Episode 268: When It’s Time to Quit Your Favorite Stream

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“Quit your favorite stream” doesn’t sound like sage fly fishing advice. Quitters never win. And winners never quit.

That’s fully true. And it’s also fully not true.

Sometimes, the best thing you can do is to quit your favorite stream, creek, or stretch of river. In this episode, we wax not so eloquently on when it’s time to walk away from what has been your favorite fishing spot. It may not be forever. But doing so may push you to find new water to fish.

LISTEN NOW TO “WHEN TO QUIT YOUR FAVORITE STREAM”

PURCHASE OUR BOOK ON FLY FISHING HACKS – the essential collection of great tips to catch more fish

“The Fly Fisher’s Book of Lists” gives you hundreds of tips

Fly fishing is a lot more than simply learning how to cast.

There are thousands of techniques and hacks that can help you catch more fish.

Often, it’s the little things that make a big difference, increasing your enjoyment of the sport.

“The Fly Fisher’s Book of Lists” is a must-read for folks who prefer to scan lists and find new ways to catch more fish. Read one list, and, like a handful of peanuts, you won’t be able to stop at one.

Visit Amazon to buy your copy today!

WOULD YOU REFER OUR FLY FISHING PODCAST?

We would love a referral from you.

Simply mention our podcast to your TU chapter or fly fishing club or even local fly shop.

If you are a nonprofit, serving the outdoors community, you have our permission to reprint our content in your online or print newsletter with the appropriate credit and links.

Thank you for your trust. And now, start to plan your next day on the water!

Episode 267: The Basics of Fly Fishing with Streamers

fly fishing rivers flies nymphs dries emergers fly fishing spring creeks fly fishing the edges of the seasons fishing with streamers quit your favorite stream, fly fishing high mountain lakes, fly fishing more simple, when your fly fishing trip is just okay, crazy fly fishing, Alaskan fly fishing trip, fly fishing basics, fly fishing resolutions, fly fishing platitudes, hook a trout

Fishing with streamers tends to result in catching bigger fish.

There’s no scientific evidence to support this, of course, other than our anecdotal evidence. But we’ve had some terrific days on the river casting bigger flies that we fish on an active retrieve. In this episode, we provide an overview of our streamer fishing experience and provide some basic tips to getting started.

LISTEN NOW TO “THE BASICS OF FLY FISHING WITH STREAMERS

PURCHASE OUR BOOK ON FLY FISHING HACKS – the essential collection of great tips to catch more fish

“The Fly Fisher’s Book of Lists” gives you hundreds of tips

Fly fishing is a lot more than simply learning how to cast.

There are thousands of techniques and hacks that can help you catch more fish.

Often, it’s the little things that make a big difference, increasing your enjoyment of the sport.

“The Fly Fisher’s Book of Lists” is a must-read for folks who prefer to scan lists and find new ways to catch more fish. Read one list, and, like a handful of peanuts, you won’t be able to stop at one.

Visit Amazon to buy your copy today!

WOULD YOU REFER OUR PODCAST?

We would love a referral from you.

Simply mention our podcast to your TU chapter or fly fishing club or even local fly shop.

If you are a nonprofit, serving the outdoors community, you have our permission to reprint our content in your online or print newsletter with the appropriate credit and links.

Thank you for your trust. And now, start to plan your next day on the water!

Episode 266: Fly Fishing the Edges of the Seasons

fly fishing rivers flies nymphs dries emergers fly fishing spring creeks fly fishing the edges of the seasons fishing with streamers quit your favorite stream, fly fishing high mountain lakes, fly fishing more simple, when your fly fishing trip is just okay, crazy fly fishing, Alaskan fly fishing trip, fly fishing basics, fly fishing resolutions, fly fishing platitudes, hook a trout

Fly Fishing the edges of the seasons begins with frustration. Most fly fishers despise driving up to where they expect to fish for the day and see three trucks alongside the creek. In this episode, we discuss our basic approach to fishing the four seasons. We try as much as possible to fish the edges of winter, spring, summer, and fall.

There are fewer fly fishers, the hotel rates are cheaper, and the fishing can be spectacular. The downside to fly fishing the edges of the season is the weather, of course. Most likely you’ll feel colder. And you’ll need to figure out how to get out during the middle of the week.

LISTEN NOW TO “FLY FISHING THE EDGES OF THE SEASON” NOW!

PURCHASE OUR BOOK ON FLY FISHING HACKS – the essential collection of great tips to catch more fish

“The Fly Fisher’s Book of Lists” gives you hundreds of tips

Fly fishing is a lot more than simply learning how to cast.

There are thousands of techniques and hacks that can help you catch more fish.

Often, it’s the little things that make a big difference, increasing your enjoyment of the sport.

“The Fly Fisher’s Book of Lists” is a must-read for folks who prefer to scan lists and find new ways to catch more fish. Read one list, and, like a handful of peanuts, you won’t be able to stop at one.

Visit Amazon to buy your copy today!

WOULD YOU REFER OUR PODCAST?

We would love a referral from you.

Simply mention our podcast to your TU chapter or fly fishing club or even local fly shop.

If you are a nonprofit, serving the outdoors community, you have our permission to reprint our content in your online or print newsletter with the appropriate credit and links.

Thank you for your trust. And now, start to plan your next day on the water!

Episode 265: Fly Fishing Spring Creeks with More Success

fly fishing rivers flies nymphs dries emergers fly fishing spring creeks fly fishing the edges of the seasons fishing with streamers quit your favorite stream, fly fishing high mountain lakes, fly fishing more simple, when your fly fishing trip is just okay, crazy fly fishing, Alaskan fly fishing trip, fly fishing basics, fly fishing resolutions, fly fishing platitudes, hook a trout

Fly fishing spring creeks with more success often demands more finesse than fishing freestone rivers. The water temperature is more consistent in spring creeks, and the food more ubiquitous. If you want to catch fish in a spring creek, your tackle must be lighter, and you need to be more stealthy.

But there are some other keys when fly fishing spring creeks with more success: They include moving from run to run more quickly and switching up your rig when you’re not catching fish. There’s no honor in staying with the same rig all day and never netting a fish. And then, ultimately, when fly fishing springs creeks ends up a bust, there’s always dinner at your local supper club or pub.

LISTEN NOW TO “FLY FISHING SPRING CREEKS WITH MORE SUCCESS

PURCHASE OUR BOOK ON FLY FISHING HACKS – the essential collection of great tips to catch more fish

“The Fly Fisher’s Book of Lists” gives you hundreds of tips

Fly fishing is a lot more than simply learning how to cast.

There are thousands of techniques and hacks that can help you catch more fish.

Often, it’s the little things that make a big difference, increasing your enjoyment of the sport.

“The Fly Fisher’s Book of Lists” is a must-read for folks who prefer to scan lists and find new ways to catch more fish. Read one list, and, like a handful of peanuts, you won’t be able to stop at one.

Visit Amazon to buy your copy today!

WOULD YOU REFER OUR PODCAST?

We would love a referral from you.

Simply mention our podcast to your TU chapter or fly fishing club or even local fly shop.

If you are a nonprofit, serving the outdoors community, you have our permission to reprint our content in your online or print newsletter with the appropriate credit and links.

Thank you for your trust. And now, start to plan your next day on the water!

Episode 264: The Other Perks of Fly Fishing

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The other perks of fly fishing may seem a distant second to catching fish, but they make up a significant part of why we enjoy fly fishing so much.

Catching fish is the reward of fly fishing. And we both love and expect to catch fish every time we head out to the river. But there are some other perks of fly fishing. And in this episode, we list several, including the chance to experience the “nonsecular” parts of life, eating at small-town cafes, and the conversations about the great themes of life.

LISTEN NOW TO “The Other Perks of Fly Fishing

PURCHASE OUR BOOK ON FLY FISHING HACKS – the essential collection of great tips to catch more fish

“The Fly Fisher’s Book of Lists” gives you hundreds of tips

Fly fishing is a lot more than simply learning how to cast.

There are thousands of techniques and hacks that can help you catch more fish.

Often, it’s the little things that make a big difference, increasing your enjoyment of the sport.

“The Fly Fisher’s Book of Lists” is a must-read for folks who prefer to scan lists and find new ways to catch more fish. Read one list, and, like a handful of peanuts, you won’t be able to stop at one.

Visit Amazon to buy your copy today!

WOULD YOU REFER OUR PODCAST?

We would love a referral from you.

Simply mention our podcast to your TU chapter or fly fishing club or even local fly shop.

If you are a nonprofit, serving the outdoors community, you have our permission to reprint our content in your online or print newsletter with the appropriate credit and links.

Thank you for your trust. And now, start to plan your next day on the water!

Episode 263: Fly Fishing Tips We’ve Learned from Other Fishers

fly fishing rivers flies nymphs dries emergers fly fishing spring creeks fly fishing the edges of the seasons fishing with streamers quit your favorite stream, fly fishing high mountain lakes, fly fishing more simple, when your fly fishing trip is just okay, crazy fly fishing, Alaskan fly fishing trip, fly fishing basics, fly fishing resolutions, fly fishing platitudes, hook a trout

Fly fishing tips are everywhere, but there are some that stick. And make a real difference in the number of fish that you catch. It takes a village to raise a fly fisher. In this episode, we admit once again to our persistent mediocrity as fly fishers.

We give credit, however, to whatever skills we have to friends, guides, and others we’ve observed through the years. They have provided us with fly fishing tips that have improved our chops and allowed us to catch more fish.

This episode offers up a handful of these fly fishing tips, including how to use the tip of your rod while streamer fishing and monitoring how deep your nymph is by observing the speed of your strike indicator. Other tips include lifting your line off the water and how to cast (or not cast) against the wind.

LISTEN NOW TO “Fly Fishing Tips We’ve Picked Up from Other Fishers”

PURCHASE OUR BOOK ON FLY FISHING HACKS – the essential collection of great tips to catch more fish

“The Fly Fisher’s Book of Lists” gives you hundreds of tips

Fly fishing is a lot more than simply learning how to cast.

There are thousands of techniques and hacks that can help you catch more fish.

Often, it’s the little things that make a big difference, increasing your enjoyment of the sport.

“The Fly Fisher’s Book of Lists” is a must-read for folks who prefer to scan lists and find new ways to catch more fish. Read one list, and, like a handful of peanuts, you won’t be able to stop at one.

Visit Amazon to buy your copy today!

WOULD YOU REFER OUR PODCAST?

We would love a referral from you.

Simply mention our podcast to your TU chapter or fly fishing club or even local fly shop.

If you are a nonprofit, serving the outdoors community, you have our permission to reprint our content in your online or print newsletter with the appropriate credit and links.

Thank you for your trust. And now, start to plan your next day on the water!

Episode 262: Three Magical Days Fly Fishing the Yellowstone River

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Fly fishing the Yellowstone River late in the fall is a risk. If the weather suddenly turns right before your fly fishing trip, the roads in the Park may close. Or perhaps if the weather has been too balmy, the trout may not be rising. And since the main hatches and the hoppers have been gone for over a month, you’re resigned to streamers and nymphs.

But last fall, we timed the trip perfectly, no thanks to our planning. And even though the weather was bright and sunny, fly fishing the Yellowstone River inside the Park gave us three magical days of fishing. It was three days of 15- to 19-inch cutthroat trout, fat like middle-aged men.

LISTEN NOW: Three Magical Days Fly Fishing the Yellowstone River

PURCHASE OUR BOOK ON FLY FISHING HACKS – the essential collection of great tips to catch more fish

“The Fly Fisher’s Book of Lists” gives you hundreds of tips

Fly fishing is a lot more than simply learning how to cast.

There are thousands of techniques and hacks that can help you catch more fish.

Often, it’s the little things that make a big difference, increasing your enjoyment of the sport.

“The Fly Fisher’s Book of Lists” is a must-read for folks who prefer to scan lists and find new ways to catch more fish. Read one list, and, like a handful of peanuts, you won’t be able to stop at one.

Visit Amazon to buy your copy today!

WOULD YOU REFER OUR PODCAST?

We would love a referral from you.

Simply mention our podcast to your TU chapter or fly fishing club or even local fly shop.

If you are a nonprofit, serving the outdoors community, you have our permission to reprint our content in your online or print newsletter with the appropriate credit and links.

Thank you for your trust. And now, start to plan your next day on the water!

Episode 261: Why We Continue to Fly Fish

Pickle Ball is not in our future. We continue to fly fish for a variety of reasons, including the sheer delight of spending a few hours on the river trying to convince trout that what we’re presenting is real.

This is our first episode in a while, and we’re excited to back in the publishing saddle. Our current plan is to release at least four (and maybe more) new episodes each season. We’re considering this, still, winter season, even though we’ve already crossed into March.

We thought we’d start up our podcast again with the heart of why we fly fish. We begin with what we’ve been up to the past few months and then discuss several reasons for our continued passion for the sport.

LISTEN NOW: Why We Continue Fly Fish

PURCHASE OUR BOOK ON FLY FISHING HACKS – the essential collection of great tips to catch more fish

“The Fly Fisher’s Book of Lists” gives you hundreds of tips

Fly fishing is a lot more than simply learning how to cast.

There are thousands of techniques and hacks that can help you catch more fish.

Often, it’s the little things that make a big difference, increasing your enjoyment of the sport.

“The Fly Fisher’s Book of Lists” is a must-read for folks who prefer to scan lists and find new ways to catch more fish. Read one list, and, like a handful of peanuts, you won’t be able to stop at one.

Visit Amazon to buy your copy today!

WOULD YOU REFER OUR PODCAST?

We would love a referral from you.

Simply mention our podcast to your TU chapter or fly fishing club or even local fly shop.

If you are a nonprofit, serving the outdoors community, you have our permission to reprint our content in your online or print newsletter with the appropriate credit and links.

Thank you for your trust. And now, start to plan your next day on the water!

Episode 260: Dave Kumlien on the Yellowstone Flooding and Its Effect on Fishing

fly fishing rivers flies nymphs dries emergers fly fishing spring creeks fly fishing the edges of the seasons fishing with streamers quit your favorite stream, fly fishing high mountain lakes, fly fishing more simple, when your fly fishing trip is just okay, crazy fly fishing, Alaskan fly fishing trip, fly fishing basics, fly fishing resolutions, fly fishing platitudes, hook a trout

The Yellowstone Flood of 2022 is not yet over, and already it is the most catastrophic flooding event of the Yellowstone River in recorded history. Major flooding on the Yellowstone River and its tributaries wiped out stretches of highway in Yellowstone National Park and in Paradise Valley to the north. Three inches of rain which took with it melting snow poured into these rivers.

We couldn’t think of a better person to talk with us about this than our friend Dave Kumlien, outfitter and guide, former fly shop owner in Bozeman, Montana, a former employee of the Whirling Disease Foundation and Trout Unlimited, and a member of the 2022 class of inductees into the Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame.

In this episode, we interview Dave on the Yellowstone flooding and its effect on fishing.

Dave helps us understand the historic nature of the flooding and gives us some insights on what happens to the fish during a flood. For example, he says that flooding often pushes the trout to the extremities of the river. In general, flooding doesn’t seem to have too big of a impact on fish populations, though young trout tend to be more at risk.

Fish are resilient, Dave says, and fishing will likely return quickly.

LISTEN NOW TO “Montana Outfitter Dave Kumlien on the Yellowstone Flooding and Its Effect on Fishing”

Great Stuff from Our Listeners Is on Hiatus

We’d love to hear from you again. Please post your comments below or send us an email at Steve and Dave. We hope you are making plans to get out on the river soon!

PURCHASE OUR BOOK ON FLY FISHING HACKS – the essential collection of great tips to catch more fish

“The Fly Fisher’s Book of Lists” gives you hundreds of tips

Fly fishing is a lot more than simply learning how to cast.

There are thousands of techniques and hacks that can help you catch more fish.

Often, it’s the little things that make a big difference, increasing your enjoyment of the sport.

“The Fly Fisher’s Book of Lists” is a must-read for folks who prefer to scan lists and find new ways to catch more fish. Read one list, and, like a handful of peanuts, you won’t be able to stop at one.

Visit Amazon to buy your copy today!

WOULD YOU REFER OUR PODCAST?

We would love a referral from you.

Simply mention our podcast to your TU chapter or fly fishing club or even local fly shop.

If you are a nonprofit, serving the outdoors community, you have our permission to reprint our content in your online or print newsletter with the appropriate credit and links.

Thank you for your trust. And now, start to plan your next day on the water!

Episode 259: Fly Fishing with Lighter Rods

fly fishing rivers flies nymphs dries emergers fly fishing spring creeks fly fishing the edges of the seasons fishing with streamers quit your favorite stream, fly fishing high mountain lakes, fly fishing more simple, when your fly fishing trip is just okay, crazy fly fishing, Alaskan fly fishing trip, fly fishing basics, fly fishing resolutions, fly fishing platitudes, hook a trout

Fly fishing with lighter rods makes sense only if the conditions are right. In recent years, each of us has purchased a lighter rod for smaller creeks. In this episode, we relay pluses and minuses of fly fishing with lighter rods.

LISTEN NOW TO “FLY FISHING WITH LIGHTER RODS”

PURCHASE OUR BOOK ON FLY FISHING HACKS – the essential collection of great tips to catch more fish

“The Fly Fisher’s Book of Lists” gives you hundreds of tips

Fly fishing is a lot more than simply learning how to cast.

There are thousands of techniques and hacks that can help you catch more fish.

Often, it’s the little things that make a big difference, increasing your enjoyment of the sport.

“The Fly Fisher’s Book of Lists” is a must-read for folks who prefer to scan lists and find new ways to catch more fish. Read one list, and, like a handful of peanuts, you won’t be able to stop at one.

Visit Amazon to buy your copy today!

WOULD YOU REFER OUR PODCAST?

We would love a referral from you.

Simply mention our podcast to your TU chapter or fly fishing club or even local fly shop.

If you are a nonprofit, serving the outdoors community, you have our permission to reprint our content in your online or print newsletter with the appropriate credit and links.

Thank you for your trust. And now, start to plan your next day on the water!

OTHER EPISODES ON FLY RODS

The Basics of Buying a Fly Fishing Rod

Which Is the Best Overall Fly Rod