Fishing close to home, with Bon Iver’s Sean Carey

My guest this week is Sean Carey [48:31], drummer and keyboard player for the indie folk band Bon Iver, who also records solo work as S Carey. Sean has been fly fishing for many years, beginning when he was in high school, and we spend a lot of time discussing the concept of “growing where you were planted” or learning the pleasures of discovering fly fishing close to home. And of course we talk about how fly fishing has influenced his song writing, and also what the theoretical difference might be in the way a classically trained musician approaches fly fishing as opposed to the way a jazz musician might. At the end of the podcast is a special treat—a recording of his song “Yellowstone” (but no it’s not a fishing song even though we all associate that area with fishing).

In the Fly Box this week, we have a bunch of thought-provoking questions from listeners, including:

If I can see a fish in the water, does that mean it can see me? Or does a trout’s “window” work in reverse?

What do you think of tying the dropper onto the eye of the dry fly instead of the bend when using a dry-dropper rig?

Are those rock dams that people make in streams bad for trout?

What is your opinion of Jack’s Knot?

Will Tenkara fishing work on small, clear spring creeks? W

hy does the Crackleback fly work?

If I have a bunch of old reels with lines on them, can a fly shop tell me what size they are?

What kind of additional flies and gear do I need when moving form smallmouth bass fishing to tailwater trout fishing?

What do you do for protection in bear and cougar country?

What is your preferred method for fishing a nymph under an indicator?

I got an H3 rod as a gift and I don’t feel I am good enough to use it yet. What do you think about this?

Shawn Brillon gives me the answers on four questions about bamboo rods as a follow-up to his recent podcast

Would my 10-foot 7-weight rod be OK for bonefishing in the Turks and Caicos?

Bass keep throwing my heavy cone-head streamers when they jump. Would keeping tension on them when they jump prevent this?

How do you know what rod size to use?

How do you know what tippet size to use?