Troutbitten

In this Season 19 finale of the Troutbitten Podcast, we tackle a grab bag of topics. We call these episodes the Freewheelin' Troutbitten. This one was unintentional. We had plans to cover a topic of fishing with friends vs fishing solo, but once we opened up some of the leftover topics surrounding the Grievances episode from last week, we just kinda got things rolling and let it go. 

The last half hour is dedicated to our most important conservation message -- stop stocking over wild trout. 

My friends Bill Dell, Dr. Trevor Smith, Matt Grobe and Au...

We’re here for our fifth annual Airing of Grievances episode. We do this every June, at the end of the spring seasons of the podcast. We do it to have some fun, and we do it because it’s helpful to call out the bad things and try to make them better.

We also do this because Frank Costanza from Seinfeld once said . . . “I gotta lotta problems with you people, and now . . . you’re gonna here about it.”

So we’re here to complain about things, to clear the air and to get things off our ches...

Here's a good talk about other styles and other species, and how using a spinning rod or baitcaster can open up your fishing world to a more complete set of skills and a better understanding of . . . fishing.

Most fly anglers can pick up and cast a spinning rod or baitcaster, but if you spend some real time to develop an intimate understanding of the strengths and the possibilities, you gain another base of knowledge.

The same can be said for chasing other species: bass, carp, musky, redfish, permit, snook, striper. They’re all different, all wi...

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 now, a look back at where we were and a forward look at where we're going.

It was a fun conversation full of in-depth technical...

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 a downstream approach best. But sometimes, angle choice seems more like tradition, and many anglers simply fish a certain way because their Dad did.

Most of us...

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 fish makes this maddening quest for perfection more than worth it. Simply put, nymphing is fun because it wo...

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.

Resources

VIDEOS: Troutbitten | Fish and Film | Category
SHOP: Troutbitten | Category | Leaders

Visit

Troutbitten Website

Troutbitten Instagram<...

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 caught them on different flies and different water types. And you’ve definitely met the guy in the parking lot who’s positive that he...

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 start of a dedicated fishing life. Most people who become serious anglers have some f...

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 fly ends up with a great drift. Instead, both flies are compromised and their natural drif...

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 fading interests are part of human nature. But we've also met plenty of anglers who lament the fact that their...

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.

Incidentally, podcasts will now publish on Mondays at 3:30 p.m. EST, instead of Sundays. (YouTube hates Sunday evenings.)

Our conversation for...

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 think some things are undeniable, and almost every angler is going to classify a parachute the same way. That might be tr...

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 is bigger — when trout are eating hoppers, stoneflies, cicadas or other big bugs on the surface that are...

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 of these first weeks of 2026 had me thinking about one of my favorite concepts for a day on the water . . .

A lot goes into a...

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 future might hold.

Once the emerger platform really caught on in the fl...

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-Caddis and the CDC & Elk. Because the arrival of each of these patterns brought forth major innovations to the world...

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 trout, with perhaps the most realistic profile of a mayfly out there.

The unique design of the Comparadun caught on quickly, because, once again, it solved problems on...

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 best quality . . . you can see the parachute post.

For all of those reasons, the Parachute dry fly platform is...

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
2: Parachutes
3. Comparaduns
4. Down Wings
5. Hoppers and Stoneflies
6. Emergers

This first...

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, the approach is a skill. It’s about making a plan. It’s about choosing a piece of water and deciding at which angle we’l...

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, along with some other tools and gear that each of us considers invaluable for tying materials to a hook. 

T...

For this episode, we want to tackle a topic that’s been on our list for a long time — fly fishing myths and misunderstandings.

We’re not here to argue about stuff or complain. We just want to acknowledge things that we hear repeated or we see in print or shown in videos — stuff that’s almost assumed as fact, when it’s often not true at all.

We do think it’s important to try to clear the air about these myths and misunderstandings, because bad or incomplete information can really lead people down the wrong path...

Devin Olsen has had an immeasurable influence on the nymphing game. Having been embedded in the competition scene for two decades now, Devin knows competition nymphing form the inside. While reading Devin's book and watching his videos, it's obvious that he puts in the work. Instead of slavishly recycling the ideas of others, Devin is a unique thinker and a tireless tester on the water. I've always admired his work.

I asked Devin to go in deep about competition nymphing styles, while specifically considering the rules and restrictions imposed on competitors. We consider whether those rules about...

For our State of the Union 2025, my wife, Becky, joins me for a lighthearted look at what's going on in the Troutbitten world. We talk about the upcoming leader sale in the Troutbitten Shop (December 1). We talk about the book, the In Deep series, podcast plans, shop changes, a live podcast event, a Troutbitten Film Festival and the the New Trail Troutbitten beer.

Becky and I also read a few listener comments.

Resources

VIDEO: Troutbitten | In Deep With John Shaner and Dry Fly Leader Design
VIDEO: Troutbitten | In Deep...

All of us at Troutbitten, along with so many anglers across the country, use a Mono Rig for most underwater presentations. The tight line advantage and the drift control possible for both nymphs and streamers is fun and effective. But a lot has changed . . .

Five or ten years ago, most tight line anglers were using a Mono Rig leader build with a butt section thick enough to mimic the functions of a fly line. This is what we call a Troutbitten Standard Mono Rig, and it's a hybrid system. So with good casting form, the leader can...

The spawning process is arguably the most important event of a trout's life. The best trout in the system spawn every year. And as long term anglers, we should understand the process -- not only because we then know how to give trout their space, but because the process is a fascinating look at a fish that we spend so much time chasing.

We do not advocate fishing for actively spawning trout. But in many watersheds, it's easy to stay away from the redds and give trout plenty of room by simply understanding the process. That's the...

Sometimes, the goal is to catch the biggest trout in the river. In those times, what's the best fly to choose?

In this conversation, we talk through big trout situations, and we focus on the flies. If you’re really targeting a big trout, when does a streamer seem like the best choice, and what qualities in that streamer help not just get a trout’s attention, but convince them to eat the fly?

Likewise, when might a dry fly have the best chance at fooling a big fish? And when is a wet fly or n...

Craig Matthews is one of the most prominent figures in fly fishing, with a career spanning half a century and an influence that is immeasurable. Making his home in Montana, Craig's fly shop, Blue Ribbon Flies, became an icon as he educated and helped generations of anglers find their way with a fly rod. Craig's many fly creations, like the Sparkle Dun and X-Caddis are in my fly box, and they're probably in yours. Craig also founded One Percent for the Planet, a collection of outdoor retailers, now approaching one-billion dollars donated to preserving and enhancing trout rivers across...

With this conversation, we're going back to spot burning. In Troutbitten Podcast Season 3, Episode 1, we talked through Secrets and Spot Burning ( March, 2022). And in that conversation we spent a lot of time on the first part — on what fishing secrets really are, whether they’re valuable, fun or just gatekeeping. (They’re valuable, by the way.) And we acknowledged that every angler has their own set of things they might want to be secretive about, whether that's patterns, tactics or . . . spots.

In our conversation from three years ago, it was interesting to me when I went back to lis...

We begin Season 17 with a conversation about fishing the 17 year periodical cicada this past summer. We talk about big flies, big water and big trout. 

For so many of us, it was the rarity of the event -- there’s no other chance for this kind of fishing, right here, in our home waters, for another seventeen years. That’s a big marker in time. Because when you look back that far, it seems like a whole different life. In truth, it’s was a whole different world all those years ago, without high speed internet on everybo...

A top-tier river trout is a beast. The inherent nature of a river, with the endless obstacles, rocks, tree parts, current breaks, high gradient runs and undercut banks challenges the angler at every bend. So when you finally hook up with a Whiskey, a new game begins. It’s a match up between trout and fisherman. Who will win that fight?

Bringing a trout to the net requires a series of accurate calculations, thoughtful moves and a good dose of luck. But with a few guiding principles and a bit of experience, you can minimize the luck re...

In Deep is a video podcast series for conversations that dive into the details of focused topics -- no fluff, just concentrated, sometimes technical talk from experienced anglers and industry professionals.

Our first In Deep guest is my friend, John Shaner. With a career spanning five decades, Shaner  has worked for influential companies like Hardy and Cortland, while connecting with seemingly every fishy angler in the industry. Shaner is widely regarded for his technical fly fishing skills and encyclopedic, historical knowledge of both traditional and modern tactics.

In this conversation, John Shaner and I go I...

Here we are at the end of the Blue Liner's Bible series. And we saved this one for listener questions and some of our own stories. This episode ties up some loose ends and brings it all back home. Because, I think we ended up right where we started, realizing that small stream fishing leads us into everything there is to love about fishing, and maybe helping to teach us some of the most important lessons of all.

Wherever you are, wherever you fish, take some time to hike upstream into a narrow, shaded valley. You just...

This one's about using streamers to find the biggest trout in the smallest waters. In previous episodes we worked though locating the right water for small streams. We've talked about dry fly tactics, nymph fishing and now, with episode five in this series, we’re ready to tackle streamer fishing on small streams.

Our job for this episode is to highlight the changes we make, or the different strategies we might have, for fishing streamers in small waters vs the bigger ones.

We also have a fair discussion about the realities of big trout in sm...