Fly Fishing Podcasts - General

Description: This week Jeremy Kehrein from Orvis Travel joined me to share his knowledge of travel planning and packing tips. Most people know how to plan travel (just call up our Travel Department!) and know how to pack a suitcase, so we focus on what travelers often forget—what questions do they forget to ask when calling a travel agent, guide, or lodge, and what do people often forget when packing for a fishing trip. Arriving in a remote destination without an essential doodad can, while not exactly spoiling a trip, make it less enjoyable. In the Fly Box this week there is an extremely helpful tip from a listener that can benefit every angler—of all ages and all genders. I won’t spoil the surprise by telling you want it is. There are also questions on building a 7X leader that won’t collapse, how to land very large trout on a 3-weight rod and 6X tippet, how often multiple anglers can fish a single riffle, a recommendation for a good book on small-stream trout fishing (guess what that is?), studded boots making noise in the water, how to imitate a Rooster Tail, how to catch snotty whitefish, and how to keep a foam fly floating all day long. There is also an excellent tip from a listener who is a personal trainer on the right exercises to prepare yourself for fishing.

Description: This week, I take a break from interviews and do a podcast like we did in the old days by interviewing myself. It’s a shameless plug for my newest book, Hatch Strategies, published by Rizzoli/Universe. I call it Twelve Tips on Fishing Hatches That Might Surprise You. I’m sure that many of you agree with most of the tips, especially if you’ve spent any time chasing trout when they are feeding on insect hatches. But I am willing to bet there are a couple you may not have thought of, that run contrary to what you have heard in the past, or might even think that Rosenbauer guy is full of fish feces. If you don’t agree with me, I’d love to hear about it, which may produce some interesting podcasts in the future. In the Fly Box this week, I answer (or try to answer) how to fish small streams with a 9-foot rod, the use of tippet rings, how to avoid spending a fortune on hackle, what percent of the time you should be hooking fish that rise to your dry fly, whether to fish for steelhead in a river where they are threatened, the use of scents on flies, how to avoid foul-hooking trout, the use of loop knots in trout fishing, and delicate dry-fly presentations at short distances. There are also a couple of great letters from listeners with comments—one on angling ethics and another on how to move from trout fishing to saltwater fly fishing on the West Coast.

Description: This week I have an interview with an old friend, Joe Demalderis, of Cross Current guide service in the Catskills. Joe knows the Delaware system about as well as any human, and has a common-sense approach to fishing hatches that I love. We talk about how to fish hatches from a drift boat or other craft, which at times can be more difficult than fishing hatches while wading, but at other times can reach fish in water that is too deep of otherwise inaccessible to the wader. In the Fly Box, we range from questions on getting droppers ready before you go fishing, caddis pupa tactics, fish rising to tippet rings, brook trout on streamers, the effect of heat on tippet material, shirt colors on trout streams, and suggested bonefish books.

Description: I don’t know why redfish have the reputation of being easy to catch. Every one I have ever cast to was spooky and suspicious. I’ve also found that when casting to redfish, especially in the fascinating times when they’re tailing in shallow water, accuracy is key. And I don’t mean in the general area. You need to place the fly in exactly the right spot based on which direction the fish is facing. Want to find out more about gaining accuracy on redfish? You’ll have to listen to this week’s podcast, where I interview Orvis Saltwater Guide of the Year Lucas Bissett of Slidell, Louisiana. In the Fly Box this week, I try to answer questions on tides and currents in salt water, color of leader material, an old fly dressing formula, the Hopper Twitch, feather clippings, and how to reconcile the feeling of getting skunked (my wife and fishing buddies will tell you I don’t do this well).

Description: In the fly box this week we have questions on making your own braided leaders, boorish behavior on trout streams, the effect of melting snow on fishing, how to test a new fly, the ethics of using a guide to find a spot and then fishing it on your own (don’t do it), and a mystery caller at the end. This week I also share an interview with Jeff Skelding, executive director of the Friends of the Upper Delaware River (FUDR). This is a very effective regional conservation organization that after years of difficult relations with local public officials, state and regional water authorities, and highway departments, has gradually formed very effective partnerships with them. We can all learn from their advice and experience when it appears that conservation and property seem to be at odds. It does not have to be a zero-sum game.

Description: In this week’s podcast, our guest is the very savvy guide and writer Landon Mayer from central Colorado. Landon is the author of four books on fly fishing, numerous magazine articles, and you may have caught one of his presentations at a fly-fishing show. He’s also a hard-working guide. Landon gives us his special tips for taking advantage of the high water of spring runoff—something most of us try to avoid but with Landon’s guidance you might welcome these conditions. In The Fly Box, we talk about casting practice, the use of two indicators, fishing for landlocked salmon in lakes, Woolly Buggers for steelhead, and a heartwarming story about catching a steelhead despite adverse conditions.

Description: This week I have a delightful interview with the energetic Jen Ripple, publisher of Dun Magazine. She has some exciting news about her magazine that you’ll discover in the podcast. But the podcast is not about magazines, it’s about urban fly fishing, specifically Midwestern urban fly fishing. Jen is well versed on this subject, and I know you’ll enjoy some of her wild stories and you’ll learn a bunch about how to seek out these gems in the middle of heavy industry. Also in the Fly Box we discuss loops on fly lines, whether fly fishing is better than spin fishing, what to do with poorly tied flies from your earlier attempts, how to target big brook trout, how to avoid spooking trout, when it’s OK to reel your line-to-leader connection inside your guides, how to avoid foul-hooking fish—and lots of other tidbits.

Description: Where can I legally fish and where am I trespassing? What is considered navigable water? Who owns the water and the fish in it? These are all questions answered in this week’s podcast by Land Tawney, CEO of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, based in Missoula, Montana. What you’ll learn is that these answers vary with every state, and thus you must learn a new set of access laws every time you cross state lines. Also in the Fly Box this week we talk about how to fish a streamer, why dry/dry dropper rigs work, shelf life of fly-tying thread, underwater fish photos, tipping guides, the use of class tippets in salt water, whether you can put backing away wet, and other fun stuff.

Description: This week we have a loooong stillwater podcast, for those of you who have been requesting one. Because the British are so more sophisticated in stillwater fishing than most North Americans (with the exception of anglers in the US Northwest and southwestern Canada) I turned to an expert from across the pond, Steve Yeomans, an expert stillwater guide and angler. Steve goes into detail on how to find fish in lakes, gearing up, casting tricks, lines and leaders, retrieves, and of course flies. It’s chock full of solid information. Also in the fly box we discuss the best length for saltwater fly rods, trout fishing in rain and fog, landing trout that sulk in deep pools, landing trout on smaller hooks, parachute posts, and beads vs. cones on flies. There are also two great suggestions from listeners and I re-answer one question where I thought I heard the caller say “tube flies in salt water” when he actually said “two flies in salt water”

Description: This week I had the pleasure of talking to Daniel Galhardo of Tenkara USA, who did a basic Tenkara podcast last year when he was visiting us. We get into a little more detail on Tenkara, especially the use of sinking flies and all the ways you can manipulate them with this method. If you are curious about this method of fishing I think you’ll enjoy it. In The Fly Box this week, we had a wide range of topics, like how to hook snakehead on a fly, which sling bag to pick, how to fish streamers, a tip on curing UV resins, whether the flex or action of the rod affects your hooking ability, and which direction salmon face when they are returning to the ocean.

Description: In this podcast I tell a story about getting caught playing Hendrickson hooky by two owners of the Orvis Company. Plus various assorted Fly Box questions like keeping rainbows on the hook when they jump, how to remove flies from deep in a trout’s mouth, how Eastern and Western waters differ in early season, fly fishing alongside spin-fishing buddies—plus the main podcast, in which Paul Moinester of Keep ‘Em Wet and I talk about best practices for releasing fish.

Description: This week we visit with Captain Dave Pecci about early spring fishing in the Charlotte Harbor area of Florida. WE also talk once again about the current water quality issue in Florida. You may all be sick of hearing about it, but other than climate change the Everglades issue is one of the most serious immediate threats to both our freshwater and saltwater ecosystems. But don?t worry, we also talk about catching redfish, speckled trout, and snook. In The Fly Box this week we cover a broad range of topics, from the Eastern Green Drake hatch to small-stream steelhead tactics to the advantages of fiberglass rods.

Description: Tom sits down with Orvis' new fly guru, Jesse Haller to discuss (of course) flies as well as competitive fly fishing. / / In the Fly Box, Tom takes your questions ranging from scented flies to broken rods.

Description: This week the main event is a chat with John Herzer, owner of Blackfoot River Outfitters and one of the savviest anglers and guides I know. John talks about late fall and winter fishing in the Missoula area, although the solid tips he gives would work anywhere in the world when you encounter colder conditions. Also in the Fly Box we discuss wet flies vs. nymphs and when to use them, single-handed steelhead rods that also work for bass and salt water, night fishing for rainbow trout (don’t), native fish species, and my brilliant career picking flies out of carpets.

Description: This week we had lots of great questions in the Fly Box because I have not done a podcast in a few weeks—so there were lots of good ones in my inbox. We talk about using the Non-Slip Mono Loop knot for fresh water, tippet rings, tough rising fish, Depth Charge Lines, fly boxes for big dries, click-and pawl reels for trout, up vs. down vs. ring eyes for fly hooks—plus two great suggestions from listeners: one on casting fatigue and the other on a very innovative way to dry CDC flies. And in the main event, casting instructor extraordinaire Pete Kutzer and I try to simplify Spey casting and lines for two-handed rods. I am not sure we simplified it much but hopefully it will answer some of your questions.