Here we are at the part of the season where we address everybody’s favorite question — what fly are you using?We’ve argued for years that the leader is the most consequential element in the system — much more important than the fly. That said, the fly must be reasonable.Most anglers are so focused on the flies because it’s the easiest thing to change. We’re quick to blame the pattern. And it’s a lot easier to clip off one fly and tie on another than to really break down your approach, your cast and your dead drift.The better approach is to perfect those elements and then . . . maybe change the fly.I carry a box of dry flies, just like I carry a box of streamers and a box of nymphs and wets. The flies matter. But more than anything, it’s about matching the moment, the water type, the lifecycle of the bug - and even the wind conditions. For us, those conditions -- those situations -- dictate our next fly choice. We don't guess on patterns. Instead, we think about things, develop a theory and test it with the next fly choice and (hopefully) a great presentation.My friend, Matt Grobe, joins me for this discussion.ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | Category | Dry Fly FishingVIDEO: Troutbitten | The Perfect Parachute AntREAD: Troutbitten | When Should You Change the Fly?VisitTroutbitten WebsiteTroutbitten InstagramTroutbitten YouTubeTroutbitten Facebook Thank You to Pre-Roll Ad Sponsors:SkwalaandOrvis

Here's a story about the solitude that so many of us seek on the water — how the full experience of planning for a trip, driving before dawn, walking in and exploring a river valley provides a respite from our daily life. It’s a chance for a clear mind and for renewed energy. "The Further You Walk, the More You Leave Behind" is about what we recover when we commit to full days and long distances, and how even after we return, we are changed.In this episode I also share information about the New Trail Troutibtten beer and the release event on June 29th.I also announce the next Troutbitten Live Stream event on YouTube, which is Wednesday, June 5th at 8:00 pm, EST. Our guest is Tom Rosenbauer. Our topic is stocking and club water.I also ask for emails to the Pennsylvania Fish Commission supporting their efforts to stop stocking over wild trout. Here is the information for that:ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | Be a Voice for Wild Trout -- Your Most Effective Conservation Measure is Also the Easiest** Send the Pennsylvania Fish Commission a simple email of support for eliminating stocking on wild trout waters. **[email protected]: Troutbitten | The Further You Walk, The More You Leave BehindVisitTroutbitten WebsiteTroutbitten InstagramTroutbitten YouTubeTroutbitten FacebookThank You to Pre-Roll Ad Sponsors:SkwalaandOrvis

I was happy to be a guest on the Untangled Podcast with Spencer Durrant. We talked mostly about Nymphing tactics for beginners. We also talked a little about a fishing life and the fly fishing industry.You can listen to that full episode  here in the Troubitten Podcast feedFollow the Untangled Podcast hosted by the Venturing Fly Company YouTube channel.https://youtu.be/AWoagPJ0JPc?si=EjXoavzV8pGg9NEIVisitTroutbitten WebsiteTroutbitten InstagramTroutbitten YouTubeTroutbitten FacebookThank You to Pre-Roll Ad Sponsors:SkwalaandOrvis

In this interim episode, Becky and I look back on what has happened in 2024 so far, and we set the table for what’s to come. We talk about Patagonia, videos, articles, podcasts, livestream podcasts, one-on-one sessions, hosted trips, guide season, the next Troutbitten Leader Sale and a Troutbitten beer.Thank you for being part of this Troutbitten community.ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | One-On-One Virtual Skills SessionsREAD: Troutbitten | The First Troutbitten LIVESTREAM Podcast On YouTubeVisitTroutbitten WebsiteTroutbitten InstagramTroutbitten YouTubeTroutbitten FacebookThank You to Pre-Roll Ad Sponsors:SkwalaandOrvis

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. ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | Category | The Mono RigREAD: Troutbitten | Beyond Euro NymphingPODCAST: Troutbitten | Fly Fishing the Mono Rig — Versatility and the Tight Line Advantage Taken FurtherREAD: Troutbitten | Design and Function of the Troutbitten Standard Mono RigVIDEO: Troutbitten | Mono Rigs and Euro Rigs -- Micro Thin or Standard?READ: Troutbitten | Thin and Micro-Thin Leaders for Euro Nymphing and the Mono RigREAD: Troutbitten | The Full Mono Rig System — All the variations, with formulas and adjustmentsREAD: Troutbitten | What You're Missing By Following FIPS Competition RulesVisitTroutbitten WebsiteTroutbitten InstagramTroutbitten YouTubeTroutbitten FacebookThank You to Pre-Roll Ad Sponsors:SkwalaandOrvis

We’re in between podcast season, and it's time for an update about what’s going on with Troutbitten. My wife, Becky, joins me to talk about the past, the present and the near future.The summer Troutbitten Shop leader sale launches on Monday morning, July 31st. All Troutbitten leaders will be back in stock: Harvey, Standard, Thin and Micro Thin Mono Rigs, Full Kits and Standard Sighters. Also in the shop are new hats and tee shirts in collaboration with New Trail Brewing Company.My Guide Schedule for fall of '24 has been full for a while now. And my spring season is a little over half booked up. I will open dates for fall '24 on September 20th, next month. Bill and Austin will have available dates for this fall pretty soon. So if you are still looking for a date this fall, be in touch.The Troutbitten YouTube channel continues to grow fast. I've spent a lot of time learning to film and edit, and I'm working on a Fish and Film series that should be out by the beginning of October. These are first-person-style videos that also mix in other camera angles. These are videos that simply show the fishing and the experience of being on the river, highlighting the decisions made to be versatile and to meet fish on their own terms. Josh Darling and I will continue to publish videos every other week. Those videos are in one of these categories: Troutbitten Tips, Fish and Film, Troutbitten Fly Box, Fishing the Mono Rig. The Troutbitten Podcast continues with Season 8, beginning on August 20th. This is a six part Skills Series covering Night Fishing for Trout. After that, we’ll take a couple weeks off until Season 9 of the Troutbitten Podcast begins on October 15 and runs until Christmas time.ResourcesSHOP: Troutbitten | The Troutbitten ShopGUIDE: Troutbitten | Troutbitten Guided Fishing TripsVIDEOS: Troutbitten | Troutbitten VideosPODCASTS: Troutbitten | The Troutbitten Podcast VisitTroutbitten WebsiteTroutbitten InstagramTroutbitten YouTubeTroutbitten FacebookThank You to Pre-Roll Ad Sponsors:OrvisandSmith Creek

This episode is a brief pause in season seven of the podcast to share something that I published to Troutbitten in the early years. The last two weeks have been a whirlwind of emotion and activity. The days were filled with energy and adrenaline, as my youngest son's Little League baseball team won the league championship. They battled through two weeks of playoffs and took the title in the last series, where every game was decided in the final inning.I've coached Little League for nine years, and this was my last. My youngest son is twelve, and this was his senior year of Little League.To see it all end in such dramatic fashion was a gift. But the biggest emotions, from caring about something so deeply, are always a gift, whether that's in victory or defeat, love or loss.When the Knights were on the edge of winning or losing the championship series, the day before the final game, I kept thinking about an experience I had with one of the largest trout I've ever lost. Years ago, I wrote that into a story on Troutbitten.This episode is a l reading of a story that I first published on July 15, 2015, titled, This Is The End.It's also a little about baseball.ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | This Is The EndREAD: Troutbitten | Some Days Are Diamonds, Some Days Are RocksREAD: Troutbitten | Category | StoriesVisitTroutbitten WebsiteTroutbitten InstagramTroutbitten YouTubeTroutbitten FacebookThank You to Pre-Roll Ad Sponsors:Precision Fly and Tackle Use code TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order at Precision.andOrvis

Troutbitten is about the pursuit of fishing tactics. It’s about discovering new techniques and improving our skills. We don’t want to hope something will happen out there. We try to make it happen. And that element of fly fishing, where there’s always something new to try, is what is so attractive to those of us who dedicate much of our lives to the river.But there’s another side to this love of pursuing trout. And I once wrote it down in an article this way:"There are two sides to every fisherman: one that simply enjoys being on the water (hoping to catch a fish), and the other that desperately wants to know how to put more fish in the net. These two parts find an internal balance inside every long-term angler that I know."Among the nearly one-thousand articles published on Troutbitten, I strive to reflect this balance. The Stories category of the website carries the heart and soul of this project. And if I were limited to writing stories or tactical pieces only, I would no doubt hold on to the stories. I love this kind of writing.This episode is a reading of a story that I first published on February 23, 2022, titled, Fish It Anyway . . .ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | Fish It AnywayREAD: Troutbitten | Category | StoriesVisitTroutbitten WebsiteTroutbitten InstagramTroutbitten YouTubeTroutbitten FacebookThank You to Pre-Roll Ad Sponsors:Precision Fly and Tackle Use code TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order at Precision.andOrvis

Season Seven will begin on April 10th. But in between seasons, I want to catch you up on a few things that are going on with Troutbitten.Just a few years ago, Troutbitten was the website only. I wrote and published articles three times a week. Now it’s a multi-media company with many branches — there’s the podcast, the videos, the online shop, hosted events and, of course, the guide business.Here's what's going on in the Troutbitten world . . .ResourcesVIDEO: Troutbitten | Mono Rigs and Euro Leaders -- Micro Thin or Standard?SHOP: Troutbitten | The Troutbitten ShopPODCASTS: Troutbitten | Podcast HomeVisitTroutbitten WebsiteTroutbitten InstagramTroutbitten YouTubeTroutbitten FacebookThank You to Pre-Roll Ad Sponsors:Precision Fly and Tackle Use code TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order at Precision.andOrvis

We’re in between podcast seasons and on a bit of a summer break. But I wanted to keep in touch here. I’d like to tell you more about the Troutbitten Project -- about all of the branches, what’s coming next and how all of this ties together.Season Four of the Troutbitten podcast begins on August 14th. It’s a five-part tactical series on Dry Dropper styles. We followed the same platform — or style — in season two, when we covered the Nine Essential Skills of Tight Line and Euro Nymphing. These are compact, informational episodes that detail one narrowly focused topic. I’ll be joined again by my friend, Austin Dando, to build through the framework of this fun, effective style. And by the end of the series, you should have a thorough understanding of the three styles for dry dropper.Maybe you’ve never thought of dry dropper this way. But the point is, there are three drastically different ways that we fish dry dropper. The rigs, the casting, the tactics and the intentions for each style are unique to each method. And sure, there’s some crossover, but in many ways, these styles are more different than they are similar. I call them Light Dry Dropper, Bobber Dry Dropper (or standard dry dropper for you purists out there) and Tight Line Dry Dropper.READ: Troutbitten | Series | Three Styles of Dry DropperSo that podcast series — Season Four — begins August 14th. But now’s a good time to mention that this full Dry Dropper series already exists on the Troutbitten website. The Three Styles of Dry Dropper is a four part series that I published on Troutbitten a few years ago. That series gets a lot of traffic every year, and I receive a lot of questions on the styles. So there’s more to be said, and I think it’s the perfect choice for our second installment of the skills series format on the podcast.Here’s the point: everything at Troutbitten ties together. None of it stands alone. Troutbitten started as a fishing blog eight years ago. Then it became the place where I published my tactical articles and best stories. Because as the traffic grew, ad revenue from the site added up to more than I could make with magazine placements and book contracts. By following that route, I maintained the copyright to my own works, so I can still do things like this — taking the Dry Dropper Styles series and building a podcast around the topic.It ends up that the choices I made years ago, fortuitously setup everything that Troutbitten has grown into. And because it’s so much more than a website now, I refer to all of this as the Troutbitten Project.The website, the podcast, the YouTube channel and the shop -- all of it ties together . . .Visit:Troutbitten WebsiteTroutbitten InstagramTroutbitten YouTubeTroutbitten FacebookThank You to Pre-Roll Ad Sponsors:Precision Fly and Tackle Use code TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order at Precision.andOrvis

Hey Troutbitten friends, Season three of the podcast is finished, and season four begins in just a few weeks. But in this time off, I have something special for you.I was recently a guest on the Wade Out There podcast with Jason Shemchuk. We had a fun discussion about family, kids and fly fishing. Then we got technical about streamer tactics, presentations and efficiencies.Jason started Wade Out There in 2019 as an author and artist focused on fly fishing for trout. He recently published episode 100 of the podcast, and I’m happy to be his first repeat guest. That’s the conversation I’m sharing here.You can find all of Jason’s excellent work over at WadeOutThere.com. And you can easily find his podcast series through any service or podcast player.So I hope you enjoy listening to my talk with Jason Shemchuck.I’ll also be back next week in your podcast feed with a short episode about the Troutbitten project.So until then . . . fish hard, friends. Visit:Troutbitten WebsiteTroutbitten InstagramTroutbitten YouTubeTroutbitten FacebookThank You to Pre-Roll Ad Sponsors:Precision Fly and Tackle Use code TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order at Precision.andOrvis

Hello, friends.Season two of the Troutbitten podcast is finished, and season three begins soon. So in this off week, I have something a little special for you.Recently, I was a guest on the Wet Fly Swing podcast with Dave Stewart. So this is a feed drop of that episode in full. Dave runs a great show, and he’s been at it for a long time. I was happy to be a guest for the second time with Dave. And in this episode, we dig into a lot of streamer tactics, some nymphing techniques, and we have a good talk about what happens during the transition from winter into spring fishing.I hope you enjoy it. And if you do, go check out more at wetflyswing.com. With over 300 episodes in the bank, Dave talks with some of the most knowledgeable and entertaining fly fishers in the game. I’ve learned a lot from Dave’s podcast over the years.I hope you enjoy listening to my talk with Dave Stewart.So until next week . . . fish hard, friends. ** NOTE ** Season Three begins next week. We return to the Season One format of full-panel discussions covering all things fly fishing for trout. And we're looking forward to it.