We’re halfway through Season 13, and tonight we have a discussion that’s been on our backburner for quite a while -- barbed hooks or barbless, and does it really matter?Should we always fish barbless? Maybe not. The answer isn’t that simple. So the Troutbitten guys are here for a conversation and a few thoughts about barbs on hooks.Each one of us has fished for long enough that we’ve used both barbed and barbless flies. We’ve also used barbs on lures and bait hooks, because we all grew up fis...

Every angler needs a set of flies to call their own. Among the thousands of patterns, options and choices out there, eventually, we sort out a handful of confidence flies.Our faith in these flies gives us conviction when choosing them and tying the knot. We’ll fish THIS fly in THIS water. That’s what will catch the next trout. And if it doesn’t, then we’ll change something — maybe the water type, maybe the presentation, maybe the rig. Or maybe we’ll reach for the next confidence fly.Some angl...

What's right and wrong? That's what ethics really boils down to. Certainly, there are nuances about how much space to give other anglers on the river or how long we should hold a trout out of the water for a picture. But doing the right thing and being an ethical angler is probably best achieved by asking ourselves one question: Does this action makes things better or worse? And are you helping or hurting the woods, the water, the fish and other anglers?The best ethics probably happen when no...

The Troutbitten guys are here to talk about two flies. Why do we fish two dry flies, two streamers, wets or nymphs? Why don’t we? Why might we fish with just one fly instead? Multiple fly rigs are a common solution to fishing problems, but extra flies on the line can certainly create more issues than they solve.The one or two fly debate, across fishing styles -- this is our topic. What works, when and why? What’s the upside? What’s the downside?ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | Tangle Free Tandem ...

The full Troutbitten crew is back for season thirteen. In this fall and early winter season, our theme is casual conversations. After three years of podcasting, we've recorded many episodes that go deep into the weeds on one specific topic. We've also dedicated full seasons to the Skills Series format, where a topic like night fishing or tight line nymphing is broken into multiple episodes to try and cover it well. But this season, we're ready to hit record and just riff on a topic.For episod...

For this final episode in the dry fly skills series, we work through some scenarios that anglers frequently encounter. Because, just like nymphing, fishing streamers and fishing wets, we fish dry flies for many different reasons and in many different ways.We addressed some of this in episode one, and in this final episode, we complete the bookend by thinking about how things layout and going through some strategy and thought processes. Now that we’ve spent a good bit of time on leader design,...

In the last couple of weeks we talked a lot about choosing the next fly, when to change, and what informs our decision about what to change to — basically, how do we develop that next theory about what fly, water type and presentation style we want to test.Last week we talked about watching how trout are rising to naturals, how they are taking our fly or even how they’re rejecting it. That information goes a long way. It’s often the predominant factor for choosing an appropriate fly sty...

Here we are at the part of the season where we address everybody’s favorite question — what fly are you using?We’ve argued for years that the leader is the most consequential element in the system — much more important than the fly. That said, the fly must be reasonable.Most anglers are so focused on the flies because it’s the easiest thing to change. We’re quick to blame the pattern. And it’s a lot easier to clip off one fly and tie on another than to really break down your approach, your ca...

Our discussion here is about casting dry flies, and that’s where all good fly casting starts. With a dry fly, there’s no weight at the end of the line to help us out. No split shot, no tungsten bead, conehead or bobber. Refining the dry fly stroke truly teaches us what the fly rod is built to do.Ten and two. Acceleration and crisp stops between two points. Pause and allow turnover to happen. Feel the rod load and watch it all happen with the fly line in the air. Once you have that timing, you...

For our Season 12 Intermission, my wife, Becky, joins me for a lighthearted look at what's going on in the Troutbitten world. We talk about the upcoming leader sale in the Troutbitten Shop (August 21). We talk about the New Trail Troutbitten beer, the event and the video. And we talk about the Fish and Film series on YouTube.Becky and I also answer a bunch of fun questions from listeners.ResourcesVIDEO: Troutbitten | Fish and Film - One Morning For VersatilityVIDEO: Troutbitten | Beer and Fri...

The leader should match the moment and match the angler. It should match the fly, the river and the wind conditions. Adjustments are necessary, and when they're performed often enough they become intuitive.An objective look at real goals for the dry fly, along with the true capabilities of the leader materials at hand, will lead anyone down the path toward a great leader formula for dry flies.While many anglers might consider the leader as an afterthought, we believe the leader is the most co...

The drag free drift -- a high percentage of the time, that’s what catches trout on top. So aiming for perfection on a dead drift sets the baseline. And if you get those great drifts, but they won’t eat it, try some animation. Think slight, small and subtle for those movements to the fly, and you just might fool some trout that are keyed in on motion.Everything works sometimes. So we’re ready to try anything. But we spend the most time with tactics that produce with the highest rate of return....

Season twelve begins. It’s a seven-part skills series dedicated to dry fly fishing. My friend, Matt Grobe, joins me to build the framework — a method and a system — for presenting dry flies to trout.In this first episode, we ask when and why we fish dry flies. What’s the reason we might choose to fish dries over streamers, wets or nymphs?We argue that dry flies are the heart and soul of fly fishing. The visual aspect is fun and exciting. And the pleasures of top water fishing should not be mi...

Prospecting is a strategy for covering water. It’s about pace. A lot of what we do, day to day on the water, is searching. We’re looking for activity. We’re trying to find feeding fish. Sometimes we’re looking to find the fish themselves, and other times, we know the trout are there, but they won’t eat, so we’re faced with the choice to change tactics or change flies . . . or we can move on and look for the next opportunity.All of that can fairly be called prospecting. But for this disc...

The third annual Airing of Grievances on the Troutbitten Podcast has arrived. Some of this is playful and some is serious.Complaining’s not a bad thing if it accomplishes something productive -- or if it’s kinda fun. Or if it draws attention to some of the absurdities around you.Some things need to change. Because there are plenty of influences and influencers leading us all down a road to nowhere, or really, to a place that loses the depth of this fishing experience — of what we love about t...

There are many different ways to set the hook while fly fishing for trout, because there are many different ways to fish for those trout. One size does not fit all. So we adapt our hook sets to suit the situation.In this episode, we cover what is meant by a trout set. We address the differences between hook sets for dry flies, wets, streamers and nymphs. We talk about setting distance, setting speed, setting direction, whether we should pause before a hook set, and many other broad and finer ...

Here's a story about the solitude that so many of us seek on the water — how the full experience of planning for a trip, driving before dawn, walking in and exploring a river valley provides a respite from our daily life. It’s a chance for a clear mind and for renewed energy. "The Further You Walk, the More You Leave Behind" is about what we recover when we commit to full days and long distances, and how even after we return, we are changed.In this episode I also share information about the N...

We're here for a tough conversation. This one's about fishing the pay-to-play setup of a club.These are the troubles with club fishing . . .One club leads to the next. One private stretch invites another down the road. So clubs lead to the loss of public water for the average angler. And that’s not good.The manufactured fishing scenario of most clubs can teach anglers the wrong things, with easier fishing that does not translate well outside of the clubs. That then leads to unrealistic expect...

There's an intangible quality built into the best anglers. It's about being comfortable and natural around the water. It's about having an instinct and a guiding intuition on a river that informs decision without even giving it much thought. It's an innate knowledge of the environment and what will happen next. Knowledge of the woods, water, weather and the trout comes together with ease and adds up to something that is hard to identify.In this episode, we call it woodsmanship, outdoorsmanshi...

We're here to talk about floating down a river, about why we like boats, how floating is so much different than wading, how some opportunities are uniquely available and how others are shut off too.It’s the companionship and teamwork, along with the effort and commitment required to get down the river. It’s about a good lunch and friendly banter as much as the novel approach to tactics and the pure advantage of accessing more water.From the put in to the take out, boating changes everything. ...

Like anything else in fishing, you can take the emerger concept just about as far as you want. You get technical, or you can spin up a couple wet flies, float them in the film, and keep things simple.I’ve often argued that you don’t have to match the hatch when fly fishing. I think it’s a fun approach, but having exactly the right shade of dubbing to match the most prevalent insect is rarely necessary. Most often, you can fish caddis imitations during a mayfly hatch and do pretty well, becaus...

My friends join me for a tough discussion. What are the benefits of guiding? What are the good things? How does it help anglers? Does it actually help people and make our sport or this fishing scene better, or does it just put money in the guide’s pocket and put more pressure on the trout?Also, what kinds of guided trips are there? Different types of guided trips are offered across the country. Some cater to the first timer, introducing new anglers to the fly rod. Other trips feature educatio...

Two years ago we did a full episode on Hatches. That discussion was a broad, overarching look at how the bugs — the insects that trout eat — dictate many of the habits of trout. We argued that knowing the hatches, following the emergence and being ready for these events is not only a lot of fun, it drastically improves your success on the water. Trout don’t miss the hatches, and neither should we.At the same time, none of us here think the pattern matters all that much — usually. While we all...

How many times have we heard the supposed stages of an angler? First you want to catch a fish, then you want to catch a bunch of fish, then you want to catch a big fish, then you want to catch the toughest fish, and then you just want to catch a fish again. This is a clever way to look at a life on the water. But is it really true? This is our topic. We also expand on some other stages that anglers go through, and we think about the beginning stage — why it’s so hard at first, how anglers...