Loop to Loop

Tess Weigand is the captain of the USA Women's Fly Fishing, and individual Gold Medalist, and team Gold Medalist in the FIPS Mouches Women's World Championship. She splits her time between guiding Pennsylvania's Penns Creek and Montana's Yellowstone and Madison rivers along with her Newfoundland dog, Eight, when she's not competing. She deep dives into the intricacies of entomology, how stocking over wild fish in Pennsylvania is de...

Ross Purnell sits down with Mayfly Outdoors CEO Jeff Wagner in the Montrose Colorado headquarters for Ross, Abel, Renzetti, Dyna-King, Airflo, and several other brands. They discuss the unsung heroes of fly fishing; the best warmwater fly fishing in Nebraska; being a "fish nerd" installing aquariums; how Cabela's influenced the course of fly fishing; "geeking out" on casting, and learning to cast from Mel Krieger, Tim Rajeff, and B...

Born and raised in the upper Midwest, Erik Johnsen's first connection to fishing was with panfish and bass. He found his passion for fly fishing chasing wild and native trout in Wisconsin's Driftless Region. He studied geography and graduated from the University of Wisconsin, which led to him becoming a member of the TroutRoutes team. TroutRoutes is a fly-fishing app that gives anglers a powerful tool backed by onX Maps to find acc...

Tiki Furimsky is an avid fly fisher and skier from Crested Butte, Colorado. He hails from the legendary Furimsky family. His grandpa, Chuck, started The Fly Fishing Show, and his dad, Ben, is the president and CEO. Tiki and editor Ross Purnell discuss how to get kids into fly fishing, gear for kids, cutthroat trout or brook trout, striped bass on the fly, and why the shows are great for learning. From shredding the ski slopes to fl...

Shawn Combs got started as fly fisher in Kentucky, got a degree in mechanical engineering, and started with Orvis in 2011. He was the designer of all of Orvis's very successful Helios rods, and was most recently responsible for the development of all of Orvis tackle including waders, reels, boots, and packs. After 15 successful years at Orvis, Combs announced was leaving Vermont to take on a new role as vice president of Scott. We ...

Dusty Wissmath is a fly-fishing instructor, author, and travel host who lives in Pennsylvania's trout-rich Cumberland Valley. He teaches through TCO fly shops, is an Orvis instructor for Allenberry Resort in Boiling Springs, and is an instructor at the Wulff School of Fly Fishing in Livingston Manor, New York. He's a climber, mountaineer, fly fisher, and has spent a lifetime outdoors. He has over 30 years of experience instructing ...

Joshua Caldwell is the director of the Netflix hit "Mending the Line" starring big names like Brian Cox, Sinqua Walls, Perry Mattfeld, Patricia Heaton and Wes Studi. He's also passionate fly fisher who directed the documentary "Legacy: The Story of Cathy and Barry Beck." Both films deal with loss and grief—and also on the soothing joy that can come from fly fishing. His conversation with Ross Purnell focuses on his experience...

George Daniel is the director of the Joe Humphreys Fly Fishing Program at Penn State University. George sits down with editor Ross Purnell to discuss fly fishing in extreme conditions, from low and clear conditions to fishing rising water, Daniel explains how adjusting your approach and tactics can lead to a successful day. In the second part of this special podcast, students who are currently enrolled at PSU become the "Loop to Lo...

Colorado guide Landon Mayer grew up in Colorado Springs and was mentored by his local fly shop (shout out Angler's Covey) and local fly tier John Barr. He became a pro fly tier and one of the leading experts on sight-fishing for trout. In this episode of Loop to Loop Landon explains how to look for telltale trout signs—a hint of color, the noticeable  "potato chip" of a brown trout's pectoral fin, or the giveaway of a gh...

Chuck Furimsky graduated from Penn State and when he was there, he took fly-fishing courses from the legendary George Harvey. In the 1980s he even filmed an interview with the original Penn State instructor, which you'll glimpse in the video version. From there Chuck went on to start The Fly Fishing Show, a traveling carnival of fly-fishing experts and celebrities that has introduced tens of thousands of people to the joys of fly f...

Mark Susinno is a lifelong and classically trained fine artist who resides in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. After attending Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY his brother introduced him to fly fishing and forged a path for Mark to focus his creativity. His paintings have graced the fly-fishing world for over 35 years capturing the anticipation and mysterious world of life underwater. An active conservationist, Susinno has donated countles...

Ben Furimsky is the owner and operator of The Fly Fishing Show, the largest consumer show in the fly-fishing industry. The Fly Fishing Show travels around the United States educating and entertaining anglers from January to March. Furimsky is an accomplished fly fisher who has travelled to the far reaches of the globe, most recently to Mongolia to catch and help implant tracking devices in taimen. His shows, films, adventures, and ...

In a matter of just a couple of months, Blane Chocklett caught his personal best striper and then his all-time best redfish on the same fly—his darting, slip-sliding, erratic Jerk Changer. The fly is inspired by jerkbait lures, and it has an action like nothing else in fly fishing. If you want to catch mind-boggling muskies, smallmouths, pike, jacks, or any other predatory species, the Jerk Changer can trigger a crashing resp...

Bill Skilton started fly fishing at an early age with tutelage from Limestone Legends such as Charlie Fox, Vince Marinaro, and Ross Trimmer. Learn about the history of Pennsylvania's Cumberland Valley and its impact on fly fishing in North America. Pennsylvania's spring creeks such as LeTort Spring Run, Big Spring Creek, Falling Springs, and parts of the Yellow Breeches were the birthplace of terrestrial fly patterns such as beetle...

One of the most versatile, experienced saltwater guides of all time, Capt. Paul Dixon has spent decades fishing from Long Island to the Upper Keys, throughout the Caribbean and around the world. He caught his first striped bass in the 1970s in Newport Beach, California, he is a pioneer in East Coast sight-fishing for striped bass, a recipient of the 2022 Lefty Kreh Award for Lifetime Achievement in Conservation, and 2021 recipient ...

Mike Dawes is the managing partner of Westbank Anglers in Wilson, Wyoming near the town of Jackson, Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. Dawes has guided for decades, and fly fished the world for species ranging from trout to exotic saltwater fish such as barracuda. He is well-known for his dedication to permit fishing and conservation. Having won multiple permit tournaments, including the Del Brown Permit Tournament and the...