Troutbitten

Latest Episodes:

Bad Habits That Hurt Dec 17, 2023

Show notes

We’re here to talk about bad habits — things that aren’t personal style but just bad form. These are bad habits that come with a consequence. These are, quite simply, mistakes. And in every case, there’s a much better way to do things.
We meet anglers from all over the country and the world, we often see these bad habits from good anglers. And inevitably, these are some of the key things that hold people back from going further — from catching more trout.
These are deal breakers -- bad habits that come with consequences, and habits that, once changed, open up new avenues and better opportunities.
Our intention here is to be helpful and not critical. We want to point out some of the worst habits that we see most often — the mistakes that a lot of good anglers still make and that hold them back. And these are mistakes — it’s almost right and wrong.
I always say there are no experts in fly fishing. So we are not experts. But all of us here are experienced. In fact, we’re experienced enough to have gone through many of these bad habits on our own and have corrected them. Our goal is to share a few of these habits and highlight what might go unnoticed by a pretty wide segment of our friends.
Resources

READ: Troutbitten | All the Things
PODCAST: Troutbitten | The Inefficiencies that Waste Your Fishing Time - S3,Ep2
READ: Troutbitten | How Many Effective Fishing Minutes?
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Fishing With a Camera Dec 10, 2023

Show notes

This one is about taking photos and videos on the water, about camera gear, about keeping that gear safe but available, and even a few tips on taking a good fish selfie.
Photography is something that we see most anglers get into, at least a little bit. I’ve often described the fish selfie as the grand compromise of catch and release fishing. We don’t kill the trout and take it home to show it off to friends anymore. But we do want to share some of the best trout and our most memorable situations on the river. So we take photos and videos.
We plan for these trips, we look forward to them, we tie flies, we think about leaders, buy gear and read books about the region and the tactics. And when we finally get our boots in the water, we want to document these experiences — especially when the stars align and something remarkable happens.

Resources

READ: Troutbitten | Fishing With a Camera
READ: Troutbitten | All the Things
PODCAST: Troutbitten | How to Handle a Trout, S1 Ep2
READ: Troutbitten | Their Heart in Your Hands
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Our Favorite Rivers Dec 02, 2023

Show notes

Some favorite rivers meander and roll through stunning scenery and enchanting tracts of wilderness. And most trout fishermen quickly realize that the pursuit of wild trout takes them into some of the most beautiful valleys on earth.
But some other favorite rivers run through towns or behind old factories. Maybe they’re paralleled by a highway or narrowly channeled by railroad tracks on either side. These places can be just as special, just as meaningful and treasured, for what they hold — for what they teach.
All of our favorite rivers have made an impact on who we are as a person — not just as an angler. Because, for so many fishermen, a home water is precisely that — a home. A place to rest. A place to seek comfort and rejuvenation. These rivers are places to share with those we love . . . or to seek an adventure alone.
Our favorite rivers are as integral to our experience as the rods, leaders, lines and tactics. They define our fishing, and they become part of our lives. In this episode, we share some history with these places and discuss what connects us to these moving waters.
Resources
READ: Troutbitten | The Secret
READ: Troutbitten | Right Here
PODCAST: Troutbitten | What to Love About Small Stream Fishing S7 Ep6
PODCAST: Troutbitten | Secrets and Spot Burning S3 Ep1
VIDEO: Troutbitten | The River Doesn't Owe You Anything

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What Works When and Why? -- Mono Rigs and Euro Nymphing Styles Nov 26, 2023

Show notes

This episode is a conversation about tight line leader styles. We share what we like best, what works for each of us and what does not. This is Part Two for the podcast that we two weeks ago, titled, “Tight Line, High Stick, Euro Nymph, Mono Rig -- What's the Difference and How Did We Get Here?”
While that first episode laid out a history of tight line tactics, this conversation is focused on how we use these leaders. How do we fish the different leader builds for tight lining? What are the advantages and disadvantages of Standard, Thin and Micro-Thin Mono Rigs? What can we do with each of them?
My friends join me for a great discussion, full of deep experience and strong opinion.
Resources

READ: Troutbitten | Category | The Mono Rig
READ: Troutbitten | Beyond Euro Nymphing
PODCAST: Troutbitten | Fly Fishing the Mono Rig — Versatility and the Tight Line Advantage Taken Further
READ: Troutbitten | Design and Function of the Troutbitten Standard Mono Rig
VIDEO: Troutbitten | Mono Rigs and Euro Rigs -- Micro Thin or Standard?
READ: Troutbitten | Thin and Micro-Thin Leaders for Euro Nymphing and the Mono Rig
READ: Troutbitten | The Full Mono Rig System — All the variations, with formulas and adjustments
READ: Troutbitten | What You're Missing By Following FIPS Competition Rules
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Coffee and Secrets (a story), and Catching Up Nov 19, 2023

Show notes

Here we are in the middle of season nine, and we’re doing something a little different. This is like an intermission between sets.
My wife, Becky, is here, and we’ll catch up on a few Troutbitten things, like updates to the Recommended Gear page and the upcoming fall leader sale.
I also have a listener email to share that really gets to the heart of what we all love about being out there on the water.
And then, I read one of my favorite Troutbitten stories from the archives. It’s titled, Coffee and Secrets, and I think it strikes at a similar sentiment about the intangible motivations that keep us involved in a fishing life.
Resources

READ: Troutbitten | Recommended Gear
SHOP: Troutbitten | Leaders
READ: Troutbitten | Design and Function of the Troutbitten Standard Mono Rig
READ: Troutbitten | Coffee and Secrets
READ: Troutbitten | Some Days are Diamonds, Some Days are Rocks
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Tight Line, High Stick, Euro Nymph, Mono Rig -- What's the Difference and How Did We Get Here? Nov 11, 2023

Show notes

Over the years, nymphing has grown up a bit. There's more information, more styles and more acceptance of those styles than ever before. While nymphing was once seen as that thing you did when trout wouldn’t eat dry flies or wets, more anglers than ever choose nymphing first — as their go-to method for catching trout in all seasons. Because nymphing provides a unique complexity unlike anything else in fly fishing. And anglers who are dedicated to the craft take particular joy in seeing their refinements pay dividends.
All that is to say . . . nymphing is fun. And in large part, what makes it fun is the control that is gained through tight line tactics. Indeed, the popularization of contact nymphing systems coincides with the popularity and the surge of nymphing among the community.
One of the most frequent requests we receive is for a full breakdown on the differences between the tight line styles. What is euro nymphing, and how is it different than the Mono Rig? Can I tight line with a fly line and a shorter leader? Is that called high sticking? What are the key differences between Polish, Czech, French and Spanish nymphing styles? And how does a thinner or thicker tight line leader help or hurt my presentation?
Troutbitten has become synonymous with the Mono Rig. And while each of us at Troutbitten spends lots of time with traditional leaders and fly lines, we all enjoy the benefits gained from tight line tactics when fishing underneath the surface.
In this episode, Austin Dando and I walk through the differences between all of these styles. We provide some history and think objectively about how far the tight line game has come. And next week, the rest of the guys will join us to talk about the strengths and weaknesses, the advantages and disadvantages of what we call the standard, thin and micro thin mono rig leaders.
Resources

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The Stuff You Don't Need Nov 05, 2023

Show notes

Sometimes, an angler's love for gear becomes more important than the fishing itself, until the goal becomes a bigger collection of fishing gear instead of a collection of good fishing experiences. We’ve all seen this out there. And sometimes we have to actively fight that urge to want the next thing or believe that our deficiencies on the river can be solved with more gear.
The truth is, too much stuff gets in the way. Simplifying our approach, our fly selection and gear selection, usually wins. It can also make for a happier fisherman who feels like they know their tools and have confidence in their techniques.
But, having a few extra rods and reels is good too. And researching, planning for and then buying your next piece of gear is a fun process that can be inspiring. It can motivate you to get back to the river quickly and put your new stuff to the test. All things in moderation, right?
So part of our conversation in this episode is focused on the gear — the stuff you don’t need to have great days on the water, the stuff that might hold you back far more than help you out.
But another part of this episode is less tangible. Because it’s not always what we buy and stash in a fishing pack that gets in the way. Because, over time, it’s too easy to focus on finding the perfect water. Or we can look too hard for ideal weather and fishing conditions. Even the pursuit of some miraculous presentation can get in the way of our enjoyment and our progress.
For most anglers, our time on the water is often so limited that it’s easy to get wrapped up in all the daydreaming and planning, until gear acquisition syndrome creeps in. And then our time on the water is spent finding reasons that we need something else or the next thing.
The truth is, your best approach is to take the modest gear you own, hit some of the closest trout water you can find, and fish it hard. That’s what wins. And that was this podcast conversation is about.
Resources

READ: Troutbitten | All the Things
READ: Troutbitten | Patience vs Persistence
READ: Troutbitten | Fish Hard

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Turning Around the Toughest Days — How to Save a Slow Fishing Trip Oct 29, 2023

Show notes

How do we handle tough days? How can we turn it around and start catching fish? When the going gets tough, how do we fix it? What are the strategies?
So, most things don’t turn out the way you had them planned. That’s life. But as you’re driving the dirt road toward your favorite trout water, thoughts and plans unfold in your mind. And while preparing for a destination trip, you expect success. Once you’re finally traveling halfway across the country to that river you’ve wanted to fish for decades, visions of the trout you’ll catch take over.
Your hopes and dreams of what will end up in the net are a primary motivator. And, aside from the fish, you might even be enthusiastic about a new fly rod, a new pair of waders or maybe an experimental leader that you tied up.
For all of this, and for the fishing itself, we expect success. We assume the positive. Because, as my friend Rich Alsippi loved to say, "the fisherman is eternally hopeful." Good anglers are optimists.
Why? Because fishing is filled with so much failure that anyone who stays in the game learns to look on the bright side, to see beyond the fish count, to get past tangled tippet, broken reels, lost flies in a tree and soaking wet clothes from falling in — again.
Things go bad out there. A trout river forces you into mistakes. And sometimes, the fishing is just tough. Trout don’t want to eat.
So you try everything you planned for. You know what should work, and you’ve fished it. But when it doesn’t . . . what do you do?
That’s what we’re here to talk about tonight . . .
Resources

READ: Troutbitten | The Fisherman Is Eternally Hopeful
READ: Troutbitten | The Best Laid Plans of Fishermen often Go Awry
READ: Troutbitten | Fish Hard

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Trout Fishing and the Spawn Oct 22, 2023

Show notes

This conversation is about spawning trout. Specifically, we tackle the ethics of fishing during the spawn, whether it’s right or wrong to fish for trout that are actively in the process of making the next generation of trout.
Moreover, where do these ideas of what’s ethical or not come from, and why are the expectations confusing for a lot of anglers?
Is it okay to be on the water while trout are spawning, or should we simply stay away during the spawning season and let trout do their thing?
We branch out into different trout species, and we highlight how different regions, different rivers and different setups might require a different approach.
This topic can get a little contentious. Anglers have strong opinions about this, one way or another, and for many people there’s not much middle ground.
We’ve covered this topic before, in a couple Q&A sessions in different podcast seasons. But this topic deserves its own podcast, and it’s been on our list for a long while.
Trust me when I say that none of us are here to tell you how to fish or when to fish. But this topic is one that each of us has given a lot of thought to over the years. We’ve also seen anglers have a change of heart, and we’ve been around to witness some heated disagreements about this topic too.
READ: Troutbitten | Are We Taking the Safety of Trout Too Far
READ: Troutbitten | Redd Fish -- Should We Fish Through the Spawn or Stay Home?
READ: Troutbitten | Fish Hard
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How Has Fly Fishing Changed? Oct 15, 2023

Show notes

Everything changes. That’s the only constant. And in the fly fishing world, the tactics, the gear and how we share all of this information changes, even though what the trout eat and how they eat it pretty much stays the same.
That time frame, that snapshot, from where you entered the fly fishing world, shapes what you do on the water. And it’s amazing what just twenty calendar years does to that snapshot. Because a lot of your understanding about what is common, accepted or frowned upon is shaped right away, as you start researching and learning about this fishing thing that eventually becomes a big part of your life.
In this episode, my friends and I consider this topic: How have the tactics changed? How has the gear changed? How has the flow of information changed? And how has all of that changed the way we fish for trout?
Resources

READ: Troutbitten | All The Things
READ: Troutbitten | Fishing with Friends
READ: Troutbitten | Angler Types in Profile -- The Rookie

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