Troutbitten

Life on the water. Troutbitten is a deep dive into fly fishing for wild trout in wild places. Author and guide, Domenick Swentosky, shares stories, tips, tactics and conversations with friends about fly fishing through the woods and water. Explore more. Fish hard. And discover fly fishing at Troutbitten.com — an extensive resource with 1500+ articles about trout, friends, family and the river.

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Troutbitten

The Versatile Angler

July 03, 2022 • Domenick Swentosky • Season 3 • Episode 15

Versatility is a Troutbitten mantra. It’s the way we fish. In fact, it’s why we fish a fly rod, because whatever way the trout wish to feed, we can show them flies that represent that food form.

And while some anglers hit the river with one thing in mind, with one fly box and one set of tools, it’s our ability to adapt, to adjust and modify our approach, that makes a lifetime on the water so interesting. Sure, we focus on our favorite tactics, and we may spend the next half a year just perfecting our dry fly game in tight cover. But once these skills are learned, then knowing that we can throw anything at any time, having a full set of skills at the ready, is a rewarding and enjoyable approach to fly fishing for trout.

Pursuing this kind of versatility also keeps us in the game for a lifetime. We are forever working on the next idea, refining new casts and another approach. Eventually, we develop such a facility with these skills that we begin to combine them, breaking free from the common and standard approach and landing on new ways to get a dead drift or move a streamer. Creation becomes the goal. Design becomes our drive. And experimentation leads to more answers that lead to more questions.

All of it is our reward for being a versatile angler.

But of course, nothing comes easy either. The beginning angler should probably refrain from branching out too much at first. Because too much versatility becomes confusing. It leads to frustration. There are stages. There are tools. There are systems for being versatile on the water. And there’s a time for all of it.

So that’s what we’re here to talk about tonight. Here for our season three finale is a full house: Austin Dando, Trevor Smith, Josh Darling, Bill Dell and Matt Grobe.

We Cover the Following

Is versatility the opposite of specialization?
Learn it all, then use it all
The fly rod is supremely versatile
Do you need a lot of gear to be versatile?
What is a versatile fly rod
Carrying systems
Knowing when to change
Finding a good reason to change
Have a plan and test it
Versatility within one style
How versatility solves the daily mystery

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