Do you enjoy the game “Would You Rather”? A hypothetical scenario is given, and you must choose between two, often quite different options. Here’s a good fly fishing would you rather: Would you rather only have weighted streamers or weightless streamers in your fly box? Maybe you answered right away. But maybe you see why …
Tag: Technique
The Fly Fishing Show 2021: In Your Home
Have you heard of Zoom Fatigue? It is a COVID-era phenomenon that explains how people are getting quickly burned out by meetings that occur in little boxes on their computer screen. Having participated in countless Zoom meetings, seminars, and even an 8 hour a day/4 day long class – I get it. But I’ve also …
Podcast Ep. 122: Streamers Don’t Need Weight
Don’t burn me at the angling stake for the title of this episode! (If anything, you’ll find that I’m guilty of being slightly misleading.) In a day and age where big, heavy, articulated streamers get a lot of publicity, it is important to remember that there are similar flies that accomplish slightly different tasks. There …
Podcast Ep. 114: The Undercut Bank
There are some spots in rivers and streams that you just know hold fish. Deep blue pools, frothy eddies, and overhanging limbs all look incredibly fishy. Another spot that ought to be in that list is the undercut bank. Fish, especially trout, covet these spaces for the purposes of safety and food. In this week’s …
Ice (Fly) Fishing
This is not a joke. To be fair: I have contemplated creating a satirical article advocating casting across the ice into a small, drilled hole. This is not that article. This is an article that legitimately discusses fly fishing when there is ice present. It is brief, but it is an overview of what you …
Podcast Ep. 104: Chill in the Air, Trout in the Water
In many places the temperature is dropping. Still, trout are feeding. If you’re there, you can enjoy some spectacular cold weather fly fishing. In this episode I talk about a few tactics for finding fish in the colder months. The approaches aren’t revolutionary, but for many of us any kind of change takes some significant …
Fish Live Under Things (Now, How to Get There?)
Some fish are hard to catch because they are spooky. Others are just too far away. Others still have a chronic case of lockjaw. Then, there are fish that are perfectly willing to see and take your fly… you just can’t get to them. Because they’re under things. Rocks. Logs. Culverts. Rhododendron tunnels. If there …
Don’t be a Big Fly Hero
Don’t be a hero. The fish aren’t going to be impressed that you waded into the surf with a 6-weight. No trout is going to eat your articulated streamer with more ferocity because you chucked it using a 3-weight. Plus any fish you’ll be catching with either of these approaches is going to put up …
Podcast Ep. 93: 3 Ways to Shake Up Fishing Dry Flies
Cast at a 45-degree angle upstream. Mend. Allow the fly to drift without dragging. Repeat. Honestly, that sounds like an ideal situation. The stereotypical dry fly presentation is fun. However, there are plenty of times when the fish or the setting are anything but stereotypical. So… what now? In this episode I share three dry …
Reading the Water Out Loud
You’re not going to catch a fish here. I said it out loud. There were dozens of people on the beach behind me, but the sound of the waves on the rocks drowned out my voice. You’ve only got a little time to fish, so why aren’t you going where you know there’s fish? Again, …