. Because every angler wants to know where the fly is and choose where it’s going next....
Fishing a full Mono Rig system allows for abundant versatility — but not without the line hand. You have two hands, so use them both. Get that second hand off your hip, and use it for slack recovery, opening up a range of options, adjustments and efficiencies.
You need the right tools, the right shot and the right methods for using all of it. None of this is complicated, but simplicity in fishing is often elusive, until time on the water eventually reveals what is best. Honestly, I believe there’s no better way to carry and use split shot than what is shown here . . .
Turnover is the fundamental difference between spin casting and fly casting. And all good fly casts, with fly line or otherwise, allow the line/leader to turnover in the air and then hit the water. That’s the difference between casting and lobbing. Without good turnover, we are simply lobbing the line.
Remember this: lobbing is limiting. And a good casting approach, with great turnover, introduces a wide range of options . . .
But, what about that pretty magazine pose? What about those videos of nymph fishermen with their arms high and extended, reaching the fly rod out to maximum length? It’s silly. It’s unnecessary. And it won’t last for long.
Reaching is an unsustainable body position at any age. Reaching the arm takes power from the forward cast. And by keeping the elbow in a natural and relaxed position, casting accuracy and delivery options improve dramatically . . .
Continued success and enjoyment on the river is a result of versatility. Solving the daily mystery, adapting our approach and getting that next bite is our endless goal. Adapting and changing quickly is a critical piece of the game. Knotting on the next fly is the easy part, but swift, wholesale leader changes are more elusive . . .
One of the greatest attractions to fly fishing can also present one of the biggest barriers. It’s the bugs.
Understanding everything we can about these bugs and how trout respond to them is a big piece of the puzzle that we’re trying to solve out there. And sometimes, it’s the keystone. Because at certain times, the bug life of a river is the central player in a trout’s daily life . . .