Troutbitten

Nymphing has gotten a little tougher over the years, because the trout are a little more picky. I think that’s fair to say. And while the flies I used to find in the trees were mostly Wooley Buggers and Adams dry flies, these days, everything looks like some version of a Perdigon. More anglers are nymphing than ever before. So trout see artificial nymphs in the drift more than ever, and they’re bound to be a little tougher to convince. Surely, the most common advice for fooling more selective...

My friends and I have spent decades chasing trout all over the wooded valleys of our home waters and on some fun destination trips. I always say that if you spend enough time on the water, you’ll find everything you need out there. Jokingly, I say that about fishing gear. You’ll find nets, tippet posts loaded with tippet, hemostats, nippers and even full fly boxes . . . just by fishing a lot. You’ll also find all the techniques necessary, with time on the water, a willingness to solve the my...

This podcast is all about about your waders — wader care and wader repair. You might think that if you take care of your waders, they’ll last forever, but that's surely not true. My son Aiden asked to loan a pair of my old waders to a friend the other day for a fishing trip. And I said, "sure, but they all leak." Every pair of waders I’ve ever had has ended with leaks. Waders are like anything else. Nothing lasts forever, but you can absolutely lengthen a wader's lifespan by taking care of th...

This one is all about fishing nets. We cover net types and sizes, handle length, bag depth and hoop width. We also discuss how each of us carries the net and how we access it quickly. Because if all of this is not well thought out, problems are sure to follow. The truth is, the net is one of the heaviest and most cumbersome pieces of gear we have out there. So for the frequent angler, these decisions about where to carry that weight and how to have the net ready for a quick draw and an easy r...

My friends are here with me to begin season twenty-one with a conversation about doing the opposite. Because if you’re struggling out there on the water, if the net hasn’t been wet in a while and the trout seem to disagree with everything you suggest, then maybe you should do the opposite. To quote Jerry Seinfeld’s advice to George . . . “If every instinct you have is wrong, the opposite would have to be right.” My friends Austin Dando, Bill Dell, Josh Darling and Trevor Smith join me for a f...