Troutbitten

This episode of the Troutbitten Podcast is about tying flies. It's about the way that aspect of fly fishing changes everything for us. Most of us wish to be a complete angler -- one who is well rounded, ready for anything and versatile.By tying flies, we get closer to that goal, because tying flies engages us in a deeper way. We’re more connected, more invested in what we tie to the end of the line. With a few turns of monofilament through the hook eye, we are attached to our own creations and our own solutions.In this episode my friends join me to talk about why we tie flies, why it's important and how it gives us an advantage on the river. We discuss what we like to change in fly patterns, how we adapt our flies to the conditions and much more. Because, for each of us, tying flies is part of our life on the water.We Cover the FollowingHow tying makes us better anglersThings we can change at the viseProblems and situations we can address at the viseDoes tying flies save money?Does tying flies save time?ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | Category | Troutbitten Fly BoxREAD: Troutbitten | Tie Your Own Flies -- Here's WhyVisit:Troutbitten WebsiteTroutbitten InstagramTroutbitten YouTubeTroutbitten FacebookThanks to TroutRoutes:Use the code TROUTBITTEN for 20% off your membership athttps://maps.troutroutes.com Thanks to SkwalaUse the code, TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order athttps://skwalafishing.com/

The Troutbitten Podcast is back for season five. My full crew of friends returns, joining me for some great conversations about fly fishing for river trout. We’ll tackle a little bit of everything this season — with streamers, nymphs, wets and dry flies. And while there will be plenty of tactics talk, I’m sure we’ll get into some good stories and experiences on the river too.Episode one kicks this season off with a discussion about fly fishing through the fall season, from the late summer turn of the equinox, heading into the beginning of fall, to the end of the spawning season, which around here signals the beginning of winter.Fall fishing offers renewed hope and opening opportunities, along with a change of scenery. As the foliage turns, so do the habits of wild trout. Our favorite fish loses some of its characteristic inhibitions.More water, less light and the instinct to fatten up create unique opportunities for every angler who is willing to meet the trout on their own terms. While hatches may be sparse, the underwater game opens up to those with the skills to present a nymph, streamer or wet fly with precision.Trout chase. They migrate. They feed and they procreate. Fall fishing offers a style of fishing that is unequaled in any other season.We Cover the FollowingWhat we look forward to most in the fallDo trout feed more throughout the fall season?How fewer hatches affect fish behavior and fishing opportunitiesMore or less water. What is our preference?The leaf hatchHow does spawning affect the fishing?When does fall fishing turn into winter?Favorite fall tacticsResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | Full Days of Early FallREAD: Troutbitten | Category | Streamers READ: Troutbitten | Category | NymphingVisit:Troutbitten WebsiteTroutbitten InstagramTroutbitten YouTubeTroutbitten FacebookThanks to TroutRoutes:Use the code TROUTBITTEN for 20% off your membership athttps://maps.troutroutes.com Thanks to SkwalaUse the code, TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order athttps://skwalafishing.com/

This is our full crew review of dry dropper styles. And it wraps up this Troutbitten Skills Series on dry dropper fishing. Because, as we’ve seen, what seems like a pretty simple thing — just adding a nymph under a dry fly -- actually creates some complex situations.You can absolutely fish a dry dropper and keep your life easy. Fly fishing does not have to be complicated. So dangling a nymph from a buoyant dry and casting it to the river without much thought will catch trout.But for many of us, the complexities are what keep us interested. Solving problems, seeking answers, understanding a system and tweaking it for the moment is fun. Because those tweaks, those adjustments, make a difference. And when we start catching more trout, when the opportunities increase, we take notice. We learn what good drifts look like — on both the nymph and the dry fly. Then we improve. And that . . . is the simple joy of fishing.My friends, Austin Dando, Bill Dell, Trevor Smith and Josh Darling join me for the fifth and final installment of this Troutbitten Skills Series on dry dropper styles.So remember, the next time someone mentions fishing dry dropper, ask them what style . . . because there’s a lot of room for variety.-- -- -- In 2019, I published a full series on these Three Styles of Dry Dropper on the Troutbitten Website. You can find them here:READ: Troutbitten | Three Styles of Dry DropperREAD: Troutbitten | Three Styles of Dry Dropper -- Light Dry DropperREAD: Troutbitten | Three Styles of Dry Dropper -- Standard Dry DropperREAD: Troutbitten | Three Styles of Dry Dropper -- Tight Line Dry DropperThis podcast series is an excellent companion for the article series.Because “fishing dry dropper” can really mean a lot of things. And each of these styles has many moments when it's the clear winner.So, the next time someone talks about dry dropper fishing, ask them what style -- because there's a lot of room for variety.Visit:Troutbitten WebsiteTroutbitten InstagramTroutbitten YouTubeTroutbitten FacebookThanks to TroutRoutes:Use the code TROUTBITTEN for 20% off your membership athttps://maps.troutroutes.com Thanks to SkwalaUse the code, TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order athttps://skwalafishing.com/

This episode covers an extremely effective style for presenting both a nymph and a dry fly -- I call it tight line dry dropper, and this may be favorite way to fish. I like methods that provide excellent control. And a tight line rig -- with direct contact as the primary feature -- is built for exactly that. It feels like we can make something happen rather than hoping to get lucky with a trout.With tight line dry dropper, we get the contact and control of a tight line nymphing rig and the excitement of a dry fly rig. It’s very different than the other styles of dry dropper because it’s built on a Mono Rig. And the catch rate, for where this rig applies, is often doubled or even tripled.Watch the nymph tuck in, exactly on target and see the dry fly land downstream of the nymph. You’re tight to the dry — from rod tip to fly — as it bobs and weaves back toward you.With the dry fly in touch with the nymph and our rod tip in touch with the dry fly, strike detection to the nymph is excellent. So we set when the dry twitches, jiggles or dips.And when a trout comes for the dry, you’re close enough to see him coming. It takes discipline not to set the hook too early. When he eats, you’re immediately tight to the fish, with no slack. You’re connected to a trout on a tight line only a rod length or two away, and the fight is on.Tight Line Dry Dropper is a great way to fish. My friend, Austin Dando, joins me for the fourth installment of this Troutbitten Skills Series on dry dropper styles. -- -- -- In 2019, I published a full series on these Three Styles of Dry Dropper on the Troutbitten Website. You can find them here:READ: Troutbitten | Three Styles of Dry DropperREAD: Troutbitten | Three Styles of Dry Dropper -- Light Dry DropperREAD: Troutbitten | Three Styles of Dry Dropper -- Standard Dry DropperREAD: Troutbitten | Three Styles of Dry Dropper -- Tight Line Dry DropperThis podcast series is an excellent companion for the article series.Because “fishing dry dropper” can really mean a lot of things. And each of these styles has many moments when it's the clear winner.So, the next time someone talks about dry dropper fishing, ask them what style -- because there's a lot of room for variety.More Resources:READ: Troutbitten | The Mono RigREAD: Troutbitten | One Great Nymphing TrickVisit:Troutbitten WebsiteTroutbitten InstagramTroutbitten YouTubeTroutbitten FacebookThanks to TroutRoutes:Use the code TROUTBITTEN for 20% off your membership athttps://maps.troutroutes.com Thanks to SkwalaUse the code, TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order athttps://skwalafishing.com/

Standard Dry Dropper is the industry standard for a reason. Because it’s what you get when you simply add a nymph on behind the dry fly. Sometimes, that pairing is perfect, and with a good cast and even better mending skills, this standard setup catches trout all day long.But other times, the addition of the nymph, without some planning and attention to detail, creates a situation where neither the dry nor the nymph is setup to fish very well. And we are stuck with hoping something will happen instead of making it happen.Standard Dry Dropper is a useful style that solves a lot of problems. Especially if you surrender to the idea that the nymph is the primary fly being fished.Aim to land both flies in one seam. Get the nymph upstream of the dry fly and drifting in line. Then keep the tension of the dry fly with good mending. Treat it like and indicator and never be satisfied with a dragging setup.All of this sets up a lot better by staying as close as possible to the target, observing the differences in surface currents and staying active throughout the drift. Be willing to make changes. That’s the key to success.In 2019, I published a full series on these Three Styles of Dry Dropper on the Troutbitten Website. You can find them here:READ: Troutbitten | Three Styles of Dry DropperREAD: Troutbitten | Three Styles of Dry Dropper -- Light Dry DropperREAD: Troutbitten | Three Styles of Dry Dropper -- Standard Dry DropperREAD: Troutbitten | Three Styles of Dry Dropper -- Tight Line Dry DropperThis podcast series is an excellent companion for the article series.Because “fishing dry dropper” can really mean a lot of things. And each of these styles has many moments when it's the clear winner.So, the next time someone talks about dry dropper fishing, ask them what style -- because there's a lot of room for variety.More Resources:READ: Troutbitten | Three Parts of an Ideal Indicator Leader -- And One Great FormulaREAD: Troutbitten | Dry Fly Fishing -- The George Harvey Leader DesignVisit:Troutbitten WebsiteTroutbitten InstagramTroutbitten YouTubeTroutbitten FacebookThanks to TroutRoutes:Use the code TROUTBITTEN for 20% off your membership athttps://maps.troutroutes.com Thanks to SkwalaUse the code, TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order athttps://skwalafishing.com/

Fishing a nymph under a dry fly is rarely as simple as adding a nymph and casting it out there. Some forethought into what your objectives are, measured against your options for rigging and fly selection, goes a long way toward filling the net with trout.Do you want to fish the nymph or the dry? That’s the first question to ask. Each dry dropper style allows for the opportunity to catch trout on both flies, but only Light Dry Dropper is tuned for fishing the dry fly at its best.While Standard Dry Dropper and Tight Line Dry Dropper are great for fishing the nymph first, Light Dry Dropper is perfect for offering the dry fly as a primary choice. And sometimes, the frequency of takes on the added nymph is stunning.With this Skills Series on the Troutbitten Podcast, my friend, Austin Dando, joins me to dissect this Light Dry Dropper style.Because “fishing dry dropper” can really mean a lot of things. And each of these styles has many moments when it's the clear winner.In 2019, I published a full series on these Three Styles of Dry Dropper on the Troutbitten Website. You can find them here:READ: Troutbitten | Three Styles of Dry DropperREAD: Troutbitten | Three Styles of Dry Dropper -- Light Dry DropperREAD: Troutbitten | Three Styles of Dry Dropper -- Standard Dry DropperREAD: Troutbitten | Three Styles of Dry Dropper -- Tight Line Dry DropperThis podcast series is an excellent companion for the article series.Because “fishing dry dropper” can really mean a lot of things. And each of these styles has many moments when it's the clear winner.So, the next time someone talks about dry dropper fishing, ask them what style -- because there's a lot of room for variety.More Resources:READ: Troutbitten | Dry Fly Fishing -- The George Harvey Leader DesignREAD: Troutbitten | One Great Nymphing Trick (One Seam)READ: Troutbitten | Recognize A Dead DriftREAD: Troutbitten | That's Not A Dead DriftVisit:Troutbitten WebsiteTroutbitten InstagramTroutbitten YouTubeTroutbitten FacebookThanks to TroutRoutes:Use the code TROUTBITTEN for 20% off your membership athttps://maps.troutroutes.com Thanks to SkwalaUse the code, TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order athttps://skwalafishing.com/

With season four of the Troutbitten Podcast, we're back to the Skills Series format, with tightly packed, tactical episodes that cover one topic in depth. This season, we're digging into the three styles of dry dropper.This first episodes is an overview of the three styles, along with a good discussion about why and when  we enjoy fishing dry dropper in the first place.Dry dropper sounds like a great idea. Just add nymph below a dry fly and catch fish on both offerings, right? But it's not that easy. And there are some real consequences. I argue that it's impossible to fish both flies perfectly, so by recognizing three distinctly different styles of rigging and fishing dry dropper, we make choices -- what fly will we prioritize and how will we get great drifts?In 2019, I published a full series on these Three Styles of Dry Dropper on the Troutbitten Website. You can find them here:READ: Troutbitten | Three Styles of Dry DropperREAD: Troutbitten | Three Styles of Dry Dropper -- Light Dry DropperREAD: Troutbitten | Three Styles of Dry Dropper -- Standard Dry DropperREAD: Troutbitten | Three Styles of Dry Dropper -- Tight Line Dry DropperNow, with this Skills Series on the Troutbitten Podcast, my friend, Austin Dando, joins me for a deep dive beyond the framework of these styles. This podcast series is an excellent companion for the article series.Because “fishing dry dropper” can really mean a lot of things. And each of these styles has many moments when it's the clear winner.So, the next time someone talks about dry dropper fishing, ask them what style -- because there's a lot of room for variety.Visit:Troutbitten WebsiteTroutbitten InstagramTroutbitten YouTubeTroutbitten FacebookThanks to TroutRoutes:Use the code TROUTBITTEN for 20% off your membership athttps://maps.troutroutes.com Thanks to SkwalaUse the code, TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order athttps://skwalafishing.com/

We’re in between podcast seasons and on a bit of a summer break. But I wanted to keep in touch here. I’d like to tell you more about the Troutbitten Project -- about all of the branches, what’s coming next and how all of this ties together.Season Four of the Troutbitten podcast begins on August 14th. It’s a five-part tactical series on Dry Dropper styles. We followed the same platform — or style — in season two, when we covered the Nine Essential Skills of Tight Line and Euro Nymphing. These are compact, informational episodes that detail one narrowly focused topic. I’ll be joined again by my friend, Austin Dando, to build through the framework of this fun, effective style. And by the end of the series, you should have a thorough understanding of the three styles for dry dropper.Maybe you’ve never thought of dry dropper this way. But the point is, there are three drastically different ways that we fish dry dropper. The rigs, the casting, the tactics and the intentions for each style are unique to each method. And sure, there’s some crossover, but in many ways, these styles are more different than they are similar. I call them Light Dry Dropper, Bobber Dry Dropper (or standard dry dropper for you purists out there) and Tight Line Dry Dropper.READ: Troutbitten | Series | Three Styles of Dry DropperSo that podcast series — Season Four — begins August 14th. But now’s a good time to mention that this full Dry Dropper series already exists on the Troutbitten website. The Three Styles of Dry Dropper is a four part series that I published on Troutbitten a few years ago. That series gets a lot of traffic every year, and I receive a lot of questions on the styles. So there’s more to be said, and I think it’s the perfect choice for our second installment of the skills series format on the podcast.Here’s the point: everything at Troutbitten ties together. None of it stands alone. Troutbitten started as a fishing blog eight years ago. Then it became the place where I published my tactical articles and best stories. Because as the traffic grew, ad revenue from the site added up to more than I could make with magazine placements and book contracts. By following that route, I maintained the copyright to my own works, so I can still do things like this — taking the Dry Dropper Styles series and building a podcast around the topic.It ends up that the choices I made years ago, fortuitously setup everything that Troutbitten has grown into. And because it’s so much more than a website now, I refer to all of this as the Troutbitten Project.The website, the podcast, the YouTube channel and the shop -- all of it ties together . . .Visit:Troutbitten WebsiteTroutbitten InstagramTroutbitten YouTubeTroutbitten FacebookThanks to TroutRoutes:Use the code TROUTBITTEN for 20% off your membership athttps://maps.troutroutes.com Thanks to SkwalaUse the code, TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order athttps://skwalafishing.com/

Hey Troutbitten friends, Season three of the podcast is finished, and season four begins in just a few weeks. But in this time off, I have something special for you.I was recently a guest on the Wade Out There podcast with Jason Shemchuk. We had a fun discussion about family, kids and fly fishing. Then we got technical about streamer tactics, presentations and efficiencies.Jason started Wade Out There in 2019 as an author and artist focused on fly fishing for trout. He recently published episode 100 of the podcast, and I’m happy to be his first repeat guest. That’s the conversation I’m sharing here.You can find all of Jason’s excellent work over at WadeOutThere.com. And you can easily find his podcast series through any service or podcast player.So I hope you enjoy listening to my talk with Jason Shemchuck.I’ll also be back next week in your podcast feed with a short episode about the Troutbitten project.So until then . . . fish hard, friends. Visit:Troutbitten WebsiteTroutbitten InstagramTroutbitten YouTubeTroutbitten FacebookThanks to TroutRoutes:Use the code TROUTBITTEN for 20% off your membership athttps://maps.troutroutes.com Thanks to SkwalaUse the code, TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order athttps://skwalafishing.com/

Versatility is a Troutbitten mantra. It’s the way we fish. In fact, it’s why we fish a fly rod, because whatever way the trout wish to feed, we can show them flies that represent that food form.And while some anglers hit the river with one thing in mind, with one fly box and one set of tools, it’s our ability to adapt, to adjust and modify our approach, that makes a lifetime on the water so interesting. Sure, we focus on our favorite tactics, and we may spend the next half a year just perfecting our dry fly game in tight cover. But once these skills are learned, then knowing that we can throw anything at any time, having a full set of skills at the ready, is a rewarding and enjoyable approach to fly fishing for trout.Pursuing this kind of versatility also keeps us in the game for a lifetime. We are forever working on the next idea, refining new casts and another approach. Eventually, we develop such a facility with these skills that we begin to combine them, breaking free from the common and standard approach and landing on new ways to get a dead drift or move a streamer. Creation becomes the goal. Design becomes our drive. And experimentation leads to more answers that lead to more questions.All of it is our reward for being a versatile angler.But of course, nothing comes easy either. The beginning angler should probably refrain from branching out too much at first. Because too much versatility becomes confusing. It leads to frustration. There are stages. There are tools. There are systems for being versatile on the water. And there’s a time for all of it.So that’s what we’re here to talk about tonight. Here for our season three finale is a full house: Austin Dando, Trevor Smith, Josh Darling, Bill Dell and Matt Grobe.We Cover the FollowingIs versatility the opposite of specialization?Learn it all, then use it allThe fly rod is supremely versatileDo you need a lot of gear to be versatile?What is a versatile fly rodCarrying systemsKnowing when to changeFinding a good reason to changeHave a plan and test itVersatility within one styleHow versatility solves the daily mysteryResourcesREAD Troutbitten | Fly Shop Fluorocarbon Too Expensive? Try InvizxREAD: Troutbitten | Use a Versatile and General Fly RodREAD: Troutbitten | Find Feeding FishREAD: Troutbitten | Look for the Changeout SpotsREAD: Troutbitten | Find Your Rabbit HoleVisit:Troutbitten WebsiteTroutbitten InstagramTroutbitten YouTubeTroutbitten FacebookThanks to TroutRoutes:Use the code TROUTBITTEN for 20% off your membership athttps://maps.troutroutes.com Thanks to SkwalaUse the code, TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order athttps://skwalafishing.com/