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The True Cast – Teach me how to fish; don’t tell me how to fish
If I’ve learned anything from 30 years of writing about fishing for a living, it’s that folks absolutely love being taught how to fish, and they hate being told how to fish. Understanding the subtle difference between the two is what separates the contenders from the pretenders, especially when it comes to writing, working as a filmmaker, guiding, running a fly…
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TROUT Tips – Stack the Deck
When introducing someone new to the sport of fly fishing, set it up so success comes early and often. What does that look like? Rig the rod, reel, line, and terminal tackle for them and have them watch and learn Take them to a stocked pond This could be a pond stocked with trout, but bluegill, sunfish, and bass…
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The True Cast – Sight fishing tip: Find the player
The fun really starts when you spot a bunch of trout in a river, but this is when you have some decisions to make. Naturally, the first question that comes to mind is what are the fish eating? If you’re lucky, the answers are likely flying all around you in bug form. And if you see snouts poking up on the surface,…
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TROUT Tip – Eliminate pressure
Along the lines of keeping it fun, pressure is not fun for anyone learning something new. This is just as true for kids as it is for adults. If your student flubs a cast, help them brush it off by encouraging them to try again or suggest a tip to help on the next one. If their fly lands in…
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The True Cast – What line weight fly rod is really best for trout?
My answer to this question—which I get asked at least once a week by someone—has evolved over time. But before we get into the weeds, let’s put a few universal truths out there for context. The actual weight of a fly rod and the “weight” of the line it is designed to work with are two completely…
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TROUT Tip – Make it fun
If you’re motivated to teach fly fishing to kids, it is imperative to keep it fun. Sure, we’d like them to perfect the cast and find joy in matching the hatch and catching fish, but in the end, it’s all about making them want to come back to it. If lessons keep coming at them at warp speed, they’ll quickly lose interest. Make it fun…
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The True Cast – The 8-inch “Trophy”
What’s a “trophy” fish, really? Naturally, all of us anglers have been conditioned over the years to believe that bigger is better. And there’s certainly something to that. Catch a 30-inch wild brown trout on the South Fork of the Snake River in Idaho, for example, and the data from shocking surveys collected over many years says that’s beyond a one-in-a-million…
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