The Intermediate Vice Ep 4 - Brandon Bailes ( Panther Branch Bugs)

On Episode 4 of the Intermediate Vice, I am stoked to interview someone I and many people draw a lot of inspiration from, and that guest is Brandon Bailes who is Panther Branch Bugs. Brandon hales from northern Alabama in the USA, where he grew up fishing for the various Bass species his area has on offer. From these experiences, Brandon has developed very much his own style of fly tying and is considered by many as a world leader. Although openly admitting to drawing inspiration from many fly tyers around the world, Brandon has a great skill of adapting flies to suit what he sees on the water which makes Brandon one of the most interesting fly tyers in my opinion... his on water results are excellent to say the least. In addition to his excellent stream craft and inshore saltwater fishing, Brandon is world class when it comes to Bass and Panfish flies. Listen as we discuss the parallels between Australian Bass and Smallmouth Bass that are literally oceans apart but also quite similar. We also talk about the Deerhair bugs we both like to throw at them. The technical talk surrounds the techniques we find common ground on with Deerhair and some of the unique additions and alterations Brandon makes for his own flies that end up seen down many a Smallmouth Bass' throat. This is an awesome episode, and one I hope you enjoy. We will have to get Brandon on again, the recorded show was only half of the phone conversation had when we weren't recording...we definitely have more to discuss in the future. 

This show is brought to you by Nervous Water, Kettafly and Beast Brushes