Secrets of an Award-Winning Guide, with Antoine Bissieux
The Orvis Fly-Fishing Podcast
My guest this week is Antoine Bissieux [38:28], Orvis-Endorsed Guide of the Year for 2025. Antoine, otherwise known as The French Fly Fisherman, regularly fishes with and communicates with the top French competitive fly fishers, and has developed methods of fishing nymphs and dry flies as well as dry/dropper setups adapted from what he has learned from these world-class anglers. You'll learn some new techniques to make your fly fishing more effective and more interesting no matter where you fish. In the Fly Box this week, we have some questions that I think will help...
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How to Get Started in Carp Fishing, with Rick Mikesell
The Orvis Fly-Fishing Podcast
I offer no apologies for being a carp evangelist. They live almost anywhere, they are here to stay (they were stocked in many places in North America even before brown trout), and they are the hardest-fighting fish in fresh water. They are also fascinating creatures that can be a challenge to catch—which is why most of us fish with a fly rod. Rick Mikesell [49:05] of Denver is one of the best carp anglers I know and a terrific teacher and he gives us a great introduction on how to pursue these worthwhile fly-rod targets. In the Fly Box this week, we have some interesting requests,...
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Back Cast: Twelve Tips for Fishing Dry Flies, with Todd Tanner
The Orvis Fly-Fishing Podcast
This episode was originally published on November 20th, 2023. Todd Tanner [43:02] is a lifelong fly fisher and journalist and spent years as a guide on the Henry's Fork, one of the best (and toughest) dry-fly rivers in the world. He also prefers not to fish nymphs. Todd shares his 12 tips on improving your success with dry flies this week, and they are solid and helpful. In the Fly Box this week, we have a great and varied selection of questions and tips from listeners, including: I don't see any brook or brown trout in the usual places this fall. Are they all upstream...
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Secrets of Trout Fishing in Spain, with Ivan Tarin
The Orvis Fly-Fishing Podcast
Many North Americans would love to catch brown trout in their native environment, and most of us think of the UK or France or Slovenia for wild, native brown trout. But, Spain has a long history of fly fishing in the Pyrenees (Hemingway loved fly fishing in the Pyrenees and called this region "the closest thing to heaven") and for the traveler, there are many rivers with public access. Spain has small freestone mountain streams, lakes, and tailwaters that offer excellent trout fishing and my guest this week, Ivan Tarin [35:59], of Salvelinus Adventures, has spent thirty years exploring these...
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Back Cast: Secrets of Small-Stream Trout Fishing, with Guide Charity Rutter
The Orvis Fly-Fishing Podcast
This episode was originally published on February 5th, 2024. My guest this week is Charity Rutter [39:50], a great friend and longtime guide in the Great Smoky Mountains. She and her husband Ian have just finished a great book (I read the manuscript and loved it) and although it won't be available until April, you can pre-order it here: https://randrflyfishing.com/store/fly-fishing-guide-to-great-smoky-mountains-national-park/ Charity shares her secrets for making more out of your time on small waters, and although she concentrates on her area, she has fished small streams...
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The Poetry of Fly Fishing
The Orvis Fly-Fishing Podcast
We're not talking about the poetry of a fly cast made by Pete Kutzer, but poetry about fly fishing, some of the well known poets who were fly fishers, and why the appeal of poetry and fly fishing have much in common. My guest, Andrew Grace [29:19], is a published poet and professor of English, and he'll read us some of his own work as well as from poets like Jim Harrison and Chris Dombrowski. It's a real departure from our usual subjects and I hope you enjoy it. In the Fly Box this week, we get more into our typical nitty-gritty subjects like: Is there a rule of thumb...
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The Seven Deadly Sins of Playing and Landing Fish, with Josh Nugent
The Orvis Fly-Fishing Podcast
Every week I get some iteration of this question: "I hooked three fish and lost all of them before I could get them to the net. What am I doing wrong?" Well, often you did nothing wrong and it was just bad luck. But there are steps you can take to make sure you land the fish you've hooked and Josh Nugent [36:46], a regular on my podcast and one of the most thoughtful anglers I know, presents us with his Seven Deadly Sins. There are lots of helpful nuggets in this one. In the Fly Box this week, we have these questions and tips: You say I can fish small streamers on my 5-weight rod....
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Fishing for Sea-Run Trout, with Krystjan from Fish Partner in Iceland
The Orvis Fly-Fishing Podcast
I get frequent questions on the fly box about fishing for sea trout, or sea-run brown trout. I've never caught one and have never fished for them, so I brought in an expert on the subject, Krystjan [35:21] from Fish Partner in Iceland, owner of the organization Orvis uses for its hosted trips (and I'm hosting one in July) to Iceland and a fanatic fly fisher. He talks about seasons, conditions, presentations, and of course fly patterns to catch these hard-fighting versions of the brown trout we know and love in our inland streams. In the Fly Box this week, we have a...
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How Do I Get My Fly-Fishing Writing Published? With Ross Purnell, Editor of Fly Fisherman Magazine
The Orvis Fly-Fishing Podcast
Inside nearly every fly fisher is a budding writer, eager to share their passion with the world. I've done podcasts on how to write better fly-fishing stories in the past, and figured it was time to talk to an editor and publisher about how you can get your masterpiece published. Ross Purnell [32:15], editor and publisher of Fly Fisherman magazine, was happy to share his advice on this subject—and no one in the fly-fishing world has more experience in this topic than Ross. In the Fly Box this week, we have some great tips from listeners, some questions that I've...
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How to find great fly fishing close to home, with Greg DeMars
The Orvis Fly-Fishing Podcast
I've had a number of guests on the podcast teaching us about urban fly fishing and it will be an ongoing process because everyone has different takes on how to approach it. There is nothing better than a few hours of peace before or after work, without needing to drive for hours, and you can find it, even in the middle of our largest cities. My guest Greg DeMars [40:25] specializes in the urban fisheries around Dallas, Texas, but the tips he offers are valuable for any urban area throughout North America—and probably beyond. Urban fishing can be exciting and interesting...
info_outline- Is there a rule of thumb for how long it takes a sinking line to get to a particular depth?
- Can I fish in lakes with a shorter, softer fiberglass rod?
- How do I elegantly get the fly line out of my rod before I start casting?
- I catch trout in Alaska when they are eating eggs behind salmon, but at other times of year I can't catch them on dries or nymphs. Are they not in the same places at other times of year?
- How many different flies are there in the world? s there a registry of them? And can they be copyrighted or trademarked?
- If I can't use gel flotant once my fly has gotten wet, why don't I just use the powder right off the bat and forget about the gel?
- I heard that when you cast a dry fly, you should pull back a bit at the end of the cast to develop some slack. But can this be executed in a smoother fashion?
- Why empty my wallet for a Helios rod when the Superfines are so good? What will a Helios do for me that a Superfine won't?
- Where can I find Hungarian partridge to tie smaller flies like size 16s?
- Is there a way you mark what line is on what reel so you don't have to use a magnifying glass to look at those tiny line markers?
- Is there a national registry of fly-fishing clubs?