Troutbitten

Riverside: Find Fish, Feed Fish, Fight Fish - The Order of Everything

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:Find TroutDon’t spook themHave a Solid PresentationChoose a Reasonable PatternFight Fish FastFor 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 EverythingThe LIVE PodcastAlso, Tickets are on sale for the Live Podcast on March 28th at New Trail Brewing in Williamsport, PA.BUY TICKETS HEREVisitTroutbitten 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/

Dry Fly Platforms - Emergers - The Troutbitten Fly Box

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.ResourcesPODCAST: Troutbitten | Fly Tying - Essential Tools and More (S17 Ep9)READ: Troutbitten | Pattern vs PresentationPODCAST: Troutbitten | What's the Deal With Emergers? S11, Ep4PODCAST: 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/

Dry Fly Platforms - Down Wings - The Troutbitten Fly Box

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.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/

Dry Fly Platforms - Comparaduns - The Troutbitten Fly Box

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.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/

Dry Fly Platforms - Parachutes - The Troutbitten Fly Box

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.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/