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.
Episodes
195 episodes
Taking the Next Step
How do you get deeper into the game? Is it a choice or just good fortune? We live a life on the water, and a couple of episodes ago we talked about burnout — how a lot of anglers dig in, fish hard, go all out for a few years, and then just fade...
The Big Lie of Dry Dropper
Dry dropper is great. Just put a nymph under that dry fly and get the best of both worlds. Right? Not so fast . . .The idea that you can have your cake and eat it too — that you'll get perfect drifts on the dry fly and the nymph — and t...
Burnout
A life on the water is an everyday thing. When we’re not fishing, we’re thinking about it. We’re preparing for it. We’re learning about it. I text with friends almost daily about river conditions and hatches. I drive beside the river just to se...
What About Luck?
For Season 19 of the Troutbitten Podcast, we're adding the video component, with the same conversation on both the audio and video side. So you'll still find the audio version of the podcast on Apple, Spotify and every other platform, and now y...
Dry Fly Platforms - The Outliers and The Wrap Up - The Troutbitten Fly Box
This Troutbitten Skills Series and these platforms are an effort to pass along the idea that fly selection doesn’t have to be regimented or complicated. Instead, see flies for what they have in common. Find their similarities rather than their ...
Dry Fly Platforms - Hoppers, Stones and Foams - The Troutbitten Fly Box
It's time for the big-meal dry fly platform: hoppers and stoneflies.When we open our fly boxes, we’re looking for a solution. If trout are sipping tiny olives in a soft tailout, we probably reach for the low-riding, vulnerable look of a ...
Riverside: Find Fish, Feed Fish, Fight Fish - The Order of Everything
In this Riverside episode, I share an article that I published a few years ago, title, The Order of Everything. I also share some Troutbitten updates about my upcoming book, about the Troutbitten Shop, about
Dry Fly Platforms - Emergers - The Troutbitten Fly Box
A dry fly emerger is one that has part of the fly underneath the surface. It’s a highly effective form (meaning tout eat it) because it matches the most vulnerable state of things that trout see.In this episode we cover the dry fly platf...
Dry Fly Platforms - Down Wings - The Troutbitten Fly Box
The down wing dry fly style is a perfect match for one of the most ubiquitous insects found in trout rivers across the planet: caddis. The down wing platform is also a first choice for matching many terrestrials, like moths and hoppers, and it ...
Dry Fly Platforms - Comparaduns - The Troutbitten Fly Box
With its simple form of wing, body and tail, the Comparadun is another template for the dry fly angle -- another perfectly adaptable platform.When the Comparadun hit the scene in the 1970’s, it was a significant departure from the norm. ...
Dry Fly Platforms - Parachutes - The Troutbitten Fly Box
The parachute platform is our favorite style of dry fly and the favorite of many other anglers, because of its utility. Because it form is functional. Because it casts well, lands upright and keeps floating, even though heavy water. It fools pi...
Dry Fly Platforms - Upright Hackles - The Troutbitten Fly Box
Season 18 is a unique look at dry fly styles, through the concept of platforms. By taking a fly shape, a form or a set of materials, we can adapt the elements like color, wing style, tailing material or hackle length to meet the moment. Within ...
Approaching the River
We’re here to talk about approaching the river — approaching the trout — to put our boots in the best place, with a strategy for making the casts and catching fish.We focus so much on the drifting, on the presentation and the casting — o...
Fly Tying -- Essential Tools and More
Fly tying is more popular than ever. With the prevalence of high quality materials and excellent videos showing how to build flies, more fly anglers choose to tie their own patterns than ever before.All of us at Troutbitten have been tyi...
Fly Fishing Myths
For this episode, we want to tackle a topic that’s been on our list for a long time — fly fishing myths and misunderstandings.We’re not here to argue about stuff or complain. We just want to acknowledge things that we hear repeated or we...
In Deep with Devin Olsen - Tight Line Tactics and Competition Influence
Devin Olsen has had an immeasurable influence on the nymphing game. Having been embedded in the competition scene for two decades now, Devin knows competition nymphing form the inside. While reading Devin's book and watching his videos, it's ob...
Troutbitten State of the Union, Fall 2025 - Catching Up With the Shop, Book, Videos, Events and More
For our State of the Union 2025, my wife, Becky, joins me for a lighthearted look at what's going on in the Troutbitten world. We talk about the upcoming leader sale in the Troutbitten Shop (December 1). We talk about the book, the In Deep seri...
Have Mono Rig and Euro Nymphing Styles Gone Too Far?
All of us at Troutbitten, along with so many anglers across the country, use a Mono Rig for most underwater presentations. The tight line advantage and the drift control possible for both nymphs and streamers is fun and effective. But a lot has...
The Spawning Process of Trout
The spawning process is arguably the most important event of a trout's life. The best trout in the system spawn every year. And as long term anglers, we should understand the process -- not only because we then know how to give trout their spac...
What Flies Catch Big Trout?
Sometimes, the goal is to catch the biggest trout in the river. In those times, what's the best fly to choose?In this conversation, we talk through big trout situations, and we focus on the flies. If you’re really targeting a big trout, ...
In Deep - Fishing Simply, With Craig Matthews
Craig Matthews is one of the most prominent figures in fly fishing, with a career spanning half a century and an influence that is immeasurable. Making his home in Montana, Craig's fly shop, Blue Ribbon Flies, became an icon as he educated and ...
Back to Spot Burning - Evolution?
With this conversation, we're going back to spot burning. In Troutbitten Podcast Season 3, Episode 1, we talked through Secrets and Spot Burning ( March, 2022). And in that conversation we spent a lot of time on the first part — on what fishing...
Big Flies for Big Trout - Cicada Wrap Up
We begin Season 17 with a conversation about fishing the 17 year periodical cicada this past summer. We talk about big flies, big water and big trout. For so many of us, it was the rarity of the event -- there’s no other chance for ...
Riverside -- Fighting Big Fish -- Keep 'Em Down
A top-tier river trout is a beast. The inherent nature of a river, with the endless obstacles, rocks, tree parts, current breaks, high gradient runs and undercut banks challenges the angler at every bend. So when you finally hook up with a Whis...