How To
Tips for Reading Water
Dom Swentosky has a recent post over at Troutbitten that will prove valuable to anyone looking to hone their skills at reading water. Specifically, Dom looks at how your tactics for reading water change as the seasons do, especially from summer to fall. What worked all summer long likely won't once the mornings become crisp again, and it takes a keen eye...
Tips For Fighting Big Fish
Fighting and landing big fish on a fly rod is a skill many anglers hone over time, but they often learn it the hard way. There are a few things you can do to make landing big fish more effective, which is especially important now that we know so much more about how fish recover from catch-and-release. That's why it's important to read this story from Kent...
Bowling for Bowfin
George Daniel recently put together a great piece on getting started chasing bowfin on the fly rod. Bowfin are a unique, prehistoric fish that are on my personal bucket list, mostly because they're so different from any of the trout I have to play with here in the Rockies. Daniel's story details a trip he took with guide Drew Price, of Masterclass Angling...
Brown Trout 101
Brown trout are mercurial, reclusive, and to many anglers, still mysterious. We're not sure exactly what makes these critters tick, but we are sure we enjoy catching them. To catch more browns - or to understand how to catch the really large ones - it will help to have a baseline knowledge of their habitat, feeding habits, and biology. That's where this...
Tactical Trout Spey
I've become interested in trout spey in recent months, because it seems like such an effective method to cover a lot of the bigger rivers near me. So, this story from Rick Kustich in Fly Fisherman Magazine immediately caught my eye. It's an in-depth, detailed explanation of some killer trout spey tactics, and Kustich answered many of the questions I've...
Orvis Podcast: Carp Fishing Around Spawning Time
In this recent episode of the Orvis podcast, Tom Rosenbauer sits down with Rowan Lytle to talk about the secrets of carp fishing during their spring spawn. Lytle is a guide with extensive experience, and he dishes on some interesting tactics for targeting a fish that many folks really enjoy. You can listen to the show here.
Tip: Plan for the Hook Set
In this recent story from Dom Swentosky over at Troutbitten, he shares a tip that I first heard from a Boy Scout leader in my early teens. Dom talks about the importance of planning for your hook set, especially when fishing on smaller water. On big, wide-open rivers, you don't necessarily need to plan for the hook set as thoroughly. On water that's...
Targeting Gar With Rope Flies
Fly fishing's evolution over the past 20 years has been intriguing to watch, especially as techniques get refined to chase fish that wouldn't be considered "traditional" quarry on a fly rod. The longnose gar certainly wouldn't fall into the "traditional" category, but there's a growing subset of anglers who have mastered the technique of chasing them on the...
The Dorsey Yarn Indicator
Dom Swentosky, over at Troutbitten, always has well-rounded opinions and insights into the more technical aspect of fly fishing. So, it shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that Dom favors a different style of indicator than what most of us use. His favorite is the Dorsey Yarn Indicator, which is a slightly different take on yarn indicators than what...
Code Breaker Angler Series Launches
Gilbert Rowley and the crew at Capture Adventure Media have launched a new fly fishing series on YouTube. The Code Break Angler series is a marriage of Rowley's award-winning cinematography, paired with different point-of-view cameras and narration to help teach other anglers how to have more success out on the water. The first episode is out now, and you...