The Orvis Fly-fishing Guide Podcast

I have long enjoyed Robert Ketley's [31:06] column in California Fly Fisher magazine because he often delves deeply into aspects of fly fishing that we don't pay much attention to. And he's a tireless researcher. So when I noticed a deep dive he did on fly-fishing knots using a microscope I knew I had to get him on the podcast. You won't learn about which knot is best, but you will learn about why knots hold and why they break, how to tie a knot properly, and what happens when a knot gives way.   In the Fly Box this week, we have some unusually good questions, including: Will the 10-foot 7-weight Helios D rod offer me enough tippet protection when using 5X for steelhead? My local wild trout stream has almost dried up this year.  Where do the fish go, and how long until this stream can recover? When wading deep, when I pick up the line and cast I notice I make waves in the water.  How can I eliminate this? When swinging wet flies in a tight stream I need to use a roll cast, but how do I make another ro

Who owns the banks of a river? Who owns the bottom? Who owns the water that flows through a channel?  And what defines whether a river is navigable or not? There are often no easy answer to theses questions, and much of it is determined on a state-by-state basis. Beau Beasley [35:27] has spent years looking at specific cases of access controversies, and some of you may not like what he says because he often comes down on the side of a landowner who prohibits access to a piece of river.  But Beau looks at the facts and the law and approaches these issues in an objective manner.  It's a fascinating discussion.   In the Fly Box this week, we have some comments, a bunch of tips, and some tricky questions, including:  Will I find steelhead in the same places I find resident rainbows? How much time do you spend swinging a run for steelhead before moving on? A listener makes a case for the positive cost/benefit ratio of fishing with a guide. How much can a fly rod bend before breaking? Do trout seem to hav

Panfish are easy to find and catch in the spring and early summer. But later in the season, not so much.  Panfish are still around, but we need to look for them in different places and use modified techniques. Bart Lombardo [33:40] is an expert on all things panfish, and he gives us his secrets for finding and catching these delightful fly-rod targets as we approach late summer and fall.   In the Fly Box this week, we have a healthy assortment of tips and questions from listeners, including: A suggestion from a listener on a way to spot small dry flies if you have trouble seeing them on the water Do you ever fish under bridges?  Is it worth it? When tying in palmered hackle, what is the point in tying hackles in tip-first? What is your philosophy for selecting a dry fly when using a dry/dropper rig? I recently caught some nice fish on the edges of strong whirlpools.  Have I been missing something, and what suggestions do you have for fishing this kind of water? If trout aren't actively feeding in

What are the pleasures and pitfalls of running a successful fishing lodge?  What's it really like behind the scenes?  And how did a couple kids from New Hampshire end up running one of the most successful fishing and hunting lodges in Montana?  (Hint—it wasn't due to trust funds or investment banker money).  This week I interview Tim and Joanne Linehan [39:39], two of the nicest people on the planet and legends in the fly-fishing industry.  Their story is a heartwarming success story of a lifelong partnership in love and life. And in the Fly Box this week we have some great questions and helpful tips, including: Do you have any tips for fishing really muddy water or is it just not worth it? Does a fish's sense of smell work better in warm water or cold water? A great story about a listener breaking off a big rainbow and then coming back later in the day, catching the fish, and getting his fly back. Any tips on a fly rod for a 6-year-old kid? I have been nymph fishing with a fluorocarbon leader. 

Joe Bibbo [32:10] has a great back story and is a wonderful storyteller himself.  He's done a lot of DIY fishing, mainly from his home in the East to the Rocky Mountains and has some great advice on where to go for information as you plan your trip.  He also has some wonderful advice on what not to do, based on mistakes he's made over the years.  I get many questions from listeners about DIY trips so I am sure this podcast will be a popular one.   In the Fly Box this week, I had no phone calls to answer (hint, hint) but some good e-mail questions, including: I get conflicting advice on how close I can get to fish when tightline nymphing.  Can you give me some guidelines on how close I can approach them? Any tricks for seeing small flies in low light? I bought some Stimulators and see they have wire wraps on them.  Can I fish these as wet flies? I struggle to get a bite from river smallmouth bass in July and August and I could consistently catch them in spring.  Any suggestions? How can I avoid cr

My guest this week is Lucas Bissett [38:42], executive director the AFFTA, the trade association for the fly-fishing industry.  Lucas talks about the support they give to small, grass roots organizations for education and habitat protection—organizations that may not be able to apply for larger grants.  One of their current projects, which we discuss in detail, is how ocean fish stocks will be managed due to the changes in migration patterns due to climate change.  Lucas tells us that the federal organizations that set regulations for harvest and size lengths are very responsive to public input, so its something for which you can make a difference. In the Fly Box this week, we have some great questions and tips, including: I was told the river we fished had lots of 15-inch fish but all we caught were fish up to 12 inches.  Could the fish have been in the bottom of deep pools because of the warmer water? A tip from a listener, one I'm not completely sold on, for putting stick-on strike indicators on

  I take guilty pleasure in hearing horror stories from guides about their worst clients or other crazy things that happen on the river.  Orvis-Endorsed Guide of the Year for 2019 Chip Swanson [41:00] is a great storyteller and has had some wild and funny incidents on the river over the years.  I think everyone will enjoy these stories but just a warning—although not R-rated, some of his stories mention sensitive body parts so if your kids listen to podcasts with you, you may want to preview them first.  Nothing very raunchy but you have been warned!  Rated PG-13. In the Fly Box this week, we have some great questions and tips including: I fish a lake that is stocked with rainbows and has a small tributary stream.  Do you think the rainbows will run up into it? Do you have any tips for being stealthy on a trout stream other than not stepping right into the water? Can I use a sinking Salmon Poly Leader for trout? When do you extend the butt section of your leader? I am using a switch rod for distanc

  There's no doubt that casting a size 6 weighted streamer is more difficult than a size 14 Parachute Adams. The physics are different, no way around it. But casting guru Pete Kutzer [37:17] has some tricks that he shares to make casting big streamers, nymph rigs, and poppers easier by adjusting your casting motions. This is a frequent question on the Fly Box so I figured there was a need for an entire podcast on the subject.   In the Fly Box this week, surprisingly I did not have any questions on casting big flies. But I did have these tips and questions:  I have been looking for brown trout redds on my favorite wild trout stream but have not seen any.  When and where do they spawn? Does it make sense to look at my dry flies from underneath, getting the same view as the fish?  I have discovered a way of projecting my flies on the ceiling to look at them. My fly line lands OK, but my leader and fly curl off to one side and don't go where I want them to.  What am I doing wrong? Why do trout in my river

  A couple months ago I did a podcast with Jason Randall [36:39] on trout vision, and it was so popular that I asked him to come back on the podcast to do one on a trout's sense of smell and hearing.  Can trout hear your metal studs on the bottom when you wade, or the tip of your wading staff?  Can they hear you talking?  Can they smell your flies, and does it make sense to add scents to your fly?  Can they smell hatches coming?  I explore these and other topics with one of our foremost experts on what trout perceive in their environment.   In the Fly Box this week, we have a great assortment of questions and tips from listeners, including: What could I tie with size 16 and 18 Keel Hooks? When working the same pool, should the nymph or streamer angler cover the pool first? Where should you park when you see a stretch of unposted land? A listener relates a fun story of his first carp on the fly What would make me choose the more expensive textured Pro fly line over the Smooth version? What is your

Captain Drew Rodriguez [27:23] is the only Orvis-endorsed freshwater guide in Florida and specializes in largemouth and peacock bass in the canals near Miami and also the Everglades. In summer, peacocks are his main target as they just love hot weather, the hotter the better. He discusses how to find them, what flies to pick, and what tackle he recommends. They are a year-round target in the Miami area and, according to Captain Drew, a 30-fish day is a slow one.   In the Fly Box this week, we have some interesting questions and great tips from listeners, including: Can I fit my fly boxes, lunch, and a raincoat in the standard Orvis Sling Bag? A tip from a listener on how college fly-fishing clubs can get involved with the Trout Unlimited Five Rivers program A tip for taking notes on your phone to remind you of podcast questions A tip for using desiccant packages in your fly boxes Should I tether myself to my 7-year-old daughter when we are wading together? A tip from a listener on "urban blue lini

  Brandon Dale [43:32] is a licensed New York State guide who specializes in fishing, of all places, Central Park in the middle of The Big Apple. You may not be interested in fishing for carp in Central Park, but Brandon offers some valuable tips on carp fishing in murky water, and has developed some innovative techniques that all carp fanatics will want to learn.   In the Fly Box this week, we have a wide variety of questions and tips from listeners, including: Any tips on finding places to fly fish close to home? A tip from a listener on how to get studs in wading boots to mount properly What about kapok dubbing and wing burners?  What are your thoughts on using them? How can I fish a small mountain stream when it gets murky? Should I wear my wading jacket inside or outside of my waders? How should I read the water in rivers for bass? Is there an advantage to shorter rods when fishing for bass in rivers? I caught two rainbows that looked exactly the same.  Could it have been the same fish?

  I feel that European stillwater anglers are far more sophisticated in their approach to stillwater trout fishing and have studied it in more detail than most North American lake anglers. As a result, they use some techniques that are unlike what you see on most trout lakes and ponds in North America and both the flies and methods they use are worth experimenting with. My guest this week, Chad Critchley [48:21], is a guide and stillwater angler (and a lapsed competition angler) who shares some of these methods with us.   In the Fly Box this week, we have these questions and more: How should I retrieve Woolly Buggers for bass and panfish? My knots to my flies are always slipping.  What am I doing wrong? Do you have any tips on fishing larger rivers? Any reason, when fishing a popper/drop[per rig for bass, that I can't tie my popper on a separate dropper instead of tying to the bend of the popper hook? If daytime water temperatures are around 70 but night time temperatures when I fish are 65 degrees,

This episode was originally posted on March 10, 2022. Josh Nugent of Out Fly Fishing in Calgary has been doing a series of "Seven Deadly Sins" podcasts with me over the past couple of years and this one is chock full of great advice [38:38]. Josh is a very preceptive angler and thinks deeply about how flies behave in the water and how trout react to them, and in the interview we go off on a number of tangents—all interesting and all about nymph fishing—and all of them with great advice on how to make your indicator nymphing game more fun and productive.  In the Fly Box this week, we have some great tips and questions from listeners, including: A terrific tip on why tying tube flies is a great way to get kids started What kind of other storage systems does Tom use around his roll-top desk? Where can I learn more about fly fishing for largemouth and smallmouth bass? What do you suggest for preventing cutoffs by chain pickerel? Can I use sitka or axis deer, antelope, or goat hair for fly tying? A great tip on re

Last week we looked at urban fly fishing in the Rockies.  This week we venture into the American south with Orvis Atlanta fishing manager Devin Lancaster for an expert look at how to find and catch interesting fly-rod species within your own city limits by using a method he calls Blue Dotting.  You'll need to listen to the podcast to find out exactly what that is.   In the Fly Box this week, as usual we have some interesting questions and helpful tips, including: If I am fishing for smallmouth in a river that also hosts trout and the water temperature is 68 degrees, what should I do? How can I cast to smallmouth in a river where I have almost no back-cast room? In lakes with multiple species, when fishing from shore should I expect to find different types of fish at different times? I have difficulty setting the hook on trout with a "trout set" and do better with a strip set.  Why is the 'trout set" recommended for trout? Do you have any tips on fly fishing for walleye? Why do some nymphs call for

It's no secret that the more popular trout rivers in the Rocky Mountains have gotten more crowded in the past few years.  Yet there are so many species of fish that are fun with a fly rod, closer to home, and that live in places that are far less crowded.  Davis James shares his experience with the "25 On the Fly" event, where anglers in the Front Range try to catch 25 different species of fish on the fly rod in two days (no one has ever done it).  He share his tips for what species are available, how to find them, what tackle to use, and what fly patterns to try.  We all need to embrace these wonderful fish to have fun closer to home and to take pressure off our more productive trout streams.   In the Fly Box this week, we have some great questions and tips from listeners, including: What percentage of the time do you use a dry dropper or double dry rig? What weight fly rod is best for panfish?  And what flies should I use? How do we ensure our fly fishing traditions are passed on to the younger genera

I get lots of questions about polarized sunglasses—how are they made, what exactly do they do, glass vs. plastic, what color lens should I pick, and do expensive ones really offer an advantage?  And why can't I get clear polarized sunglasses for low light?  My guest, Renato Cappuccitti [41:51], is an expert on polarized sunglasses and will answer your questions and mine about one of the most essential pieces of gear.   In the Fly Box this week we have some thoughtful and interesting questions and comments, including: Why can't I get braided leaders any more? Can I just put a long level tippet on a braided leader? My brook trout stream does not seem to have any fish larger than five inches.  Do you think there are any bigger ones in there? I was fishing a sulfur hatch and it started raining and the fish turned off completely.  Why do you think this happened? How can I eliminate wind knots when fishing a dropper rig? My girlfriend has trouble stripping in fish.  Do you have any tips for improving he

  What is a delayed harvest stream and how do the regulations work?  Do you use different flies and methods for hatchery fish?  How far do hatchery fish move and in which direction?  You'll learn the answers to these questions and many more with Dustin Coffey [46:39], the winner of the 2024 Orvis Endorsed Guide of the Year award.   In the podcast this week, as usual we have some interesting and thought-provoking questions, including: Does fly line color matter? Why don't my subtle baitfish patterns work in Patagonia? Can I use my big brown trout streamers for Atlantic salmon since they are related to brown trout? How deep do you insert studs when adding them to felt-soled waders? How do I get my streamers deeper when fishing for sea-run brook trout in rivers where weighted flies and sinking lines are not allowed? Is it acceptable if I troll from a kayak for striped bass, and what rod should I use? A listener writes in to tell us that the orange goo found in some rivers is a natural phenomenon

Breckenridge Outfitters is this year's winner of the Orvis Endorsed Outfitter of the Year Award and Tim West [44:07] is the glue that holds this fabulous guide service together.  In the interview, Tim talks about how to decide which fly to tie on at the beginning of the day, or when you first approach the water.  Do you start with a streamer, a nymph, a wet fly, a dry fly, or some combination of them?  What clues should you observe to decide which one to try?   We have some fascinating questions this week in the fly box, questions I am sure many of you think about yourself, including: Can you explain the difference between fast, medium, and slow fly rods? I noticed a bright orange sludge-like material on the bottom of my stream.  Should I stay away from this one? Do you think kayaks spook trout more than belly boats? After a rod, reel, and line, what piece of gear should I consider next? When tying to fill a fly box, should I tie one of each pattern or 4 or 5 of the same one? Is there a disadvanta

  Carp are difficult any time but around spawning time they can be extremely frustrating.  But they can be caught on a fly.  You need to know where to look and which fish to target.  Guide Rowan Lytle [44:38] has it dialed in, and if you always wanted to catch a carp on the fly you need to listen to this podcast.  Rowan, not yet 30 years old, has already caught 202 different species of fish on a fly rod, and some of them will surprise you.  But you'll need to listen to the podcast to find out what they are.   In the Fly Box this week, we have some great questions and tips from listeners, including:  I tip for taming your line and leader when you don't use a hook keeper How far do I hold my UV lamp form the fly when curing UV epoxy? What do I do on my local lake when the Power Bait crowd out-fishes me? How do I catch catfish on a fly rod? Do you fish different caddis pupa patterns for cased vs. uncased caddis? How do different holes in a river change throughout the season? Should I fish dry flies

  My guest this week is Sarah Foster [54:15], executive director of The American Museum of Fly Fishing, on why she thinks learning about the history and traditions surrounding fly fishing are important and add to our enjoyment.  She talks about recent exhibits and acquisitions, and what is in store for the future of the museum.  It's a must-see for anyone visiting southern Vermont.   In the Fly Box this week, we have some especially interesting questions and tips from listeners, including: Why do I keep getting strikes on nymphs while stripping them upstream like a streamer? Is the throat of a pool a common place to find trout feeding? At what temperature does a brown trout start to actively feed? When I see a pod of rising trout, why can I only fool one fish even though the other ones continue to feed? How do older Orvis bamboo fly rods compare to contemporary models? I found eggs in holdover brown trout in the spring.  Were these fish that never found a mate? I have trouble with rabbit's foot