The Orvis Fly-Fishing Podcast

This week I interview Justin Lewis, fisheries scientist and native of Grand Bahama Island, who is the Bahamas Initiative Manager for Bonefish Tarpon Trust.  You’ll learn some fascinating science, what the Bahamas is doing to protect their near-pristine habitat, and some tips on catching bonefish based on the science we’ve learned from BTT’s research.  In the fly box, we talk about storing waders, head cement, swinging flies, coiling line, where to attach droppers, fishing PCB-contaminated waters, indicator types, wet knot strength in tippet, and how to keep dry flies floating upright.  Plus we have a couple great tips submitted by listeners.

This week the main part of the podcast is a long interview with Dave Klausmeyer, editor of Fly Tier Magazine.  He talks about his Golden Rules of Fly Tying and then also gives his 10 Cannot-Do-Without natural and synthetic materials.  If you keep count you will find that Klausmeyer is even worse at addition than I am. In The Fly Box, we ramble from fishing soft hackles to checking fly lines and backing for damage.  There are also a couple questions about finding big rainbow trout feeding in still, shallow water.  And we have a couple great lists of suggestions from listeners—one on ways to carry a second rod when wading; the other on “Suggestions for a novice from a kinda novice.”  If I keep getting great responses like this from listeners I can let them take over the whole podcast!

By very popular demand, this week I have Tim Flagler of Tightline Productions as my guest and we ramble about—guess what?—fly tying.  But not all tying, in fact I think we talk as much about winter trout tactics as we do winter fly patterns.  But I know after this podcast I have a half dozen new flies I want to try in the coming season.  Also, in a longer-than-usual Fly Box section this week (hopefully to make up for not having many podcasts in December) we talk about sharpening scissors, tying the Adams, hooking fish, 10 fly-fishing books I recommend, caddis nymphs, knots for tube flies, UK wild trout, carrying a second rod while wading, and lots more.

In this week’s podcast, we continue our series on steelhead fishing by going into even more detail on demystifying the terms used in two-handed casting, when to use a Spey or a switch rod, and lots of detail on lines for two-handed rods, because it is a whole new world with new vocabulary.  But take heart—Jason Cotta, fishing manager of Orvis Bellevue, walks us through the details and explains them very clearly.  He also gives some solid tips for the novice steelhead angler.  In The Fly Box, we cover dealing with road kill squirrel’s tail, small stream rods, saltwater fly lines, difficult albies in shallow water, fly pattern trademarks and royalties, fish leverage on various types of hooks, the life of nylon tippet, bobber alternatives, and the effects of drought on small stream trout populations.

This week I have an interview with Frank Willets of Pere Marquette River Lodge on Michigan steelhead fishing.  Frank grew up fishing in Michigan and knows the ins and outs of Great Lakes steelheading intimately.  I know you’ll pick up some tips and this one is sure to be controversial because on the PM they use the chuck & duck method quite often and make no bones about it (they also swing flies in the traditional manner).  We’ll also answer questions on why you seldom see hatches, how to play steelhead, pre-treatments for dry flies, “must fish” rivers for swinging flies, two-handed rods for the Florida surf, streamers in low water, what part of a deer hide to save, and other bizarre questions only a fly fisher could love.

For this week’s podcast we have an interview with author, guide, fly designer, and master steelheader Greg Senyo, who grew up in the Steelhead Alley region and knows it intimately.  If you are heading to Lake Erie this year, or to any of the Great Lakes tributaries, you’ll find some solid tips on how to have more fun.  In the Fly Box this week we talk about “dry fly nirvana”, where to go on a Rocky Mountain trout trip (I don’t give any recommendations and I say why I don’t), how to catch suckers and carp in a trout stream, tying flies with silk, keeping your pant legs down when wearing waders, why expensive sunglasses are worth it, tips on tying Glo Bugs, the benefits of micro jig hooks, and why dry flies sometime twist your tippet.

This week’s podcast is worth listening to, just for the entertainment value of hearing a listener say he doesn’t listen to many of the podcasts because I “speak too slowly as if you are a grade school teacher teaching remedial students”  and that “Words or ideas that are so basically common knowledge of this sport need no explanation.  For example, if one of your listeners doesn’t know what a tippet is, they should look it up elsewhere and not waste the other listeners’ time with a long, slooow, and overdrawn explanation”  So take that, you dummies!  Use Google and don’t bother me with your basic questions.  Are you bothered by this?  Or do you have a different opinion?  If so, please listen to the podcast and then come back to this post to air your comments.  If I’m boring you I want to hear about it. Oh, yeah, and my long overdrawn explanations this week cover right-angle nymph rigs, rotary vises, lines for bonefish, year class dominance in trout, why there is no magic fly for a hatch, tying the Surf Candy, and much more.  And the main event is an interview with Adam MacNamara, manager of the Orvis retail store in Portland Oregon and longtime steelhead angler and guide.  And you’ll never guess what we talk about…

This week the main event is a chat with John Herzer, owner of Blackfoot River Outfitters and one of the savviest anglers and guides I know.  John talks about late fall and winter fishing in the Missoula area, although the solid tips he gives would work anywhere in the world when you encounter colder conditions.  Also in the Fly Box we discuss wet flies vs. nymphs and when to use them, single-handed steelhead rods that also work for bass and salt water, night fishing for rainbow trout (don’t), native fish species, and my brilliant career picking flies out of carpets.  

This week we had lots of great questions in the Fly Box because I have not done a podcast in a few weeks—so there were lots of good ones in my inbox.  We talk about using the Non-Slip Mono Loop knot for fresh water, tippet rings, tough rising fish, Depth Charge Lines, fly boxes for big dries, click-and pawl reels for trout, up vs. down vs. ring eyes for fly hooks—plus two great suggestions from listeners:  one on casting fatigue and the other on a very innovative way to dry CDC flies. And in the main event, casting instructor extraordinaire Pete Kutzer and I try to simplify Spey casting and lines for two-handed rods.  I am not sure we simplified it much but hopefully it will answer some of your questions.

  In the podcast this week, I have the pleasure of interviewing my old friend and co-worker Bill Reed on stillwater trout fishing.  We get requests for stillwater podcasts regularly but honestly I’m not very good at stillwater  trout fishing and just don’t do it enough.  Bill gives us his 8 tips for stillwater fishing, and whether you are an expert at this discipline or just thinking about it, you’ll get many valuable tips.  Also on the Fly Box this week we ramble about night fishing, streamer fishing, how to organize your fly box, how to catch fall landlocked salmon, dry/dropper combinations, wire leaders, parachute hackles, and landing fish in the weeds.