There are no brown trout here. Fish aren’t going to rise unless bugs are hatching. Nothing in this pond is over a few pounds. You can’t use flies – they’ll only take bait. Oh yeah? For an unpredictable pursuit like fly fishing, those statements sound awfully concrete. Add in a little bit of competitiveness and …
Tag: New Water
Podcast Ep. 37: Here’s a New Spot for You to Fish
When it comes to reading water, the fly fisher who is observant of details will be rewarded. This way of angling doesn’t mean casting your fly to every square inch of the creek. It entails reading the water at a level that goes beyond riffle, run, pool. Slow down. Think and assess. Don’t just fish …
Podcast Ep. 17: Big Rivers – Don’t Worry, Go Fishing
While fly fishing on wide, expansive trout rivers might be totally normal for you, it is a far cry from the creeks and streams that many anglers call home. This can lead to apprehension or even avoidance. It is understandable. I’ve been there. But there are some simple ways to get out in the water …
Podcast Ep. 13: Finding Your Own Water
When was the last time you found new water to fish? I don’t mean flipping through a fly fishing guidebook or following the stocking truck. Have you ever gone out with map in hand, located water, and fished it? Doing this can be much more rewarding than catching fish. We don’t get to do a …
Gone Fishing: Rockies
5,000 feet in an hour by car, two miles uphill by foot, and a canyon full of cutthroats all to myself:
Waiting Decades for a Trout
“I know protecting them is important,” I said, “but what is fishing for greenbacks like?” “They’re beautiful, special fish that live in amazing places,” he said, smiling. “They aren’t the only cutthroats that need to be protected, but their story is special.” I had a lot of questions for the late Dr. Robert Behnke in …
My Open Letter to 2 Guys and a River
Dear Steve & Dave, I hope that this letter finds you well and enjoying your first days of the new year. Congratulations on some of the milestones that you hit with 2 Guys and a River last year! Publishing The Fly Fisher’s Book of Lists was quite the accomplishment. Your podcasts continue to be accessible, …
Eternal Stocking Truck of the Troutless Mind
The river was wide. Wider than any eastern trout river I had ever been in. It was so wide, that I had to turn my brain off to the fact that I wasn’t going to be able to fish every pool. Not every pool in an upstream/downstream manner, mind you: I wasn’t going to be …
Why Fly Fishing Smarter is Sometimes Harder
Recently I fished a new river. It was a wide waterway with miles set apart for catch and release. I knew that it was filled with trout, and that it had been fishing well the week prior to my trip. So even though finding a spot and locating fish was a little daunting, I had …
15 Days
Today is September 15, 2017. You know what that means? This is the longest I have gone in any month this year without catching a fish. 15 whole days. And, I haven’t even tried. I have not gone fishing once in the month of September. January? I caught fish. February? Fish. Even those two cold …