Trout tips
The downstream mend
Many of us, particularly those who walk and wade with a fly rod in hand, incorporate the upstream mend in order to get a better, longer drift when we’re nymphing or floating a dry fly through fishy water. But for anglers who are swinging streamers or...
Using your line hand while casting
Once you have the simple cast down—the pick-up-and-lay-down cast—it’s time to start bringing your line hand into the equation. In the short video below, Orvis’ Pete Kutzer shows us the proper method for holding the line while casting, including where your...
Finding the perfect soft-hackle water
I love to swing soft-hackle flies. It’s one of the best fishing methods I know for trout in steadily moving water with a generally constant depth. Below, RIO Products Brand Manager Simon Gawesworth shows you what kind of water you’ll be looking for when...
Topwater Atlantic salmon fishing
Atlantic salmon—at least those that swim wild in the ocean and migrate into the rivers and streams of Newfoundland and Labrador—are a bucket-list fish for a lot of fly fishers. And they should be. They rival any other salmon species when it comes to taking flies and,...
Dry fly floatation
It’s dry-fly season. Well, it’s what I like to call “hopper season,” especially here in the West, where big trout will look up for terrestrial bugs that will occasionally end up in the water, thanks to a timely wind gust or just dumb luck. But...
Rosenbauer’s top 10 fall trout flies
I’m not ready to give up on summer just yet—hoppers are flitting about and occasionally slapping the water here on our western trout streams. But the media world generally moves about a month ahead of schedule. So I wasn’t surprised when I saw that Orvis...
Small-stream tactics in the age of non-native invasives
Native Rio Grande cutthroat trout. Contrary to many conservation-minded anglers, I am one who believes that, along with cockroaches, coyotes and Siberian elm trees, brown trout will survive the apocalypse. They possess many of the traits we Americans admire most: they...
Three fly-fishing knots everyone should know
Line to leader. Leader to tippet. Tippet to fly. If you can learn the three simple connecting knots for rigging your fly-fishing outfit, you can hit the water in almost any situation. The folks at Gear Junkie and Denver Outfitters teamed up to produce the...
On second glance
A fairly average-looking run on a stream. Or is it? I’d been fishing a small native cutthroat trout stream in eastern Idaho, and came upon what, at first blush, looked to be a fairly featureless stretch of stream. But, as I got closer, I noticed a few things....
Hopper-dropper fishing
With terrestrial season coming on strong throughout the country, it’s an obvious time to start flinging a hopper-dropper rig. But what’s the best way to do it? What knots make the most sense? How far below the high-floating hopper should the...
Using different fly floatants
Not all fly floatants are created equally. What’s more, not all fly floatants are appropriate for universal use on the water. For instance, CDC flies will do better if the angler applies a silicon-based floatant rather than a gel floatant. Bigger flies might...
How to fish a dry fly downstream
The “upstream and dry” approach is a commonly accepted method—and on some European waters, it’s required—for fly fishing. Here in the U.S., we’re blessed with a lot of trout water, and, thankfully, a lot of public lands on which we can fish at...
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Sunny Days
I always look forward to the transition to wet-wading season. Here in the mid-Atlantic that usually hits in mid-May, unless you’re fishing a tailwater just downstream from a dam, in which case waders are still a must. Even with neoprene wading socks, the first steps...
How to Read a River
Reading the water is an acquired skill. It’s an ability that’s honed over time, and one that takes into account not only a river’s physical characteristics, but how certain stretches might fish at certain times of the year … or even certain...
Watch before you fish
You wouldn’t tackle a math problem—even the simplest of equations—without first taking a second to figure out the variables and determining where to start with your efforts to solve it, would you? Now, apply that logic to fly fishing. It’s always a good...
Summer steelhead on a skated fly
Editor’s note: This is the second of two posts on skating flies for summer steelhead from the director of TU’s Wild Steelhead Initiative. Go here to read the first. Recently, I shared some thoughts on the gear, techniques, and stream knowledge you might...
How to double-haul
I was reminded this week of the importance of being a good caster and not getting too dialed into your more frequent fly-fishing targets. I live in eastern Idaho. Trout country. A long cast on a small backcountry trout stream might be 30 feet, and that’s rare....
How to Drift a Soft-hackle
Last week, RIO Product’s Simon Gawesworth showed us a great way to swing soft-hackle flies for big-river trout. This week, Simon shows us how to drift a soft-hackle for working trout. There are some notable differences, obviously. First is the technique. When...
Skating flies for summer steelhead
If “the tug is the drug” for anglers swinging a fly for wild steelhead, then bringing a surface-snarfing summer steelhead to a skated fly is crack cocaine. There is no bigger adrenaline dump than seeing the glass-smooth surface of a tailout explode as a 10-pound...
How to fish a soft hackle
I became a soft-hackle devotee about five years ago after a visit to Blue Ribbon Flies in West Yellowstone, Mont., on a fly-buying binge for a trip to the Firehole River. The shop’s proprietor–and fly fishing legend–Craig Mathews convinced me to give...
Use floatant and desiccant together
The news out of Ashton over the weekend was pretty encouraging. The big stonefly nymphs were moving around, heading to streamside rocks in anticipation of a little sunshine. Any minute now, the fabled salmonfly hatch on the lower river would start to pop. The big bugs...
How to fish a boulder garden
Here’s one for you western anglers who are wondering, with all the late winter snow and the spring rain, if we’re ever going to see fishable water levels anytime soon. The answer is, the water’s already fishable. We just need to find the places where...
How to fish the upstream dry fly
‘Tis the season. Just ask the folks back East who are enjoying the sulfur hatch these days. Dry fly season is upon most us (those of us who are watching their rivers run over their banks here in the West are the notable exceptions). And it never hurts to get a...
Four flies for spring
After another two feet of mountain snow in mid-May, I’m starting to wonder when fishing season will begin. I know, I know, there’s fishing right now. All one has to do is make peace with less fishable holding water that’s cold and muddy. Don’t wade too deep, fish big...
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