Troutbitten

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/

Dry Fly Platforms - Upright Hackles - The Troutbitten Fly Box

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 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/

Approaching the River

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. 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/

Fly Tying -- Essential Tools and More

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. 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/