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
129 episodes
Fishing Dry Flies -- Dry Fly Skills Series #7
For this final episode in the dry fly skills series, we work through some scenarios that anglers frequently encounter. Because, just like nymphing, fishing streamers and fishing wets, we fish dry flies for many different reasons and in many dif...
•
Season 12
•
Episode 7
•
58:01
Rise Forms and Hook Sets -- Dry Fly Skills Series #6
In the last couple of weeks we talked a lot about choosing the next fly, when to change, and what informs our decision about what to change to — basically, how do we develop that next theory about what fly, water type and presentation sty...
•
Season 12
•
Episode 6
•
46:41
All About the Flies -- Dry Fly Skills Series #5
Here we are at the part of the season where we address everybody’s favorite question — what fly are you using?We’ve argued for years that the leader is the most consequential element in the system — much more important than the fly. Tha...
•
1:00:47
Casting and Mending -- Dry Fly Skills Series #4
Our discussion here is about casting dry flies, and that’s where all good fly casting starts. With a dry fly, there’s no weight at the end of the line to help us out. No split shot, no tungsten bead, conehead or bobber. Refining the dry fly str...
•
Season 12
•
Episode 4
•
52:39
Catching Up, With Leader Sales, Videos and Troutbitten Plans
For our Season 12 Intermission, 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 (August 21). We talk about the New Trail Troutbitten be...
•
Season 12
•
34:36
Dry Fly Leader Design and Adjustment -- Dry Fly Skills Series #3
The leader should match the moment and match the angler. It should match the fly, the river and the wind conditions. Adjustments are necessary, and when they're performed often enough they become intuitive.An objective look at real goal...
•
Season 12
•
Episode 3
•
1:00:41
Dry Fly Skills #2 --Drag Free Drifts and Animation
The drag free drift -- a high percentage of the time, that’s what catches trout on top. So aiming for perfection on a dead drift sets the baseline. And if you get those great drifts, but they won’t eat it, try some animation. Think slight, smal...
•
Season 12
•
Episode 2
•
59:46
Dry Fly Skills #1 -- When and Why
Season twelve begins. It’s a seven-part skills series dedicated to dry fly fishing. My friend, Matt Grobe, joins me to build the framework — a method and a system — for presenting dry flies to trout.In this first episode, we ask when an...
•
Season 12
•
Episode 1
•
58:39
Prospecting for Trout
Prospecting is a strategy for covering water. It’s about pace. A lot of what we do, day to day on the water, is searching. We’re looking for activity. We’re trying to find feeding fish. Sometimes we’re looking to find the fish the...
•
Season 11
•
Episode 10
•
1:17:30
The Airing of Grievances -- Three
The third annual Airing of Grievances on the Troutbitten Podcast has arrived. Some of this is playful and some is serious.Complaining’s not a bad thing if it accomplishes something productive -- or if it’s kinda fun. Or if it draws atte...
•
Season 11
•
Episode 9
•
1:25:16
Set the Hook! All About Different Hooksets
There are many different ways to set the hook while fly fishing for trout, because there are many different ways to fish for those trout. One size does not fit all. So we adapt our hook sets to suit the situation.In this episode, we cov...
•
Season 11
•
Episode 8
•
1:14:30
The Further You Walk, the More You Leave Behind (a Story)
Here's a story about the solitude that so many of us seek on the water — how the full experience of planning for a trip, driving before dawn, walking in and exploring a river valley provides a respite from our daily life. It’s a chance for a cl...
•
15:56
The Troubles With Club Fishing
We're here for a tough conversation. This one's about fishing the pay-to-play setup of a club.These are the troubles with club fishing . . .One club leads to the next. One private stretch invites another down the road. So clubs ...
•
Season 11
•
Episode 7
•
1:06:21
How Woodsmanship Catches Fish
There's an intangible quality built into the best anglers. It's about being comfortable and natural around the water. It's about having an instinct and a guiding intuition on a river that informs decision without even giving it much thought. It...
•
Season 11
•
Episode 6
•
1:17:23
Boat Fishing -- How Everything Changes When Floating a River
We're here to talk about floating down a river, about why we like boats, how floating is so much different than wading, how some opportunities are uniquely available and how others are shut off too.It’s the companionship and teamwork, a...
•
Season 11
•
Episode 5
•
1:13:29
What's the Deal With Emergers?
Like anything else in fishing, you can take the emerger concept just about as far as you want. You get technical, or you can spin up a couple wet flies, float them in the film, and keep things simple.I’ve often argued that you don’t hav...
•
Season 11
•
Episode 4
•
1:12:16
The Ethics of Guiding -- More Harm Than Good?
My friends join me for a tough discussion. What are the benefits of guiding? What are the good things? How does it help anglers? Does it actually help people and make our sport or this fishing scene better, or does it just put money in the guid...
•
Season 11
•
Episode 3
•
1:16:08
Fishing Through a Caddis Hatch
Two years ago we did a full episode on Hatches. That discussion was a broad, overarching look at how the bugs — the insects that trout eat — dictate many of...
•
Season 11
•
Episode 2
•
1:24:18
The Stages of an Angler
How many times have we heard the supposed stages of an angler? First you want to catch a fish, then you want to catch a bunch of fish, then you want to catch a big fish, then you want to catch the toughest fish, and then you just want to catch ...
•
Season 11
•
Episode 1
•
1:05:58
Feed Drop -- Troutbitten On The Untangled Podcast
I was happy to be a guest on the Untangled Podcast with Spencer Durrant. We talked mostly about Nymphing tactics for beginners. We also talked a little about a fishing life and the fly fishing industry.You can listen to that full episode...
•
1:10:17
Catching Up -- Patagonia, Leader Sales, Live Streams, Beer, Hosted Trips and More
In this interim episode, Becky and I look back on what has happened in 2024 so far, and we set the table for what’s to come. We talk about Patagonia, videos, articles, podcasts, livestream podcasts, one-on-one sessions, hosted trips, guide seas...
•
58:49
Critical Nymphing Concepts #7 -- Animating the Nymph
Here we are with our final installment, part seven of our series on critical nymphing concepts.Almost all of our focus throughout this series has been on achieving dead drifts. We aim for natural looks that imitate what the real bugs do...
•
Season 10
•
Episode 7
•
1:04:08
Critical Nymphing Concepts #6 -- Line on the Water
This episode is about tension and slack. It's about how we manage fly lines and leaders on the water while nymphing.Remember, each of these episodes — all of these concepts — apply to all styles of nymphing. So we might choose to lay li...
•
Season 10
•
Episode 6
•
53:09
Critical Nymphing Concepts #5 -- Weight: The Fundamental Factor
This discussion is all about weight. It’s the fundamental factor in nymphing. Because as soon as you choose to leave the surface, once you clip off the dry fly and fish anything else . . . weight is necessary.Even wet flies have some we...
•
Season 10
•
Episode 5
•
55:23
Three Ways to Dead Drift -- Critical Nymphing Concepts #4
This episode features what might be the most important concept of nymph fishing. There are three different ways to present a dead drifted nymph to the trout -- three ways to imitate what trout commonly see from the naturals. While trout eat dry...
•
Season 10
•
Episode 4
•
44:54