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 that you somehow double your chances by dropping a nymph under the dry is not true. This is the big lie of dry dropper fishing.

Here's the problem: In most cases, neither fly ends up with a great drift. Instead, both flies are compromised and their natural drift is altered. Picky trout don't buy sub-par drifts, so you'll only pick up the occasional lucky trout.

But we can have good fishing with a dry dropper rig. It's a go to choice for a many anglers, and it’s one of our favorite ways to fish a river.

The point here is to acknowledge the problems with a dry dropper system — the inherent drawback — so we can then specifically deal with them or even get rid of them altogether. Know the problem and try to solve it.

My good friends Bill Dell, Trevor Smith, Josh Darling, Austin Dando and Matt Grobe are here with me to talk about . . . the big lie of dry dropper.

Resources

READ: Troutbitten | Three Styles of Dry Dropper
PODCAST: Troutbitten | Three Styles of Dry Dropper - Dry Dropper Skills Series

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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 see it — even though that route takes a few extra minutes.

We've all seen die hard anglers living their life on the water -- and then it just goes away. Rising and fading interests are part of human nature. But we've also met plenty of anglers who lament the fact that their waders have been gathering dust for two years.

Burnout starts with the small things — sleeping in instead of getting out early, or skipping the evening spinner fall in favor of an earlier dinner. And then, almost without realizing it, you’ve missed a whole season because you made excuses about low water or crowded streams.

I think burnout is involuntary. It creeps up and surprises people, but I don't think it has to. Fishing gets old because it becomes average, because some of the mystery or exploration is gone — maybe it becomes predictable. But all of that can be changed with a few intentional decisions, too.

My good friends Bill Dell, Trevor Smith, Josh Darling, Austin Dando and Matt Grobe are here with me to talk about . . . burnout.

Resources

READ: Troutbitten | All the Things
READ: Troutbitten | How to Stay in the Game for a Lifetime
PODCAST: Troutbitten | Fishing Buddies S5, Ep12

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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 you'll find a video of the podcast conversation on the Troutbitten YouTube channel.

The new video format is full of creative possibilities, and we're excited about the future of the podcast.

Incidentally, podcasts will now publish on Mondays at 3:30 p.m. EST, instead of Sundays. (YouTube hates Sunday evenings.)

Our conversation for episode one is all about luck. And we want to talk about how luck plays into things out there. Do we rely on it? Do we surrender to it? Do we look for it?

From the beginning, luck and fishing were intertwined. It became part of our anglers’ lore. And while good luck has surely saved countless fishing trips, bad luck continues to doom the best laid plans of a fisherman.

Great trout fishing is rarely the result of good luck. And if the experience was up to the fish and to fate, I’d hardly pick up a fishing rod. Success on the water is not a slot machine. It’s more like a game of poker, where you play the hand you’re given and try to fool your adversary. Sometimes the cards you’re holding almost guarantee success. Then the next day Mother Nature might deal you a hand, where pulling a couple of fish is a grand achievement.

My good friends Trevor Smith, Josh Darling, Austin Dando and Matt Grobe join me to begin Season 19.

Resources

READ: Troutbitten | It's Not Luck
READ: Troutbitten | Waiting On Luck
READ: Troutbitten | Fish It Anyway

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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 differences. Choose the elements that matter most to you. Find the components of a fly that create enough of a distinction to be the keys to a platform, and build around that idea.

I do think some things are undeniable, and almost every angler is going to classify a parachute the same way. That might be true for upright hackles and down wings too.

But I’m sure you’ve noticed that the further we got into this season, the less specific each platform became. And again, that’s just because there are only so many things you can put on a dry fly and still have it be successful.

Most of the more recent flies designed take their cues from what came before them. Honestly, I assume that will hold true going into the future too.

My friends Bill Dell, Austin Dando and Matt Grobe join me for the conclusion of Season 18.

Resources

PODCAST: Troutbitten | Fly Tying - Essential Tools and More (S17 Ep9)
READ: Troutbitten | Pattern vs Presentation
PODCAST: Troutbitten | Fishing Dry Flies - Dry Fly Skills Series (S12)

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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 Comparadun or a Parachute. And if we see trout slashing at hovering, skittering Grannoms in a riffle, we probably choose an Elk Hair Caddis or similar.

But what do we pick when the trout food is bigger — when trout are eating hoppers, stoneflies, cicadas or other big bugs on the surface that are twenty times the size of a Blue Winged Olive? Those trout aren’t looking for snacks. They’re hunting for dinner — for the main course. And we need a platform or a style to match the moment.

The hoppers and stoneflies platform is a major departure from the delicate mayfly imitations we’ve covered in this series. This platform isn't about perfectly matching the wing of a Hendrickson or the subtle flutter of an October Caddis. It’s about presenting a substantial, high-calorie meal that gets attention. Whether it’s a Golden stonefly clipping across the hoppy water of a bouldered run, or an unlucky grasshopper blown onto the surface from a grassy bank, these are not subtle bugs. They make a splash. They struggle. And in the best moments, they draw explosive strikes.

With this platform, we substitute subtlety for buoyancy. Hackle is traded in for rubber legs, and dubbing is often replaced by closed-cell foam. In this episode, we break down this big-meal platform. We’ll look at a parts list, cover some pros and cons about material choices, and look at the particulars of the platform itself.

My friend, Matt Grobe, joins me for a detailed look at another of our favorite dry fly platforms.

Resources

PODCAST: Troutbitten | Fly Tying - Essential Tools and More (S17 Ep9)
READ: Troutbitten | Pattern vs Presentation
PODCAST: Troutbitten | What's the Deal With Emergers? S11, Ep4
PODCAST: Troutbitten | Fishing Dry Flies - Dry Fly Skills Series (S12)

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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 the live podcast on March 28th at New Trail Brewing Company and the Troutbitten film festival happening later this year, in October. There's an order to everything to keep this Troutbitten project moving forward, and the work of these first weeks of 2026 had me thinking about one of my favorite concepts for a day on the water . . .

A lot goes into a good fishing trip. It’s a flexible framework of pieces and parts mixed in with a little fortuitous intuition. That first trout to the net is rarely luck. And when you start to lose count of how many fish have come to hand, you can be sure that luck has had very little to do with it.

The overarching principles of how to catch a trout — the headers of the outline — are these:

1. Find Trout
2. Don’t spook them
3. Have a Solid Presentation
4. Choose a Reasonable Pattern
5. Fight Fish Fast

For me, when the day is tough, if it’s lunchtime and I haven’t yet touched a fish, if I’m losing faith in my strategy and I’m wishing more than fishing, I often gather my wits around this checklist of five.

Here's the full article:

READ: Troutbitten | The Order of Everything

The LIVE Podcast

Also, Tickets are on sale for the Live Podcast on March 28th at New Trail Brewing in Williamsport, PA.

BUY TICKETS HERE

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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 platform of emergers. We look at what they are, how and why to use them and the differences in styles within this platform. We cover some history about how emerger design got to this point and what the future might hold.

Once the emerger platform really caught on in the fly fishing world, I’d say it has almost replaced many of the traditional, more high riding patterns as the average flies in the average angler’s box. Maybe that’s just my perception, but there’s no doubt, emergers are more popular than ever, and new ideas and turns of thread keep pushing the concept further.

My good friend, Austin Dando, joins me for a thorough look at another of our favorite dry fly platforms.

Resources

PODCAST: Troutbitten | Fly Tying - Essential Tools and More (S17 Ep9)
READ: Troutbitten | Pattern vs Presentation
PODCAST: Troutbitten | What's the Deal With Emergers? S11, Ep4
PODCAST: Troutbitten | Fishing Dry Flies - Dry Fly Skills Series (S12)

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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 finds it's way to stonefly patterns as well.

But for this discussion, we cover the down wing and its progression into fly boxes, by looking at three standouts: the Elk Hair Caddis, the X-Caddis and the CDC & Elk. Because the arrival of each of these patterns brought forth major innovations to the world of dry flies. All three of these are down wings, but they are very different players on the water.

The down wing, like all of these dry fly platforms, is a structural philosophy. There are reasons for having a wing that lays flat rather than stands up. The down wing is a canvas to be creative with. It starts with a wing that angles back. Then, materials used for the undercarriage dictate how the fly behaves on the surface, along with where, when and how we expect trout to respond.

My good friend, Bill Dell, joins me for a thorough look at another of our favorite fly platforms.

Resources

PODCAST: Troutbitten | Fly Tying - Essential Tools and More (S17 Ep9)
READ: Troutbitten | Pattern vs Presentation
PODCAST: Troutbitten | Fishing Dry Flies - Dry Fly Skills Series (S12)

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Troutbitten Instagram

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Troutbitten Facebook

Thanks to TroutRoutes:

Use the code TROUTBITTEN for 20% off your membership at
https://maps.troutroutes.com

Thanks to Skwala

Use the code, TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order at
https://skwalafishing.com/