Troutbitten

The strike is the best part of fishing. It’s what we’re all out there waiting for, or rather, what we’re trying to make happen all day long. And the trout eats because we get so many things right. When the fish strikes, we strike back. Short, swift and effective, the hook finds flesh. Then we try to keep the trout buttoned up, and get it to the net.In this podcast episode, there are two types of strikes that my friend, Austin Dando, and I focus on.First, there’s the strike from a trout — the take, the hit, the “gimme that I wanna eat it,” from a fish. So we need to recognize and sense that strike.Second, there's our strike — the hook set, the swift rod tip motion that drives the hook point home and attaches us to the trout. So it helps to have a plan and give some thought to how that’s done too.Remember, fooling trout is the hard part. The rest of this — hooking and landing a fish, comes much easier.We Cover the FollowingAre hook sets really free?Set on anything?Set on anything unusual or unexpectedDifference of over or under weightingIs there a sixth sense?Direction of the hook setHow far? How fast?Fly rod types and hook setsThe Check SetCan you ever set too fast?Slack and hook setsRemember, each of these podcasts is supported by a companion article of the same topic. And you can find the full overview of the Nine Essential Skills for Tight line and Euro Nymphing here:READ: Troutbitten | The Nine Essential Skills for Tight Line and Euro NymphingREAD: Troutbitten | #8 The Strike -- Nine Essential Skill for Tight Line and Euro NymphingREAD: Troutbitten | Category | The Mono RigREAD: Troutbitten | Fly Fishing Strategies -- Plan for the HooksetREAD: Troutbitten | Don't Guess -- Set the Hook and Set HardREAD: Troutbitten | Hook Set at the End of Every DriftREAD: Troutbitten Tight Line Nymphing Skills -- The Check SetVisit: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/

Part Seven of this Troutbitten Skills Series focuses on guiding the flies. Once the nymphs are cast and settled into the target seam, it's time to take them to the trout. Guiding the flies is a blend of two skills that I call leading and tracking. At the core, this skill of guiding the flies is fishing the flies. And this is what anglers tend to focus on most — for good reason. It’s the longest in duration. It’s the most active, and has the most room for variation.In truth, there are number of ways to dead drift nymphs through one seam. And the choices we make are about how much influence we want to have on the flies. A leading approach puts the angler in charge, and a tracking approach let's the river dictate the course of the flies. Guiding the flies is an effort to mix the two.We Cover the FollowingThe advantages of leadingControl, contact and the dead driftOver weightingThe advantages of trackingLess control with fewer options, but a truer drift?Under weightingIs pure tracking possible?Guiding as a mix of the twoSlipping contactFind the perfect weightWhy use both?Why guiding works.Remember, each of these podcasts is supported by a companion article of the same topic. And you can find the full overview of the Nine Essential Skills for Tight line and Euro Nymphing here:READ: Troutbitten | The Nine Essential Skills for Tight Line and Euro NymphingREAD: Troutbitten | #7 Guiding the Flies -- Nine Essential Skill for Tight Line and Euro NymphingREAD: Troutbitten | Category | The Mono RigREAD: Troutbitten | Leading vs Tracking vs Guiding the FliesREAD: Troutbitten | Tracking the FliesREAD: Troutbitten | How to Lead the FliesVisit: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/

Part six of this Troutbitten Skills Series is about locating the strike zone. This zone of water -- this cushion near the bottom of the river -- is the default target and the baseline location for our flies.Most of what happens in a river occurs in the strike zone. It's where the trout spend most of their time. It's where the bugs and baitfish live. Understanding everything about the strike zone allows us to know exactly how and where we want to present the nymph.My friend, Austin Dando, joins me to help break down and understand this crucial concept.Unlocking this knowledge — understanding the strike zone -- then finding it and drifting your flies there, is perhaps the most pivotal moment in your nymphing skills progression. It changes everything.We Cover the FollowingWhat is the strike zone?Why is the strike zone important?Why gliding the strike zone outperforms touching the bottomTouching bottom to find the strike zoneWatching the sighter speed to find  the strike zoneGliding through the strike zoneDeviating our drifts in and out of the strike zoneThe downshiftDepth and speed of the strike zoneMore on reading the sighterRemember, each of these podcasts is supported by a companion article of the same topic. And you can find the full overview of the Nine Essential Skills for Tight line and Euro Nymphing here:READ: Troutbitten | The Nine Essential Skills for Tight Line and Euro NymphingREAD: Troutbitten | #6 Locating the Strike Zone -- Nine Essential Skill for Tight Line and Euro 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/

Part five of this Troutbitten Skills Series is about finding contact. Because after the tuck cast, after we stick the landing and begin to recover slack, we need to find contact on sighter.Contact is visual. It's about reading the sighter to know that we are in touch with the flies from rod tip to the nymph or split shot. It's not about touching or ticking the riverbed. Instead, the contact we're looking for is seen on the sighter.With contact, we know everything about the depth and speed of our flies. We know where they are, and we determine where they are going. That's the advantage of a tight line (contact) nymphing system.Importantly, this does not mean we are directly in touch at all times with the fly, because we often get better drifts without such direct influence over the nymphs. But without contact at points through the drift (and sometimes the whole way) we are simply guessing about the location of the flies. To take advantage of the ultimate control that tight line and euro nymphing rigs offer, we must learn to read contact on the sighter -- to know we are in touch and know where the flies are.Reading the sighter and finding contact is critical.My friend, Austin Dando, joins me on episode five for an in-depth discussion of this technique.We Cover the FollowingContact is seen, not feltReading the sighterSighter material and constructionThe Backing BarrelThe bow in the sighterNervous sighterSeeing beyond the sighterContact let's us trust the sighterForcing contactRemember, each of these podcasts is supported by a companion article of the same topic. And you can find the full overview of the Nine Essential Skills for Tight line and Euro Nymphing here:ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | The Nine Essential Skills for Tight Line and Euro NymphingREAD; Troutbitten | #5 Finding Contact -- Nine Essential Skill for Tight Line and Euro NymphingREAD: Troutbitten | Category | The Mono RigREAD: Troutbitten | Contact is VisualREAD: Troutbitten | The Backing Barrel might be the best sighter everREAD: Troutbitten | Design and Function of the Standard Troutbitten Mono RigVisit: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/

Part four of this Troutbitten Skills Series focuses on recovering slack. To dead drift a nymph, we cast it upstream. And as the river flows downstream, it sends the fly back toward us, creating slack. Usually, we simply pick up that slack and maintain contact with the fly (sometimes directly, sometimes slightly).Slack maintenance is a critical skill. It’s line management. And if the goal is to be in contact with the nymphs and know where they are -- if this is a tight line rig -- then allowing too much slack in the system destroys everything that we’re working toward.Managed slack is part of an advanced skill set. And that’s very much what we do by starting with a tuck cast. Then, after sticking the landing, we’re in a great position to continue those advanced skills.We recover the slack in three ways: by lifting the rod tip, by leading the rod tip, and with the line hand.My friend, Austin Dando, joins me on Episode Four for an in-depth discussion of these techniques.(Season three will return to my full panel of friends, with longer form discussion about all things fly fishing.)We Cover the FollowingMaintaining contactSlipping contactLetting the river decideManaged slackThe Lift and LeadLine hand recoveryThe Pulley RetrieveTrimming the sighterDealing with windRemember, each of these podcasts is supported by a companion article of the same topic. And you can find the full overview of the Nine Essential Skills for Tight line and Euro Nymphing here:READ: Troutbitten | The Nine Essential Skills for Tight Line and Euro NymphingREAD; Troutbitten | #4 Recovering Slack -- Nine Essential Skill for Tight Line and Euro Nymphing ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | The Nine Essential Skills for Tight Line and Euro NymphingREAD: Troutbitten | Category | The Mono RigREAD: Troutbitten | The Pulley Retrieve (with VIDEO)READ: Troutbitten | The Lift and LeadREAD: Troutbitten | Leading vs Tracking vs Guiding 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/

Part three of this Troutbitten Skills Series focuses on sticking the landing. Because after putting ourselves in great position to present the fly, we shouldn't waste the perfect tuck cast and delivery. As the fly hits the water, all the elements of our system are in position and ready to drift. That's sticking the landing.Like a gymnast who tumbles, somersaults and then lands on two feet with no body movement, the best completion of a cast happens with no extra movement. Instead of landing and then recovering or correcting, we stick the landing, ready to drift.My friend, Austin Dando, joins me on Episode Three for an in-depth discussion of this technique.(Season three will return to my full panel of friends, with longer form discussion about all things fly fishing.)We Cover the FollowingWhat sticking the landing looks likePosition of rod tip, leader, sighter and tippetWhy it mattersMaximizing the drift timePreserving good slack with tippet positionSighter angleLeading angleThe negative results of reachingWhere to stop the forward castCorrecting mistakesRemember, each of these podcasts is supported by a companion article of the same topic. And you can find the full overview of the Nine Essential Skills for Tight line and Euro Nymphing here:READ: Troutbitten | The Nine Essential Skills for Tight Line and Euro NymphingREAD; Troutbitten | #3 Stick the Landing -- Nine Essential Skill for Tight Line and Euro NymphingResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | The Nine Essential Skills for Tight Line and Euro NymphingREAD: Troutbitten | Category | The Mono RigREAD: Troutbitten | Stick the Landing While Tight LiningREAD: Troutbitten | When the First Cast Matters MostREAD: Troutbitten | It's Casting, Not LobbingREAD: Troutbitten | Put More Juice in the CastVisit: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/

Part two of this Troutbitten Skills Series focuses on the tuck cast. A good tuck is a turnover cast -- where the loops unfolds completely in the air. In fact, a tuck cast is a fly-first entry, and it's perfect for setting up the tight line advantage, where we keep everything up and out of the water that we possibly can.We tuck cast not just to get deeper, but to setup the fly, tippet, sighter and leader in the best possible position to drift the flies down one seam. Accuracy starts with a good tuck, and not just accuracy over where the fly goes, but where all the parts of the leader go too.My friend, Austin Dando, joins my on Episode Two for an in-depth discussion of this technique.(Season three will return to my full panel of friends, with longer form discussion about all things fly fishing.)Remember, this is part two of a nine-part skill set. Think of a Troutbitten Skills series as a course in one topic or one aspect of fly fishing, with different sections that eventually build a full set of knowledge.Each of these podcasts is supported by a companion article of the same topic. And you can find the full overview of the Nine Essential Skills for Tight line and Euro Nymphing here:READ: Troutbitten | The Nine Essential Skills for Tight Line and Euro NymphingREAD; Troutbitten | #2 Turnover and Tuck Casting -- Nine Essential Skill for Tight Line and Euro NymphingWe Cover the FollowingThe fly first entryThe tight line advantageTrue turnoverCasting vs lobbingPut more juice in the castLeader designRod powerLoading the rod and feeling the tugLeader power / Leader pushAngles and depths of a good tuck castResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | The Nine Essential Skills for Tight Line and Euro NymphingREAD: Troutbitten | Category | The Mono RigREAD: Troutbitten | Turnover and Tuck CastingREAD: Troutbitten | The Tuck Cast READ: Troutbitten | It's Casting, Not LobbingREAD: Troutbitten | Put More Juice in the CastREAD: Troutbitten | TurnoverVisit: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/

Season two of the Troutbitten podcast comes in a new format. It's a mini-series of connected episodes that build out a set of specific tactics. The topic for this first skills series is the Nine Essential Skills for Tight Line and Euro Nymphing, and I'm joined by my friend, Austin Dando.(Season three will return to my full panel of friends, with longer form discussion about all things fly fishing.)These episodes are short, deeply tactical and packed with the how-to of just one technique -- a tightly focused look at one topic. Each episode is intertwined or woven together with the others that surround it. By the end of this skills series, you’ll have a detailed picture of the tactics — and hopefully a thorough understanding of what’s possible on the water.Think of a Troutbitten Skills series as a course in one topic or one aspect of fly fishing, with different sections that eventually build a full set of knowledge.Nine for NineI recently published the last chapter in the nine skills essential for tight line and euro nymphing. Now, we're taking each of these skills and building a podcast around them. The article series and the podcast series go hand in hand.Why?Tight line and euro nymphing is very popular right now. Because it’s an efficient system, and it’s fun. But tight line and euro nymphing is misunderstood too. The many different rigs and methods of casting or delivery are what make all of this so interesting, but it’s what leads to confusion and mistaken concepts about what this is and how to get it done.These nine skills are critical — they are the foundation for everything else that we do with a Mono Rig -- all the indy styles, dry dropper, streamer fishing, etc.Episode One of this skills series is about angle and approach.We Cover the FollowingThe tight line advantageLimiting the rangeUpstream two and over oneFlies track to the rod tipOne lane -- one seamForty-five to forty-fiveWhen to end the driftThe trouble with casting acrossWading disciplineWater typeResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | The Nine Essential Skills for Tight Line and Euro NymphingREAD: Troutbitten | Category | The Mono RigREAD: Troutbitten | Angle and ApproachREAD: 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/

Episode 15 is for story telling. And I'm joined by my friends, Bill, Josh, Austin and Trevor to share memories and make a few plans.This is the final episode for season one of the Troutbitten Podcast. And at the tail end of this busy year, it's a great time for reflections and resolutions.My friends and I share a few lighthearted stories about the dumbest things we've ever done on the river. We also share who and what we miss most from years past. And lastly, we talk about what we want to change most about our fishing lives.It's a great discussion that's both introspective and humorous. It's also the perfect way to wrap up season one of the Troutbitten Podcast.We Cover the FollowingDom's snorkeling debacleJosh and Austin, sleeping with the wolf spidersAustin's humble brag on the Blackfoot RiverBill's finger problemsTrevor's costly fall inWhat each of us misses mostWhat each of us plans to change for the coming seasonResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | Category | StoriesREAD: Troutbitten | Your In Too Far NowREAD: Troutbitten | All the ThingsREAD: Troutbitten | How It StartedREAD: 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/

Episode 14 is a deep dive into winter fishing tactics. And I'm joined by my friends, Bill, Josh, Austin and Trevor.Because the trout have different habits in the winter, we refine our approach to meet them on their own terms. Is that . . . low and slow? Sure, sometimes. Nymphing is often seen as the go-to approach, but for the winter trout angler who’s attentive, the opportunities for some great streamer action are there too. Even dry flies can be an option if you keep your eyes open.Why do so few anglers fish in the winter? Well, honestly, because it’s a challenge that many fishermen are not ready for. And while they might hit the water once or twice, so much is different and . . . difficult, that the results often don’t meet expectations. Then the warm fireplace seems the better option, and the fly rod is leaned in the corner until springtime.So, what does it take to catch trout in the winter? That’s what we discuss in this podcast.We Cover the FollowingApproach, making a plan and choosing waterFind the feeding fishDo mornings matter?Limestone vs Freestone differencesDo you need to fish midges?The egg biteStreamers in the winterWinter nymph riggingIndicators, and bobber holesResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | Category | Winter Fly FishingREAD: Troutbitten | Winter Fishing -- The Go-To Nymphing RigREAD: Troutbitten | Winter Fishing -- The Secondary Nymphing RigREAD: Troutbitten | Fly Fishing in the Winter -- The SystemREAD: Troutbitten | Modern Streamers: Too Much Motion? Are We Moving Them Too Fast ?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/