The Orvis Fly Fishing Guide Podcast – Fly Tying 101 (and we get a great email)

As Tom was sitting down to tape this episode we got an email from a listener that made us all smile regarding his daughter, April’s first fly (see her work below!). Tom reads it in this episode and it was good timing as in this edition Tom lays out the basics of what you need to get into fly tying as a great addition to your fly fishing experience… but don’t get into it thinking you’re going to save money on flies!

Good lighting, a comfortable seat, reading glasses and this podcast episode are a great start to a rewarding, lifelong hobby.

Click the play button below to listen to this episode. Go to orvis.com/podcast to subscribe to future episodes

If you cannot see the podcast player, please click this link to listen.

aprils_fly
9 Year-Old April’s first fly! Listen to the podcast to hear more.
Read More

The First Tom Rosenbauer Trivia Challenge!

So, you think you know your stuff? Take my quiz by clicking the banner below and let’s see how you do. Challenge your friends to beat your score. We’ll post the cumulative results next week. No Google cheating!


Take the Tom Rosenbauer Fly Fishing Trivia Challenge


Read More

Swinging for Steel

In all they years that I have been going to the New York’s Salmon River, I always spend a day or two swinging big junk waiting for that magical tug. Well, last week I not only got that tug, but I brought the fish to hand—and to make the success ever so sweeter, it was done in the presence of my fishing buddies. Every fly fisherman has had those days: . . .

Read More

Tuesday Tip: Maximum Efficiency

Line in the Water
Even when you’re moving to a different part of the river, you can keep your fly in the water. Trout will often hit a trailing streamer, nymph, or even dry fly.
photo by Jay Morr

There’s an old saying among fishermen: You can’t catch fish if your line isn’t in the water. I believe that this is one of the reasons that wives often outfished their more-experienced husbands on float trips when I guided on the Yellowstone and in Alaska. Whereas the husband recognized every great trout lie the boat floated past and felt the need to cast to all of them, the wife was generally more content to keep a given drift going as long as possible. Every time the husband picked up his line and started false-casting, he was taking himself out of the game.

Read More

In the Loop 11.15.10

Record Brown
Roger Hellen’s 41-pound, 8-ounce brown trout is now the co-world record..
photo by Benny Sieu, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

For the second time in two years, the International game Fish Association has certified a world-record brown trout. Roger Hellen of Racine, Wisconsin, caught the 41-pound, 8-ounce behemoth while trolling on Lake Michigan in July. Although the official weight is 1 ounce heavier than the trout caught on Michigan’s Manistee River in 2009, the two will stand as co-records because. . .

Read More

Praise for Primland Lodge

Primland Lodge
Primland Lodge

The Orvis Board of Directors meeting was held in Roanoke last week. Afterward, they spent a few days at Primland, one of our endorsed hunting lodges located on the front range of the Blue Ridge in southern Virginia. Since their return, I have heard nothing at the lunch table but praises for Primland, and in particular the new lodge.

Read More