Littoral Zone #12 with Phil Rowley | What Trout See and Why it Matters with Jason Randall
Wet Fly Swing Fly Fishing Podcast
Release Date: 09/23/2024
878 | How Fly Rods Are Really Designed: Inside St. Croix with Zack Dalton
Wet Fly Swing Fly Fishing Podcast
878 Show Notes: Presented by: , , , Today, we’re digging into how fly rods are really designed. Not the marketing side, but what really goes into the design, the testing, and why some rods last for decades while others fall apart. Zac Dalton from St. Croix Rods is on the podcast today, and he walks us through how fly rods are designed from the ground up. We talk about rod action and why faster is not always better, what durability really means for anglers who fish hard, and how different actions change the way a rod fishes and casts. We also get into...
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877 | Fly Fishing the Surf with Frank Vargas - Corbina, Surf Perch, Leopard Sharks
Wet Fly Swing Fly Fishing Podcast
#877 Show Notes: Presented By: , , , Sponsors: Fly fishing in Southern California looks nothing like a mountain river—and that’s exactly why it works. In this episode, Frank Vargas breaks down how surf fly fishing actually functions, from reading tides and beach structure to understanding how species like perch, corbina, and leopard sharks use shallow water to feed and travel. Frank shares how incoming and negative tides reveal feeding lanes, why anglers often walk past productive water, and how sight fishing in the surf can feel more like targeting carp than blind casting waves....
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876 | How to Build an Adventure Vehicle with Matt Dunkerly of AVC Rig
Wet Fly Swing Fly Fishing Podcast
#876 Show Notes: Presented by: Most adventure rigs look great online. Fewer are built for real miles, real weather, and those long fishing days that end well after dark. In this episode, I sit down with Matt Dunkerly to talk about building camper vans that actually work for anglers. Matt runs Adventure Vehicle Concepts, and his approach is refreshingly practical. This isn’t about Instagram builds or overcomplicating things. It’s about access, simplicity, and designing a rig that helps you fish more without getting in your own way. If you’ve been thinking about a van for fly...
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Streamer Season in the Ozarks with Chad Johnson (CJ's Reel Southern Podcast #10)
Wet Fly Swing Fly Fishing Podcast
Show Notes: Presented by: Streamer season is officially here in the Ozarks, and this one is all about slowing things down and fishing with intention. January kicks off the most aggressive window of the year, especially for big browns and smallmouth, and today Chad Johnson is digging deep into how they approach it. He walks us through why post-spawn is such a key window for them, how aggression bites drive streamer eats, and why presentation matters more than fly choice. If you fish the Ozarks (or any tailwater with changing flows) this is one you’ll want to bookmark. Show Notes:
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875 | Phil Monahan on Simplifying Fly Fishing for Beginners
Wet Fly Swing Fly Fishing Podcast
Show Notes: Https://wetfyswing.com/875 Sponsors: and Sponsors:https://wetflyswing.com/sponsors Fly fishing doesn’t fall apart because it’s too hard. It falls apart because there’s too much going on at once. Too many rods, too many flies, too many opinions, and not enough clarity about what actually matters on day one. In this episode, I sat down with Phil Monahan to strip fly fishing back to its essentials. Phil’s spent decades teaching, writing, guiding, and answering the same beginner questions over and over. His takeaway is simple. Most new anglers don’t fail because...
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874 | How Grundéns Turned Commercial Fishing Survival Gear into Fly Fishing Essentials
Wet Fly Swing Fly Fishing Podcast
Show Notes: Https://wetfyswing.com/874 Sponsors: , , and Sponsors:https://wetflyswing.com/sponsors Most fly fishing gear is built for comfort. Some of it is built for performance. But very little of it is built with the assumption that conditions can turn from “kinda crappy” to “this could go bad” in a hurry. That’s where Grundéns comes in. In this episode, I sat down with Justin Waters, who’s right in the middle of translating nearly 100 years of commercial fishing toughness into gear that guides, steelheaders, and fly anglers lean on when the weather goes...
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873 | Fly Fishing Entomology Made Simple with Sawyer Finley
Wet Fly Swing Fly Fishing Podcast
873 Show Notes: Presented by: This episode breaks entomology down into something you can actually use. Sawyer Finley, guide at Grand Teton Fly Fishing, explains how insects live, move, and emerge—and how trout respond to that reality, not just to textbook hatches. The focus is on observation, timing, and availability, not memorization. Show Notes:
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872 | Fly Fishing Patagonia with Nicolas Rivero of Guides Patagonia
Wet Fly Swing Fly Fishing Podcast
#872 Show Notes: Presented by: In this episode, I sat down with Nicolas Rivero to dig into fly fishing Patagonia. We covered the two-basin setup in Patagonia, the famous Limay River, giant brook trout in mountain lakes, and what a full April trip with Moccasin Fly Club looks like on the water. If you’re curious about swinging flies for migratory trout, fishing both lakes and rivers in one week, or planning your first Patagonia trip, this one’s packed. Show Notes:
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871 | Fly Fishing Tactics for the Yellowstone, Bighorn, and Stillwater Rivers with Alex Hepworth from Montana Fly Fishing Lodge
Wet Fly Swing Fly Fishing Podcast
#871 Show Notes: Presented By: Big Montana rivers can feel overwhelming, even for experienced anglers. In this episode, Alex from Montana Fly Fishing Lodge breaks down how he approaches iconic waters like the Yellowstone, Bighorn, and Stillwater Rivers—and why many anglers struggle to find consistency on large freestone systems. It’s a practical conversation focused on simplifying decisions, reading water effectively, and understanding what really matters on big rivers. We dig into fly fishing tactics like dry-dropper setups, nymphing adjustments, and streamer opportunities, along with...
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870 | Fly Fishing the Eleven Point River with Justin Spencer
Wet Fly Swing Fly Fishing Podcast
870 Show Notes: Presented by: , , , Somewhere deep in the Ozarks, Missouri splits in two. One side is farmland and highways. The other is the Eleven Point River, where everything goes quiet. No houses. No roads. Just cold, spring-fed water sliding through Mark Twain National Forest and miles of wild trout water where you can float for hours without seeing anyone. In this episode, we dig into fly fishing the Eleven Point River and the surrounding Ozark streams with Justin Spencer. We talk about his indicator jig system, why movement matters more than anything, when the fishing is...
info_outlineShow Notes: https://wetflyswing.com/662
Presented By: Stonefly Nets, TroutRoutes, Smitty's Fly Box
In today’s Littoral Zone episode, Phil chats with Jason Randall about what trout see and why it matters.
Jason has written four books, including his famous trout trilogy, which dives deep into how trout behave in their environment. While Jason's passion lies in rivers and streams, the research and knowledge he's amassed is equally beneficial to stillwater fly fishers.
]His understanding of how trout see is crucial information for all fly fishers, guiding both our pattern selection and presentation techniques, information that helps us consistently make the correct pattern and presentation choice.
Show Notes with Jason Randall on What Trout See and Why it Matters.
2:20 - Jason Randall graduated as a veterinarian and did postgraduate work in fish health and medicine. Although he considered a career in fisheries, he ultimately chose private practice.
4:16 - Jason started fly fishing around 40 years ago but got frustrated early on due to a lack of guidance. He took a break, then later tried again this time with the help of great mentors.
Jason says his passion really started during a trip to Colorado. A guide introduced him to a caddis hatch that transformed the river into a feeding frenzy of trout. Watching the stream come alive with caddis and rising fish was a game-changer for Jason.
08:21 - Jason says he was lucky to have some amazing mentors like George Kustin who guided him in fly fishing and taught him about wet flies and soft tackles. Lefty Kreh took Jason under his wing.
09:31 - Jason also works with Temple Fork Outfitters on rod design and prototype testing. This year, they introduced a new European Nymphing Rod called the Elevare, which won Best New Rod at ICAST 2024.
Books by Jason Randall
13:00 - Jason’s trout fishing trilogy started in 2012 with Jay Nichols from Stackpole Books. The trilogy covers:
Feeding Time: A Fly Fisher’s Guide to What, When and Where Trout Eat
Trout Sense: A Fly Fisher’s Guide to What Trout See, Hear, and Smell
Moving Water: A Fly Fisher’s Guide to Currents
Jason also wrote Nymph Masters, a collaborative effort featuring tips from top nymph anglers like Gary Borger and Lefty Kreh.
Trout Sense
17:00 - Trout begins life as prey, eating small organisms like plankton. As they grow, they become predators, feeding on insects, crustaceans, and even small fish or mammals.
They retain the wide-set eyes of prey for spotting threats and the sharp focus of predators for hunting. This makes them tricky to catch.
21:10 - Jason explains how light works differently underwater, which affects how trout see. Refraction, or the bending of light when it moves from air to water, can also trick us into thinking we're casting right over a fish, but we could be a few feet off.
26:08 - Jason dives into how color fades underwater, starting with red, and how different colors are absorbed at various depths. Fluorescent colors like chartreuse stand out the most and create a strong contrast, which trout notice.
29:18 - Unlike humans, a trout's pupils don’t adjust to light, and their eyes have a football-like shape that lets them see clearly both in front and to the side.
Search Image and How Trout Decide to Eat
42:11 - Trout uses a "search image" to figure out what’s food and what’s not. They focus on four things: size, shape (profile), movement, and color.
If a fish keeps ignoring your fly from far away, it’s probably the size or shape that’s off. But if they come close, and then turn away, Jason says that it may be a color-based refusal.
Show Notes: https://wetflyswing.com/662