Troutbitten

A life on the water is an everyday thing. When we’re not fishing, we’re thinking about it. We’re preparing for it. We’re learning about it. I text with friends almost daily about river conditions and hatches. I drive beside the river just to see it — even though that route takes a few extra minutes. We've all seen die hard anglers living their life on the water -- and then it just goes away. Rising and fading interests are part of human nature. But we've also met plenty of anglers who lament the fact that their waders have been gathering dust for two years. Burnout starts with the small things — sleeping in instead of getting out early, or skipping the evening spinner fall in favor of an earlier dinner. And then, almost without realizing it, you’ve missed a whole season because you made excuses about low water or crowded streams. I think burnout is involuntary. It creeps up and surprises people, but I don't think it has to. Fishing gets old because it becomes average, because some of the mystery or exploration is gone — maybe it becomes predictable. But all of that can be changed with a few intentional decisions, too. My good friends Bill Dell, Trevor Smith, Josh Darling, Austin Dando and Matt Grobe are here with me to talk about . . . burnout. Resources READ: Troutbitten | All the Things READ: Troutbitten | How to Stay in the Game for a Lifetime PODCAST: Troutbitten | Fishing Buddies S5, Ep12 Visit Troutbitten Website Troutbitten Instagram Troutbitten YouTube Troutbitten Facebook Thanks to TroutRoutes: Use the code TROUTBITTEN for 20% off your membership at https://maps.troutroutes.com Thanks to Skwala Use the code, TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order at https://skwalafishing.com/

For Season 19 of the Troutbitten Podcast, we're adding the video component, with the same conversation on both the audio and video side. So you'll still find the audio version of the podcast on Apple, Spotify and every other platform, and now you'll find a video of the podcast conversation on the Troutbitten YouTube channel. The new video format is full of creative possibilities, and we're excited about the future of the podcast. Incidentally, podcasts will now publish on Mondays at 3:30 p.m. EST, instead of Sundays. (YouTube hates Sunday evenings.) Our conversation for episode one is all about luck. And we want to talk about how luck plays into things out there. Do we rely on it? Do we surrender to it? Do we look for it? From the beginning, luck and fishing were intertwined. It became part of our anglers’ lore. And while good luck has surely saved countless fishing trips, bad luck continues to doom the best laid plans of a fisherman. Great trout fishing is rarely the result of good luck. And if the experience was up to the fish and to fate, I’d hardly pick up a fishing rod. Success on the water is not a slot machine. It’s more like a game of poker, where you play the hand you’re given and try to fool your adversary. Sometimes the cards you’re holding almost guarantee success. Then the next day Mother Nature might deal you a hand, where pulling a couple of fish is a grand achievement. My good friends Trevor Smith, Josh Darling, Austin Dando and Matt Grobe join me to begin Season 19. Resources READ: Troutbitten | It's Not Luck READ: Troutbitten | Waiting On Luck READ: Troutbitten | Fish It Anyway Visit Troutbitten Website Troutbitten Instagram Troutbitten YouTube Troutbitten Facebook Thanks to TroutRoutes: Use the code TROUTBITTEN for 20% off your membership at https://maps.troutroutes.com Thanks to Skwala Use the code, TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order at https://skwalafishing.com/

This Troutbitten Skills Series and these platforms are an effort to pass along the idea that fly selection doesn’t have to be regimented or complicated. Instead, see flies for what they have in common. Find their similarities rather than their differences. Choose the elements that matter most to you. Find the components of a fly that create enough of a distinction to be the keys to a platform, and build around that idea. I do think some things are undeniable, and almost every angler is going to classify a parachute the same way. That might be true for upright hackles and down wings too. But I’m sure you’ve noticed that the further we got into this season, the less specific each platform became. And again, that’s just because there are only so many things you can put on a dry fly and still have it be successful. Most of the more recent flies designed take their cues from what came before them. Honestly, I assume that will hold true going into the future too. My friends Bill Dell, Austin Dando and Matt Grobe join me for the conclusion of Season 18. Resources PODCAST: Troutbitten | Fly Tying - Essential Tools and More (S17 Ep9) READ: Troutbitten | Pattern vs Presentation PODCAST: Troutbitten | Fishing Dry Flies - Dry Fly Skills Series (S12) Visit Troutbitten Website Troutbitten Instagram Troutbitten YouTube Troutbitten Facebook Thanks to TroutRoutes: Use the code TROUTBITTEN for 20% off your membership at https://maps.troutroutes.com Thanks to Skwala Use the code, TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order at https://skwalafishing.com/

It's time for the big-meal dry fly platform: hoppers and stoneflies. When we open our fly boxes, we’re looking for a solution. If trout are sipping tiny olives in a soft tailout, we probably reach for the low-riding, vulnerable look of a Comparadun or a Parachute. And if we see trout slashing at hovering, skittering Grannoms in a riffle, we probably choose an Elk Hair Caddis or similar. But what do we pick when the trout food is bigger — when trout are eating hoppers, stoneflies, cicadas or other big bugs on the surface that are twenty times the size of a Blue Winged Olive? Those trout aren’t looking for snacks. They’re hunting for dinner — for the main course. And we need a platform or a style to match the moment. The hoppers and stoneflies platform is a major departure from the delicate mayfly imitations we’ve covered in this series. This platform isn't about perfectly matching the wing of a Hendrickson or the subtle flutter of an October Caddis. It’s about presenting a substantial, high-calorie meal that gets attention. Whether it’s a Golden stonefly clipping across the hoppy water of a bouldered run, or an unlucky grasshopper blown onto the surface from a grassy bank, these are not subtle bugs. They make a splash. They struggle. And in the best moments, they draw explosive strikes. With this platform, we substitute subtlety for buoyancy. Hackle is traded in for rubber legs, and dubbing is often replaced by closed-cell foam. In this episode, we break down this big-meal platform. We’ll look at a parts list, cover some pros and cons about material choices, and look at the particulars of the platform itself. My friend, Matt Grobe, joins me for a detailed look at another of our favorite dry fly platforms. Resources PODCAST: Troutbitten | Fly Tying - Essential Tools and More (S17 Ep9) READ: Troutbitten | Pattern vs Presentation PODCAST: Troutbitten | What's the Deal With Emergers? S11, Ep4 PODCAST: Troutbitten | Fishing Dry Flies - Dry Fly Skills Series (S12) Visit Troutbitten Website Troutbitten Instagram Troutbitten YouTube Troutbitten Facebook Thanks to TroutRoutes: Use the code TROUTBITTEN for 20% off your membership at https://maps.troutroutes.com Thanks to Skwala Use the code, TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order at https://skwalafishing.com/

In this Riverside episode, I share an article that I published a few years ago, title, The Order of Everything. I also share some Troutbitten updates about my upcoming book, about the Troutbitten Shop, about the live podcast on March 28th at New Trail Brewing Company and the Troutbitten film festival happening later this year, in October. There's an order to everything to keep this Troutbitten project moving forward, and the work of these first weeks of 2026 had me thinking about one of my favorite concepts for a day on the water . . . A lot goes into a good fishing trip. It’s a flexible framework of pieces and parts mixed in with a little fortuitous intuition. That first trout to the net is rarely luck. And when you start to lose count of how many fish have come to hand, you can be sure that luck has had very little to do with it. The overarching principles of how to catch a trout — the headers of the outline — are these: For me, when the day is tough, if it’s lunchtime and I haven’t yet touched a fish, if I’m losing faith in my strategy and I’m wishing more than fishing, I often gather my wits around this checklist of five. Here's the full article: READ: Troutbitten | The Order of Everything The LIVE Podcast Also, Tickets are on sale for the Live Podcast on March 28th at New Trail Brewing in Williamsport, PA. BUY TICKETS HERE Visit Troutbitten Website Troutbitten Instagram Troutbitten YouTube Troutbitten Facebook Thanks to TroutRoutes: Use the code TROUTBITTEN for 20% off your membership at https://maps.troutroutes.com Thanks to Skwala Use the code, TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order at https://skwalafishing.com/

A dry fly emerger is one that has part of the fly underneath the surface. It’s a highly effective form (meaning tout eat it) because it matches the most vulnerable state of things that trout see. In this episode we cover the dry fly platform of emergers. We look at what they are, how and why to use them and the differences in styles within this platform. We cover some history about how emerger design got to this point and what the future might hold. Once the emerger platform really caught on in the fly fishing world, I’d say it has almost replaced many of the traditional, more high riding patterns as the average flies in the average angler’s box. Maybe that’s just my perception, but there’s no doubt, emergers are more popular than ever, and new ideas and turns of thread keep pushing the concept further. My good friend, Austin Dando, joins me for a thorough look at another of our favorite dry fly platforms. Resources PODCAST: Troutbitten | Fly Tying - Essential Tools and More (S17 Ep9) READ: Troutbitten | Pattern vs Presentation PODCAST: Troutbitten | What's the Deal With Emergers? S11, Ep4 PODCAST: Troutbitten | Fishing Dry Flies - Dry Fly Skills Series (S12) Visit Troutbitten Website Troutbitten Instagram Troutbitten YouTube Troutbitten Facebook Thanks to TroutRoutes: Use the code TROUTBITTEN for 20% off your membership at https://maps.troutroutes.com Thanks to Skwala Use the code, TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order at https://skwalafishing.com/

The down wing dry fly style is a perfect match for one of the most ubiquitous insects found in trout rivers across the planet: caddis. The down wing platform is also a first choice for matching many terrestrials, like moths and hoppers, and it finds it's way to stonefly patterns as well. But for this discussion, we cover the down wing and its progression into fly boxes, by looking at three standouts: the Elk Hair Caddis, the X-Caddis and the CDC & Elk. Because the arrival of each of these patterns brought forth major innovations to the world of dry flies. All three of these are down wings, but they are very different players on the water. The down wing, like all of these dry fly platforms, is a structural philosophy. There are reasons for having a wing that lays flat rather than stands up. The down wing is a canvas to be creative with. It starts with a wing that angles back. Then, materials used for the undercarriage dictate how the fly behaves on the surface, along with where, when and how we expect trout to respond. My good friend, Bill Dell, joins me for a thorough look at another of our favorite fly platforms. Resources PODCAST: Troutbitten | Fly Tying - Essential Tools and More (S17 Ep9) READ: Troutbitten | Pattern vs Presentation PODCAST: Troutbitten | Fishing Dry Flies - Dry Fly Skills Series (S12) Visit Troutbitten Website Troutbitten Instagram Troutbitten YouTube Troutbitten Facebook Thanks to TroutRoutes: Use the code TROUTBITTEN for 20% off your membership at https://maps.troutroutes.com Thanks to Skwala Use the code, TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order at https://skwalafishing.com/

With its simple form of wing, body and tail, the Comparadun is another template for the dry fly angle -- another perfectly adaptable platform. When the Comparadun hit the scene in the 1970’s, it was a significant departure from the norm. Anglers recognized this, but more importantly, the trout recognized this. The Comparadun became a hatch matcher. It became the closer, because the Comparadun specialized in fooling selective trout, with perhaps the most realistic profile of a mayfly out there. The unique design of the Comparadun caught on quickly, because, once again, it solved problems on the water. And it's been fooling wise River trout ever since. In this episode, we go into detail about the Comparadun — a little history, a parts list, some tying tips, fishing situations and best times to choose a Comparadun. My good friend, Bill Dell, joins me for a thorough look into one of our favorite flies. Resources PODCAST: Troutbitten | Fly Tying - Essential Tools and More (S17 Ep9) READ: Troutbitten | Pattern vs Presentation PODCAST: Troutbitten | Fishing Dry Flies - Dry Fly Skills Series (S12) Visit Troutbitten Website Troutbitten Instagram Troutbitten YouTube Troutbitten Facebook Thanks to TroutRoutes: Use the code TROUTBITTEN for 20% off your membership at https://maps.troutroutes.com Thanks to Skwala Use the code, TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order at https://skwalafishing.com/

The 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. Resources PODCAST: Troutbitten | Fly Tying - Essential Tools and More (S17 Ep9) READ: Troutbitten | Pattern vs Presentation PODCAST: Troutbitten | Fishing Dry Flies - Dry Fly Skills Series (S12) Visit Troutbitten Website Troutbitten Instagram Troutbitten YouTube Troutbitten Facebook Thanks to TroutRoutes: Use the code TROUTBITTEN for 20% off your membership at https://maps.troutroutes.com Thanks to Skwala Use the code, TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order at https://skwalafishing.com/

Season 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 Hackles 2: Parachutes 3. Comparaduns 4. Down Wings 5. Hoppers and Stoneflies 6. Emergers This 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. Resources PODCAST: Troutbitten | Fly Tying - Essential Tools and More (S17 Ep9) READ: Troutbitten | Pattern vs Presentation PODCAST: Troutbitten | Fishing Dry Flies - Dry Fly Skills Series (S12) Visit Troutbitten Website Troutbitten Instagram Troutbitten YouTube Troutbitten Facebook Thanks to TroutRoutes: Use the code TROUTBITTEN for 20% off your membership at https://maps.troutroutes.com Thanks to Skwala Use the code, TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order at https://skwalafishing.com/

We’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. Resources PODCAST: Troutbitten | The Spooky Trout - What Scares Fish and How to Avoid Spooking Them READ: Troutbitten | The Spooky Trout - Find Their Blind Spot READ: Troutbitten | Are You Spooking Trout? PODCAST: Troutbitten | Pre-Trip Efficiencies Visit Troutbitten Website Troutbitten Instagram Troutbitten YouTube Troutbitten Facebook Thanks to TroutRoutes: Use the code TROUTBITTEN for 20% off your membership at https://maps.troutroutes.com Thanks to Skwala Use the code, TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order at https://skwalafishing.com/

Fly 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. Resources PODCAST: Troutbitten | Fly Tying and the Complete Angler - S5,Ep2 READ: Troutbitten | Category | The Troutbitten Fly Box Visit Troutbitten Website Troutbitten Instagram Troutbitten YouTube Troutbitten Facebook Thanks to TroutRoutes: Use the code TROUTBITTEN for 20% off your membership at https://maps.troutroutes.com Thanks to Skwala Use the code, TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order at https://skwalafishing.com/

For 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. Resources PODCAST: Troutbitten | What To Trust - S5, Ep11 READ: Troutbitten | What To Trust READ: Troutbitten | Who Knows Better Than You? Visit Troutbitten Website Troutbitten Instagram Troutbitten YouTube Troutbitten Facebook Thanks to TroutRoutes: Use the code TROUTBITTEN for 20% off your membership at https://maps.troutroutes.com Thanks to Skwala Use the code, TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order at https://skwalafishing.com/

Devin 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 . . . RESOURCES WEBSITE / FLY SHOP: Tactical Fly Fisher BOOK: Tactical Fly Fisher YOUTUBE: Tactical Fly Fisher READ: Troutbitten | Series | What You're Missing by Following FIPS Competition Rules Visit Troutbitten Website Troutbitten Instagram Troutbitten YouTube Troutbitten Facebook Thanks to TroutRoutes: Use the code TROUTBITTEN for 20% off your membership at https://maps.troutroutes.com Thanks to Skwala Use the code, TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order at https://skwalafishing.com/

For our State of the Union 2025, my wife, Becky, joins me for a lighthearted look at what's going on in the Troutbitten world. We talk about the upcoming leader sale in the Troutbitten Shop (December 1). We talk about the book, the In Deep series, podcast plans, shop changes, a live podcast event, a Troutbitten Film Festival and the the New Trail Troutbitten beer. Becky and I also read a few listener comments. Resources VIDEO: Troutbitten | In Deep With John Shaner and Dry Fly Leader Design VIDEO: Troutbitten | In Deep - Fishing Simply, With Craig Matthews VIDEO: Troutbitten | Beer and Friends -- Good Times and Good Stories with New Trail and Troutbitten SHOP: Troutbitten | Category | Leaders Visit Troutbitten Website Troutbitten Instagram Troutbitten YouTube Troutbitten Facebook Thanks to TroutRoutes: Use the code TROUTBITTEN for 20% off your membership at https://maps.troutroutes.com Thanks to Skwala Use the code, TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order at https://skwalafishing.com/

All of us at Troutbitten, along with so many anglers across the country, use a Mono Rig for most underwater presentations. The tight line advantage and the drift control possible for both nymphs and streamers is fun and effective. But a lot has changed . . . Five or ten years ago, most tight line anglers were using a Mono Rig leader build with a butt section thick enough to mimic the functions of a fly line. This is what we call a Troutbitten Standard Mono Rig, and it's a hybrid system. So with good casting form, the leader can push even the lightest flies around -- the line carries the flies. These days, the most popular leader builds have gone to the end of the line, with the thinnest possible tippets and even butt sections that are 5X diameter. These leaders require water water hauls casts with light flies and major adaptations in form that open up the age old question again -- "Is that even fly fishing?" Has it all gone too far? None of us care much about what you call the tactic. But more importantly, have Mono Rig leaders and tactics gone so far and become so common that these tools and these styles are actually hindering some anglers' growth? And does that really matter? These are the questions we tackle in this podcast episode. My friends, Austin Dando, Dr. Trevor Smith, Bill Dell and Matt Grobe and Josh Darling join me for a great conversation. Resources READ: Troutbitten | Category | The Mono Rig PODCAST SERIES: Troutbitten | Tight Line Skills Series READ: Troutbitten | The Mono Rig, and Why Fly Line Sucks READ: Troutbitten | Design and Function of the Troutbitten Standard Mono Rig Visit Troutbitten Website Troutbitten Instagram Troutbitten YouTube Troutbitten Facebook Thanks to TroutRoutes: Use the code TROUTBITTEN for 20% off your membership at https://maps.troutroutes.com Thanks to Skwala Use the code, TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order at https://skwalafishing.com/

The spawning process is arguably the most important event of a trout's life. The best trout in the system spawn every year. And as long term anglers, we should understand the process -- not only because we then know how to give trout their space, but because the process is a fascinating look at a fish that we spend so much time chasing. We do not advocate fishing for actively spawning trout. But in many watersheds, it's easy to stay away from the redds and give trout plenty of room by simply understanding the process. That's the focus of our conversation in this episode: where, when and how do trout spawn in a river? This podcast is a follow up to another that we published a few years ago, with Episode 2 of Season 9 -- Trout Fishing and the Spawn. My friends, Austin Dando, Bill Dell and Matt Grobe join me for a great conversation. Resources READ: Troutbitten | Redd Fish - Should we fish for trout through the spawn or stay home? PODCAST: Troutbitten | Trout Fishing and the Spawn. S9, Ep2 Visit Troutbitten Website Troutbitten Instagram Troutbitten YouTube Troutbitten Facebook Thanks to TroutRoutes: Use the code TROUTBITTEN for 20% off your membership at https://maps.troutroutes.com Thanks to Skwala Use the code, TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order at https://skwalafishing.com/

Sometimes, the goal is to catch the biggest trout in the river. In those times, what's the best fly to choose? In this conversation, we talk through big trout situations, and we focus on the flies. If you’re really targeting a big trout, when does a streamer seem like the best choice, and what qualities in that streamer help not just get a trout’s attention, but convince them to eat the fly? Likewise, when might a dry fly have the best chance at fooling a big fish? And when is a wet fly or nymph the best choice? Size, shape, weight, color, flash — whether it’s a dry fly, nymph, wet fly or streamer, what are the qualities of a pattern that we have confidence will interest bigger fish? My friends, Austin Dando, Dr. Trevor Smith, Bill Dell and Matt Grobe join me for a great conversation. Resources READ: Troutbitten | Category | Big Trout PODCAST: Troutbitten | Why Do Some Rivers Hold Big Trout? S13, Ep7 READ: Troutbitten | Where to Find Big Trout - Big, Bigger, Biggest Visit Troutbitten Website Troutbitten Instagram Troutbitten YouTube Troutbitten Facebook Thanks to TroutRoutes: Use the code TROUTBITTEN for 20% off your membership at https://maps.troutroutes.com Thanks to Skwala Use the code, TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order at https://skwalafishing.com/

Craig Matthews is one of the most prominent figures in fly fishing, with a career spanning half a century and an influence that is immeasurable. Making his home in Montana, Craig's fly shop, Blue Ribbon Flies, became an icon as he educated and helped generations of anglers find their way with a fly rod. Craig's many fly creations, like the Sparkle Dun and X-Caddis are in my fly box, and they're probably in yours. Craig also founded One Percent for the Planet, a collection of outdoor retailers, now approaching one-billion dollars donated to preserving and enhancing trout rivers across the country. Craig has authored nine books, the latest of which is titled Pheasant Tail Simplicity. It is a wonderful book that details the mysteriously attractive nature of pheasant tail flies for trout, while also sharing stories and philosophies around a simple approach to this sometimes complicated game of fly fishing. I'm pleased to present my interview with Craig Matthews . . . Resources BOOK: Pheasant Tail Simplicity WEBSITE: One Percent for the Planet PODCAST: Troutbitten | Why We Fish READ: Troutbitten | Simplicity and Fishing Visit Troutbitten Website Troutbitten Instagram Troutbitten YouTube Troutbitten Facebook Thanks to TroutRoutes: Use the code TROUTBITTEN for 20% off your membership at https://maps.troutroutes.com Thanks to Skwala Use the code, TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order at https://skwalafishing.com/

With this conversation, we're going back to spot burning. In Troutbitten Podcast Season 3, Episode 1, we talked through Secrets and Spot Burning ( March, 2022). And in that conversation we spent a lot of time on the first part — on what fishing secrets really are, whether they’re valuable, fun or just gatekeeping. (They’re valuable, by the way.) And we acknowledged that every angler has their own set of things they might want to be secretive about, whether that's patterns, tactics or . . . spots. In our conversation from three years ago, it was interesting to me when I went back to listen, how much more fleshed out and nuanced my own opinions are now. Back then, I also felt the Troutbitten guys here were pretty much on the same page with everything. But now I’m not so sure. Because over time, not only have my own thoughts become more defined, I know the other guys here think differently as well. So it’s time to revisit the hot button topic of spot burning. What’s the big deal? How does it hurt? When is it okay to name spots publicly? Is it alright if it’s part of a business? And are there different rules? Basically, it’s a wide, wide world out there. And things change quickly, so it might be helpful to talk about spot burning again. My friends, Austin Dando, Josh Darling and Matt Grobe join me for a great conversation. Resources PODCAST: Troutbitten | Secrets and Spot Burning - S3, Ep1 READ: Troutbitten | The Secret VIDEO: Troutbitten | Riverside - A Fisherman's Thoughts On Spot Burning READ: Troutbitten | Respect the Spots, Man! A Fisherman's Thoughts On Friendship and Spot Burning Visit Troutbitten Website Troutbitten Instagram Troutbitten YouTube Troutbitten Facebook Thanks to TroutRoutes: Use the code TROUTBITTEN for 20% off your membership at https://maps.troutroutes.com Thanks to Skwala Use the code, TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order at https://skwalafishing.com/