Any kind of two-handed fishing is confusing for those of us who mostly fish with a single-handed rod. I asked the great Pete Kutzer [37:34] to simplify the selection of a rod, reel, line, leader, and tips for getting a start in swinging flies for trout and he then offers a number of tips for casting, attaching the leader, fly selection, and more. It’s a great basic guide to getting started in this fun way to fish for trout.
In the Fly Box, I thought we had some unusually interesting questions this week, including:
- Will weed guards on my flies help me from catching on oyster bars?
- If the tip of my hook gets bent over, should I try to put it back into shape?
- Can I catch striped bass in New England in the winter?
- What can you tell me about Orvis boron rods from the 1980s?
- Can I get one rod for tarpon, bonefish, pike, muskie, giant trevally, triggerfish, snook, redfish, and dorado?
- Why did you not mention the Davey Knot when you talked about knots a few weeks ago?
- How can I keep my yarn indicators floating?
- I am having trouble getting long downstream drifts with a dry fly. I keep moving the fly. What do you suggest?
- I can’t seem to catch any fish on scuds. When, where, and how should I fish them?
- A tip from a listener on learning to fall safely.
- Can I use a Skagit or Scandi line on my 10-foot 8-weight?
Hi, Tom and Pete – Thanks for a Great Podcast on Trout Spey. I learned a lot. I have a comment and a question:
I finally came to the understanding that there are substantial differences in line specifications for spey and conventional fly rods. Pete recommends 250 grain line for a 3 wgt spey rod, which he says would be about right for a conventional 7 wgt rod (although I would still say pretty heavy, I have a 225 grain LC-13 shooting head that is almost too heavy to handle with my 9 wgt). So, if I ever get into the spey game, I’ll have to remember that difference.
A couple of weeks ago, I viewed Tom on a New Fly Fisher video at the River of Dreams in Chile. He discussed non-tapered leaders for sinking or sink-tip lines. I had a question on the loop between the Bimini Twist and the end loop of the fly line. At about 1:03 in today’s podcast, Pete described the nerdy 4-strand loop he uses here. I think I understand what he is trying to do, to get four thin tippet strands to mate with the end loop of the fly line, but I don’t understand how he furls the two single strands. I couldn’t find this knot or technique on the Orvis Fly-Fishing Learning Center. A cursory web search gave some very complicated techniques for constructing tapered furled leaders, which seemed much too complicated compared to what Pete seemed to be describing. Can you please point us listeners to a reference to this furl technique, or describe it in a Fly Box?
Thanks,
Peter G – Batavia, IL
Hey Peter you just twist the ends together by twirling them in your fingers. Nothing fancy
Like Tom a lot, but could you guys bring back Phil and the Friday movie specials.
So is this just a site to announce when a new podcast comes out? Shame if so.
As valuable as Tom’s podcast is, I don’t think I am alone in saying I feel a bit disconnected from Orvis without the blog.
I don’t really understand how, in a digitally dominated world, Orvis can afford to go dark.
Bringing back Phil makes good sense and good business.
Love Tom and his podcast. Great information and learning experience. But do miss Phil’s Friday videos. Please bring them back. They were some of the best videos. Please bring them back. Thank you.
Bring back something. Its almost MARCH!!!
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