Podcast
Troutbitten
Hosted by Domenick Swentosky · EN
Life on the water. Troutbitten is a deep dive into fly fishing for wild trout in wild places. Author and guide, Domenick Swentosky, shares stories, tips, tactics and conversations with friends about fly fishing through the woods and water. Explore more. Fish hard. And discover fly fishing at Troutbitten.com — an extensive resource with 1500+ articles about trout, friends, family and the river.
37episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Dry Fly Platforms - Parachutes - The Troutbitten Fly Box
Feb 800:54:21Tap to summarizeThe parachute platform is our favorite style of dry fly and the favorite of many other anglers, because of its utility. Because it form is functional. Because it casts well, lands upright and keeps floating, even though heavy water. It fools picky trout and looks enough like an emerger and a spinner that you might get away with one fly, all the way through cycle. It's a great dry-dropper fly, it's easily adaptable. And perhaps its best quality . . . you can see the parachute post.For all of those reasons, the Parachute dry fly platform is close to perfection.My good friend, Austin Dando, joins me for a thorough look into the Parachute.ResourcesPODCAST: Troutbitten | Fly Tying - Essential Tools and More (S17 Ep9)READ: Troutbitten | Pattern vs PresentationPODCAST: Troutbitten | Fishing Dry Flies - Dry Fly Skills Series (S12)VisitTroutbitten WebsiteTroutbitten InstagramTroutbitten YouTubeTroutbitten FacebookThanks to TroutRoutes:Use the code TROUTBITTEN for 20% off your membership athttps://maps.troutroutes.com Thanks to SkwalaUse the code, TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order athttps://skwalafishing.com/
Transcribe →Dry Fly Platforms - Upright Hackles - The Troutbitten Fly Box
Feb 101:10:20Tap to summarizeSeason 18 is a unique look at dry fly styles, through the concept of platforms. By taking a fly shape, a form or a set of materials, we can adapt the elements like color, wing style, tailing material or hackle length to meet the moment. Within the fly platform, we vary its properties to the river conditions or to a specific hatch.In this seven part Skills Series for season 18, we cover these six dry fly platforms:1: Upright Hackles2: Parachutes3. Comparaduns4. Down Wings5. Hoppers and Stoneflies6. EmergersThis first episode looks at the platform of Upright Hackles. A classic Catskill style, like the Adams, is a perfect example of this platform. Both slimmer and beefier versions are common, each of which are adapted to prioritize the selectivity of the trout or the buoyancy of the fly against heavier currents.Upright Hackles are perhaps the most common dry fly style, and many popular patterns fit into this platform.In this episode, we look at the specifics for hook, tail, body, wing and hackle for our first platform in this Skills Series -- the Upright Hackle.This is a great breakdown and a fun conversation with my friend Austin Dando.ResourcesPODCAST: Troutbitten | Fly Tying - Essential Tools and More (S17 Ep9)READ: Troutbitten | Pattern vs PresentationPODCAST: Troutbitten | Fishing Dry Flies - Dry Fly Skills Series (S12)VisitTroutbitten WebsiteTroutbitten InstagramTroutbitten YouTubeTroutbitten FacebookThanks to TroutRoutes:Use the code TROUTBITTEN for 20% off your membership athttps://maps.troutroutes.com Thanks to SkwalaUse the code, TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order athttps://skwalafishing.com/
Transcribe →Approaching the River
Dec 2101:10:03Tap to summarizeWe’re here to talk about approaching the river — approaching the trout — to put our boots in the best place, with a strategy for making the casts and catching fish.We focus so much on the drifting, on the presentation and the casting — on the technical aspects of getting all of those things just right — that it’s easy to overlook the skill that comes before all of that . . .And make no mistake, the approach is a skill. It’s about making a plan. It’s about choosing a piece of water and deciding at which angle we’ll make the cast.We consider all of it in this episode. We also look at some intangibles like bug life and light angles, like water levels and how we might mask our presence from the trout. Because scared trout don’t eat, and honestly, that has to be our first consideration.This is a great conversation with my friends Matt Grobe and Bill Dell. ResourcesPODCAST: Troutbitten | The Spooky Trout - What Scares Fish and How to Avoid Spooking Them READ: Troutbitten | The Spooky Trout - Find Their Blind SpotREAD: Troutbitten | Are You Spooking Trout?PODCAST: Troutbitten | Pre-Trip Efficiencies VisitTroutbitten WebsiteTroutbitten InstagramTroutbitten YouTubeTroutbitten FacebookThanks to TroutRoutes:Use the code TROUTBITTEN for 20% off your membership athttps://maps.troutroutes.com Thanks to SkwalaUse the code, TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order athttps://skwalafishing.com/
Transcribe →Fly Tying -- Essential Tools and More
Dec 1501:23:14Tap to summarizeFly tying is more popular than ever. With the prevalence of high quality materials and excellent videos showing how to build flies, more fly anglers choose to tie their own patterns than ever before.All of us at Troutbitten have been tying our own flies from the beginning, so we each have preferences for the tools we use. That's what this podcast episode is all about. We discuss the essentials, like vise, scissors and a bobbin, along with some other tools and gear that each of us considers invaluable for tying materials to a hook. The tools come first. And the quality of those tools can either help or hinder the process.This conversation is a lot of fun. My friends, Bill Dell, Dr. Trevor Smith, Austin Dando, Josh Darling and Matt Grobe join me. ResourcesPODCAST: Troutbitten | Fly Tying and the Complete Angler - S5,Ep2READ: Troutbitten | Category | The Troutbitten Fly BoxVisitTroutbitten WebsiteTroutbitten InstagramTroutbitten YouTubeTroutbitten FacebookThanks to TroutRoutes:Use the code TROUTBITTEN for 20% off your membership athttps://maps.troutroutes.com Thanks to SkwalaUse the code, TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order athttps://skwalafishing.com/
Transcribe →Fly Fishing Myths
Dec 701:16:59Tap to summarizeFor this episode, we want to tackle a topic that’s been on our list for a long time — fly fishing myths and misunderstandings.We’re not here to argue about stuff or complain. We just want to acknowledge things that we hear repeated or we see in print or shown in videos — stuff that’s almost assumed as fact, when it’s often not true at all.We do think it’s important to try to clear the air about these myths and misunderstandings, because bad or incomplete information can really lead people down the wrong path. Or an angler might base many decisions about how they fish, where they fish, when they fish or what they fish for based, in part, upon these myths or these assumptions.Most of what we bring up is well engrained into the fly fishing field of knowledge. Basically, most of you out there listening will have heard nearly everything we bring up. Maybe too, you’ll have a different take on things, and some of these won’t be myths to you at all. That’s good. Because you really should trust yourself and your own time on the water more than anyone else. My friends, Bill Dell and Josh Darling join me for a great conversation.ResourcesPODCAST: Troutbitten | What To Trust - S5, Ep11READ: Troutbitten | What To TrustREAD: Troutbitten | Who Knows Better Than You? VisitTroutbitten WebsiteTroutbitten InstagramTroutbitten YouTubeTroutbitten FacebookThanks to TroutRoutes:Use the code TROUTBITTEN for 20% off your membership athttps://maps.troutroutes.com Thanks to SkwalaUse the code, TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order athttps://skwalafishing.com/
Transcribe →In Deep with Devin Olsen - Tight Line Tactics and Competition Influence
Nov 3001:29:00Tap to summarizeDevin Olsen has had an immeasurable influence on the nymphing game. Having been embedded in the competition scene for two decades now, Devin knows competition nymphing form the inside. While reading Devin's book and watching his videos, it's obvious that he puts in the work. Instead of slavishly recycling the ideas of others, Devin is a unique thinker and a tireless tester on the water. I've always admired his work.I asked Devin to go in deep about competition nymphing styles, while specifically considering the rules and restrictions imposed on competitors. We consider whether those rules about flies and leader restrictions are helpful or hurtful for the common angler.This is a fantastic conversation.I'm pleased to present my interview with Devin Olsen . . .RESOURCESWEBSITE / FLY SHOP: Tactical Fly FisherBOOK: Tactical Fly FisherYOUTUBE: Tactical Fly FisherREAD: Troutbitten | Series | What You're Missing by Following FIPS Competition RulesVisitTroutbitten WebsiteTroutbitten InstagramTroutbitten YouTubeTroutbitten FacebookThanks to TroutRoutes:Use the code TROUTBITTEN for 20% off your membership athttps://maps.troutroutes.com Thanks to SkwalaUse the code, TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order athttps://skwalafishing.com/
Transcribe →Streamer Presentations #9 -- The Tight Line Dance
Mar 23, 202500:49:10Tap to summarizeThe tight line dance is another collection of movements to the streamer loosely grouped together into a system or framework for covering many water types and gaining reactions from the trout. It's all about taking the advantages of a tight line, Mono Rig system to the streamer game and using contact to control every aspect of the streamer's course through the river.We use a visible streamer for the tight line dance. We watch the streamer dip and swoon around rocks, tree parts and the river bank. Wherever there's good structure, that's the next target. The concept of the tight line dance allows us to hold the streamer around structure for longer, animating the streamer in every way imaginable to convince the trout.My friend, Austin Dando, joins me for a great discussion.ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | Category | StreamersREAD: Troutbitten | Streamer Presentations -- The Tight Line DanceREAD: Troutbitten | Streamer Presentations - The Super Pause VisitTroutbitten WebsiteTroutbitten InstagramTroutbitten YouTubeTroutbitten Facebook Thank You to Pre-Roll Ad Sponsors:SkwalaandOrvis
Transcribe →Streamer Presentations #8 -- The Crossover Technique
Mar 16, 202501:08:14Tap to summarizeWith episode seven of this Troutbitten Skills Series, we’ve finally come to the point where we’ve covered all the different ways to move a streamer and give it some animation. Now it’s time to put all of that together.This whole series has been about what motions might sell the presentation. Because how we move the streamer fools the next trout. And there’s such a wealth of options that it can be very helpful to break things down into individual parts.So we talked about jerk strips, glides, slides, speed leads, lane changes, jigs and head flips. We’ve talked a lot about the position or orientation of the fly in the water. Is it drifting with the current, crossing currents or swinging against them? Is the streamer near the surface or is it deep? And within all these animations, are we moving the fly quick or smooth, and are the motions long or short?Now, for the last three episodes of this streamer presentations skills series, we’re ready to talk about putting a group of these animations into a system, a mindset, or a framework for fishing your streamer.In this episode, we introduce the concept of the Crossover Technique, which is all about getting the streamer low in the strike zone and then animating it within a narrow range, being careful not to move the fly out of the strike zone or move it too far. It’s a really fun presentation style, if you can get your brain around the small, often minor animations necessary. The Crossover is also extremely effective, and it results in a much lower refusal percentage than most streamer tactics.So, we can go out and choose only to swing flies or to strip them cross current — or to slow slide, jerk strip or jig. The point is, each of the presentations we talked about in the previous episodes stands alone as a great way to show the streamer to a trout.But we also like to spend time combining these presentations — because it’s fun. Because fishing streamers like this is a creative, fluid process of working with what the river gives you and adapting to new situations, moment after moment.So the real trick with something like the Crossover is to be disciplined enough to stay within your framework while also using your creativity.My friend, Austin Dando, joins me for a great discussion.ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | Category | StreamersREAD: Troutbitten | Streamer Presentations -- The Crossover TechniqueVIDEO: Troutbitten | Fish and Film -- Crossover ShiftsREAD: Troutbitten | How Big of an Ask?VisitTroutbitten WebsiteTroutbitten InstagramTroutbitten YouTubeTroutbitten Facebook Thank You to Pre-Roll Ad Sponsors:SkwalaandOrvis
Transcribe →Streamer Presentations #7 -- Speed Leads and Lane Changes
Mar 9, 202500:34:26Tap to summarizeSpeed leads happen mostly in one lane, and they go faster than their parent current. Lane changes are exactly what they sound like — the fly is traveling in one lane, and then we deliberately bring the fly over to a nearby lane and travel down that one.The speed lead is a term coined by our friend, Josh Stewart. Way back in 2017, I published a few articles about low-riding streamer presentations, with streamers tied on lead ball jigs. I’d gotten the idea from Rich Strolis, and it was a bit of an underground thing at the time. I remember that Stewey got in touch after reading my article, and we started sharing ideas and presentation styles with some of these flies. When I described leading low but faster than the current, Josh said he called it a speed lead, and it was one of his best tactics for stirring up big trout.The Speed Lead is a big part of what we do with streamers. It's another animation to mix in while reading and working the water, searching for the best way to present the streamer. Lane changes are the perfect compliment for a speed lead. My friend, Austin Dando, joins me for a great discussion.ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | Category | StreamersREAD: Troutbitten | Streamer Presentations -- The Speed LeadREAD: Troutbitten | Streamer Presentations -- The Endless RetrieveREAD: Troutbitten | Troutbitten Fly Box -- The Jig StreamersVisitTroutbitten WebsiteTroutbitten InstagramTroutbitten YouTubeTroutbitten Facebook Thank You to Pre-Roll Ad Sponsors:SkwalaandOrvis
Transcribe →Streamer Presentations #6 -- Jigging Styles (Slack, Contact and Pendulum Jigging)
Mar 2, 202500:50:17Tap to summarizeWe've covered many animations in these series. We’ve talked about the streamer head position and its direction, about cross current movement vs holding one lane. We've covered jerk strips, glides, slides, fast, slow, quick or smooth, we talked about drop rates and a lot more.And now, we're here to talk about one of the most basic movements performed on any fly, lure or bait — jigging.Moving the fly up and then letting it drop — it’s such a simple motion that it might seem silly to spend much time on the topic. But like so many other good things in fishing, jigging is a world of its own. And there are, in fact, a multitude of variables to consider and to play with.In this episode, we talk about angle, depth and speed of the jig, cross current or one current jigs, free falls or pendulum drops, and more.My friend, Austin Dando, joins me for a great discussion.ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | Category | StreamersREAD: Troutbitten | Streamer Presentations -- Jigging the StreamerREAD: Troutbitten | Troutbitten Fly Box -- The Jig StreamersVisitTroutbitten WebsiteTroutbitten InstagramTroutbitten YouTubeTroutbitten Facebook Thank You to Pre-Roll Ad Sponsors:SkwalaandOrvis
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