The Orvis Fly-Fishing Podcast

This week in the fly box we discuss: ·       How stocking affects wild trout ·       Sinking lines ·       Casting exercises ·       Gripping a fly rod ·       Tangles after dark ·       Tom’s 5 favorite places to fish and the top 5 on his bucket list In the main podcast, we do an extensive discussion of leaders—leader types, materials, , and how to modify your leader at streamside.  It’s a good topic for a refresher as fishing season is upon us in most places—or almost upon us!

This week we have a full Fly Box (the only way to be at the beginning of the season!) and cover topics that range from how to store leaders to figuring out stream depths to safe handling of fish in cold water to fishing streamers with switch rods.  And lots more.  I even try to answer the question of whether I’d prefer to have 6 less expensive fly rods or three top-of-the-line ones.  That question caused me some soul-searching and I waffled a bit—but who cares what I’d do anyway?  To top it off, we have an inspirational interview with a 17-year-old fly fisher, Joey Maxim.  Make sure you listen to all of the interview, because the story gets more interesting as we talk.

This week’s podcast ends on a somber note with the passing of our good friend and mentor John Merwin, one of the greatest voices in fly fishing.  I think you’ll enjoy a few memories of John and the readings from a couple of his pieces.  But up front we have a very full fly box—lots of e-mails and phone calls on casting problems, fly tying problems and solutions, picking tackle, and fishing nymphs.

This week I concentrate on fly tying questions (except for a short sidetrack on stream smallmouths) because I love talking about fly tying—and Orvis is offering a 20% discount on fly tying materials for the month of February 2013.

This week, in an addition to a long FLy Box section, I go a little off topic as I interview Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods and The Nature Principle, who introduced the term Nature Deficit Disorder to the world, and has perhaps done more than anyone else in modern times raise awareness of how important it is to get ourselves and our children outside more often.  He’s one of my role models and it was a great honor to interview him for the podcast.  And, of course, we do talk about getting kids and grandkids out fishing and give you some tips on how to do it.  This is a podcast you may want to recommend to friends who don’t fish, as it’s one of the most important things people can do for their children.

He’s the Everready Bunny—at 85 years old, and a recently replaced hip, Leigh Perkins still fishes and hunts 300 days a year.  Although he retired as CEO of the Orvis Company in 1992, he’s still chairman of the board and one of our best field testers.  He’s always the first one up in the morning and the last one to go to bed, and he lives his life surrounded by a bunch of hunting dogs.  I was recently in Florida hunting wild quail and ducks with Leigh and got a chance to get some wisdom from him for a podcast.  You’ll note by his answers that he’s one of the most optimistic people you’ll ever meet.

This week I interview Jamie Rouse, two-time Orvis Endorsed Guide award winner for superior service (as rated by our customers, not by us).  Jamie gives us a very full lesson on fishing for tailwater trout during the winter, particularly on his home stream, the Little Red River in Arkansas.  Jamie targets huge brown trout on the fly all winter long-and usually catches them-so it's worth a listen to pick up some valuable tips.  I know I learned a lot in this podcast and I'm ready to get out on the water, even if the line does freeze in my guides.

My apologies for the lack of recent podcasts—Thanksgiving, Christmas, and a week of vacation made it necessary for me to concentrate on my day job as marketing director over the past few weeks.  But this week we have a nice long podcast, including some detailed fly box topics on everything from choosing a fly reel to fishing droppers to using beads for steelhead.  In the main part of the podcast is an interview I did with Dr. Aaron Adams of Bonefish Tarpon Trust on how to find saltwater fish on your own by knowing their habitat preference.

This is a "Best of Tom" Episode from the Archives. In this week's podcast I announce the winner of the Podcast Suggestion Contest, who won a signed copy of my latest book Essential American Flies. The topic is sure to be a crowd-pleaser to most of you--targeting bigger trout. In the podcast I give you 10 suggestions for targeting the biggest trout in a pool or in a stretch of river. There were lots of great suggestions in the podcast contest, and I used a couple for the short Fly Box section at the beginning of the podcast: How to cure the fall blues after a tough fishing season, and how to pack for a business trip where you might grab a few hours fishing. Plus a terrific tip on rigging dry droppers on our podcast request line from a listener in Georgia.

It's getting cold out there. Get the most of your time on the water this winter it with this popular episode from the archives.