Troutbitten

Over the last few decades, fishing apparel has undergone a dramatic evolution. Today, we expect more than ever from our boots, waders, jackets, and shirts because we've grown accustomed to the advantages of purpose-built gear that's ready to deliver.

Comfort, support and durability are the hallmarks of great fishing gear. So I sat down with Kevin Sloan, the founder of Skwala fishing, for a look at where the industry stands n...

We’re here to talk about fishing angles. Are you wading upstream or down? And are you casting upstream or down? What’s your preference? Why do you make that decision? When, if ever does it change? And does your casting direction always follow your wading direction?

Sometimes, these preferences seem regional, while other times it’s specifically about the tactic -- meaning that swinging wet flies, for example, suits ...

What’s the nymph really doing under there? How is it affected by the currents? And is the attached tippet dragging the fly unnaturally across, over, up or out of the natural, one-seam drift that our picky trout are waiting for?

The challenge of nymphing is mercifully balanced by the frequency at which trout feed on these bottom dwelling food forms. So even if we get one in ten drifts just right, the rate at which we might fool...

For our Season 19 Intermission, my wife, Becky, joins me to check in on what's going on in the Troutbitten world. We talk about the upcoming leader sale in the Troutbitten Shop (May 24th), the Troutbitten Film Festival, guide season, changes to the Troutbitten Beer with New Trail Brewing Company and the Mono Rig book status. Then my son, Aiden, joins me for a short conversation about spring fishing.

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VIDEOS: Troutbitten | Fi...

There’s something about fishing that leads us to believe that we can figure out what the fish want to eat that day — at that moment. Really, we want to believe that. And maybe it’s true often enough that trying to figure ‘em out . . . is a smart strategy.

But I’m sure you’ve also had the experience of getting back to camp and every one of your friends all caught fish — but they all c...

How do you get deeper into the game? Is it a choice or just good fortune? We live a life on the water, and a couple of episodes ago we talked about burnout — how a lot of anglers dig in, fish hard, go all out for a few years, and then just fade away. That’s the end point for some people, but tonight we’re here to talk about the beginning. We want to consider the start of a fishing life, or more accurately, the sta...

Dry dropper is great. Just put a nymph under that dry fly and get the best of both worlds. Right? Not so fast . . .

The idea that you can have your cake and eat it too — that you'll get perfect drifts on the dry fly and the nymph — and that you somehow double your chances by dropping a nymph under the dry is not true. This is the big lie of dry dropper fishing.

Here's the problem: In most cases, neither fl...

A life on the water is an everyday thing. When we’re not fishing, we’re thinking about it. We’re preparing for it. We’re learning about it. I text with friends almost daily about river conditions and hatches. I drive beside the river just to see it — even though that route takes a few extra minutes.

We've all seen die hard anglers living their life on the water -- and then it just goes away. Rising and ...

For Season 19 of the Troutbitten Podcast, we're adding the video component, with the same conversation on both the audio and video side. So you'll still find the audio version of the podcast on Apple, Spotify and every other platform, and now you'll find a video of the podcast conversation on the Troutbitten YouTube channel.

The new video format is full of creative possibilities, and we're excited about the future of the podcast.

Inc...

This Troutbitten Skills Series and these platforms are an effort to pass along the idea that fly selection doesn’t have to be regimented or complicated. Instead, see flies for what they have in common. Find their similarities rather than their differences. Choose the elements that matter most to you. Find the components of a fly that create enough of a distinction to be the keys to a platform, and build around that idea.

I do ...

It's time for the big-meal dry fly platform: hoppers and stoneflies.

When we open our fly boxes, we’re looking for a solution. If trout are sipping tiny olives in a soft tailout, we probably reach for the low-riding, vulnerable look of a Comparadun or a Parachute. And if we see trout slashing at hovering, skittering Grannoms in a riffle, we probably choose an Elk Hair Caddis or similar.

But what do we pick when the trout food i...

In this Riverside episode, I share an article that I published a few years ago, title, The Order of Everything. I also share some Troutbitten updates about my upcoming book, about the Troutbitten Shop, about the live podcast on March 28th at New Trail Brewing Company and the Troutbitten film festival happening later this year, in October. There's an order to everything to keep this Troutbitten project moving forward, and the work o...

A dry fly emerger is one that has part of the fly underneath the surface. It’s a highly effective form (meaning tout eat it) because it matches the most vulnerable state of things that trout see.

In this episode we cover the dry fly platform of emergers. We look at what they are, how and why to use them and the differences in styles within this platform. We cover some history about how emerger design got to this point and what...

The down wing dry fly style is a perfect match for one of the most ubiquitous insects found in trout rivers across the planet: caddis. The down wing platform is also a first choice for matching many terrestrials, like moths and hoppers, and it finds it's way to stonefly patterns as well.

But for this discussion, we cover the down wing and its progression into fly boxes, by looking at three standouts: the Elk Hair Caddis, the X-Caddi...

With its simple form of wing, body and tail, the Comparadun is another template for the dry fly angle -- another perfectly adaptable platform.

When the Comparadun hit the scene in the 1970’s, it was a significant departure from the norm. Anglers recognized this, but more importantly, the trout recognized this. The Comparadun became a hatch matcher. It became the closer, because the Comparadun specialized in fooling selective t...

The parachute platform is our favorite style of dry fly and the favorite of many other anglers, because of its utility. Because it form is functional. Because it casts well, lands upright and keeps floating, even though heavy water. It fools picky trout and looks enough like an emerger and a spinner that you might get away with one fly, all the way through cycle. It's a great dry-dropper fly, it's easily adaptable. And perhaps its ...

Season 18 is a unique look at dry fly styles, through the concept of platforms. By taking a fly shape, a form or a set of materials, we can adapt the elements like color, wing style, tailing material or hackle length to meet the moment. Within the fly platform, we vary its properties to the river conditions or to a specific hatch.

In this seven part Skills Series for season 18, we cover these six dry fly platforms:

1: Upright Hackles...

We’re here to talk about approaching the river — approaching the trout — to put our boots in the best place, with a strategy for making the casts and catching fish.

We focus so much on the drifting, on the presentation and the casting — on the technical aspects of getting all of those things just right — that it’s easy to overlook the skill that comes before all of that . . .

And make no mistake, t...

Fly tying is more popular than ever. With the prevalence of high quality materials and excellent videos showing how to build flies, more fly anglers choose to tie their own patterns than ever before.

All of us at Troutbitten have been tying our own flies from the beginning, so we each have preferences for the tools we use. That's what this podcast episode is all about. We discuss the essentials, like vise, scissors and a bobbin, alo...