Podcast Ep. 366: The Humble Net

It is just a net. Yes. But it is more than just a net when you need to land that big fish.

Today I walk through a few net basics: shapes, sizes, materials. I also discuss a few techniques, best practices, and ways to carry your net.

This is one of those topics that is really basic. But for someone who has only ever done one thing, or for the new angler, this information can truly be helpful as you head out to the water… or put together a wish list. Don’t sleep on a nice custom net for a luxury gift for the angler who has everything!

Listen to the episode below, or on your favorite podcast app.

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VIDEO: Unique Voices in Fly Fishing – 1 Minute Review

I read Downstream a few years after it came out. First, I was impressed by the book. Second, I was surprised that it hadn’t make a bigger splash than it did in fly fishing circles. You may be asking why? to both of those statements. Conveniently, the answers are the same.

David O’hara and Matthew Dickerson are great writers. They don’t deviate too much from the typical angling reflection and memoir mold that many anglers utilize, but they do it very well. Their writing is approachable from both content and presentation perspectives. New anglers will glean a lot from Downstream, and those who have read dozens of books on the subject will enjoy it just as much.

Watch what else I have to say about the book and find out where you can pick up your own copy  below:

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The Fly Fisher’s Net Worth

You can learn a lot about a fly fisher as he’s walking away from you. It has very little to do with his destination or his gait. More than a name or number on a sports jersey, the angler carries an identifying mark between his shoulders.

What might be construed as a simple tool that assists in landing fish actually speaks volumes about the hand that wields it. Fly rods have a pragmatic elegance. Hats say something about aesthetics and comfort. A fly box will unveil the internal predisposition to order or chaos. But the net is an effective inventory for the personality of the person to which it is attached.

Six different kinds of nets are listed below. Ironically, the very thing intended to capture fish does a remarkable job capturing us.

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Podcast Ep. 365: Don’t Blame the Wind

Heat, cold, and high water make fly fishing tricky. Wind makes fly fishing downright difficult. The physics of a fly cast and windy conditions are at odds with one another,  impacting our particular kind of angling in a very specific manner.

Without denying the challenge of fishing in the wind, I want to share three simple steps to mitigate the effects of blustery air on your fly line. There is nothing new or novel here. However, there is the encouragement that a sustained breeze doesn’t mean you have to head home (or bust out the spoons and jigs).

Oh, and stop blaming the wind for the knots that your tailing loops cause.

Listen to the episode below, or on your favorite podcast app.

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VIDEO: Consistently Fishable Spring Creeks

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

But come on… a glassy spring creek flowing through a picturesque meadow? You can’t say that isn’t a stunning sight. Especially if you are a fly fisher who likes challenging trout and year-round opportunities to catch them.

Mike Lawson’s Spring Creeks came out in 2003. There were fly fishing books on spring creeks that came out before it, and there have been titles on the same subject matter that have been released in the past 20 years. However, Spring Creeks might be the most comprehensive volume on the topic; certainly of those with a focus towards western rivers.

Whether you fish out west or on the east coast – or even if you only fish spring creeks occasionally, this book is worth picking up for some excellent explanations of how to target some uniquely tricky trout.

Watch what else I have to say about the book and find out where you can pick up your own copy  below:

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My 3 Biggest Catches

This article is the 1,571st post on Casting Across. I’m not sure how high that stack of 1s and 0s is, but I know that if you make the font big enough it would reach to the moon and back.

I’m not going to give a big, fancy introduction to this particular post. Below you’ll find the three biggest trophies of online content I’ve landed? released? stocked? in the 10 years of Casting Across. One nearly broke the website from the traffic it generated. The other two are apparently search engine darlings that funnel people to my writing consistently, year after year.

More than all that quantitative  whatnot, these three articles represent a great cross-section of Casting Across content. Get a glimpse of each, along with a touch of commentary, below. Then click on the image to read the whole piece.

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Podcast Ep. 364: Ten Years

Well, I’m still here.

Ten years after putting a little orange and grey website about fly fishing together I continue to do my darndest with three posts a week on the people, places, and things that go into the pursuit of fish. On this week’s “very special episode” I share some reflections on what this decade has meant. There has been some work, some fishing, and a lot of great memories made.

Hopefully, it will encourage you: encourage you with fly fishing, with this crazy niche culture we have, and with any ambitions for creativity you might be considering.

Listen to the episode below, or on your favorite podcast app.

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VIDEO: Streams of Legacy

Just over ten years ago I was asked to contribute to a project that sought to raise funds for the purchase of a plot of land in south central Pennsylvania. Michael Klimkos was putting together a book for the Central Pennsylvania Conservancy. The group was looking to capitalize on the history of the land, specifically the stream that ran through it.

Just under ten years after Casting Across launched, The Letort: A Limestone Legacy was published. The land was eventually acquired. And now one of the branches of the Letort’s headwaters are protected  for the first time in over a century.

This book is more than fundraising, though. It is a quick and comprehensive history of a little spring creek that contributed a lot to American angling.

Watch what else I have to say about the book and find out where you can start a search for your own copy  below:

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10 Years of Casting Across

I realized that I enjoyed writing in 3rd grade. I can distinctly remember the classroom in suburban Chicago where I learned about narrative and persuasion, introductions and conclusions. Like many people, my zeal was somewhat diminished as the scale of assigned words increased exponentially in high school and undergrad. But sometime in my first seminary program something clicked. Perhaps it was the content. Maybe it was this new expectation on concise quality over quantitative drudgery. It could also be that, at this time, I was beginning to write about fly fishing as well.

Living in Pennsylvania and serving as a director of a Trout Unlimited youth camp, I was asked to write about our program. Local newspapers, regional fly fishing outlets, and TU national asked for articles and blurbs about what we were doing. Putting this passion of mine into digital words was fun. Yes, there was a simple thrill in seeing my name on the printed page. More than that there was the joy that came through sharing something that I worked on, thought over, and cared about.

The requests slowed down significantly when I moved away from PA and the angling circles in which I was embedded. Full time ministry and a growing family made plugging into similar communities less of a priority. I was still writing, but it wasn’t about fly fishing. It was not as if there was something missing. More accurately, there was an itch I couldn’t ignore. And, as usual, there was my wife pointing out the obvious. “Why don’t you just write?”

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Podcast Ep. 363: Can Confidence Catch Fish?

What are confidence flies? Of course, it is a thing people say. But is it a real thing?

I maintain that it is. And these flies don’t only give you a leg up when you’re fishing them: I think that we can learn a lot about how to fish any and every fly if we pay attention to how we’re fishing our confidence flies.

So while  the topic might seem a bit philosophical or abstract, there is truly something to explore for a few minutes. After all, would you rather fish with confidence or with apprehension?

Listen to the episode below, or on your favorite podcast app.

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