592 episodes

The Orvis Fly Fishing Guide Podcast provides weekly tips from acclaimed fly fishing author and lifelong fly fishing enthusiast, Tom Rosenbauer. Get the most from your time on the water!

The Orvis Fly-Fishing Podcast Tom Rosenbauer, The Orvis Company

    • Sport
    • 4.7 • 54 Ratings

The Orvis Fly Fishing Guide Podcast provides weekly tips from acclaimed fly fishing author and lifelong fly fishing enthusiast, Tom Rosenbauer. Get the most from your time on the water!

    How Trout See, with Jason Randall

    How Trout See, with Jason Randall

    Can trout see color?  Can they see UV light?  How does a trout's window on the outside world affect how they feed and how they notice predators like us?  How can a trout see so well at night and also in bright light when they have no eyelids, and their pupils don't constrict?  Jason Randall [31:10] is an experienced fly fisher and scientist, and he stays up on the latest scientific papers on trout and also talks to leading scientists, and is one of the best at distilling this information for us ordinary anglers.  This is a fascinating podcast and Jason does a great job of explaining trout vision.
     
    In the Fly Box this week, we have some great questions but also a bunch of great tips from listeners, including:
    When water is low and the sun is bright, what tactics do you recommend for Great Lakes steelhead?
    Four great fly-tying tips from a tier in the UK
    I am looking at the 10-foot Helios rods.  For all-around fishing, should I get the 3-weight F model or the 4-weight D model?
    A guide from the mid-Atlantic shares tips on targeting snakeheads
    A young fly tier asks for advice on a moderately priced vise for tying bass flies
    Why do my 9-foot 6X knotless leaders keep breaking?
    A new fly fisher from Ohio recounts a wonderful experience he had on the river
    A listener provides some great tips on rooftop rod carriers
    A listener asks for suggestions for a book on the history of trout in North America
     

    • 1 hr 21 min
    All About the Henry’s Fork, with Brandon Hoffner

    All About the Henry’s Fork, with Brandon Hoffner

    My guest this week is Brandon Hoffner [35:55], executive director of the Henry’s Fork Foundation, and the topic is the diverse habitat and trout-fishing opportunities of this world-famous river that has influenced so many anglers, techniques, and fly patterns over the years.  Like all trout rivers today, the Henry’s Fork also has its share of environmental issues and we’ll explore how the Henry’s Fork Foundation works to maintain this magical fishery.
     
    In the Fly Box this week, we have a roundup of questions and tips from listeners, including:
    What is the advantage of a 9 ½-foot rod over a 9-footer or 10-footer? A great tip from a listener on how to remove salt water from flies you have fished When would you use a Tenkara rod over a traditional Western rod?  And do you have a favorite Tenkara rod? Does Tom Rosenbauer actually tie the flies in the Orvis Tom Rosenbauer fly selection? What is the history of the famous Orvis Far & Fine graphite rod, and what line would you put on it? For small creeks, is it better to use a 2-weight or a 3-weight line? What can I substitute for goose biots on the tail of a stonefly nymph? Can you explain the pros and cons of polyleaders vs. sink-tip fly lines? What are the best fly lines on the new Helios 7 ½-foot 3-weight rod and the new 8-foot, 5-inch 7-weight rod? A listener talks about how he uses the new Orvis wading staff as a hiking staff as well. Will the heat inside a car in summer hurt my Orvis raincoat? A call from Captains for Clean Water with some great news from the Everglades

    • 1 hr 33 min
    Disturbing News on Montana's Smith River, with David Brooks

    Disturbing News on Montana's Smith River, with David Brooks

    The Montana Supreme Court recently reversed a decision that would have blocked a copper mine on the headwaters of the Smith River.  Where we thought we had a win in preventing a mine in the wrong place, we now may have to live with that mine.  David Brooks [33:02] on Montana TU tells us how, at the very least, TU and other organizations convinced the mine to put in a number of mitigation solutions that were not in their original plan.  Trout Unlimited has one more hail Mary on this issue, which you can learn about in the podcast.  This is a tough subject to listen to, but we learn that we can never give up on environmental issues, even when it looks like we've won. 
    (To sign a petition in support of Trout Unlimited's position preventing the mine from expanding onto public land, click here https://montanatu.org/protect-the-smith-sign-the-mineral-withdrawal-petition/
     
    In the Fly Box this week, we have some more fun and positive topics, including:
    What is a tailing loop in fly casting?
    To practice casting for a saltwater trip, should I just use yarn or should I use a hookless fly similar to the size I will be casting?
    What is the purpose of a wing on a wet fly?
    Does the loop at the end of a fly line cause energy loss?
    How can I photograph striped bass beneath a bridge?
    Can I keep fly rods in my cartop quiver in hot weather?
    A great tip from a listener about using white poster board on the surface of an old rolltop desk.
    Another tip from a listener on using inexpensive drill gauges to size hunks of deer hair and beads.
    Would a one-piece rod be better than a four-piece rod?
    How do I keep debris from drifting downstream when fishing the top of a riffle?
    What is a good all-around fly line for bonefish and redfish?
    I had a fishless day and then a guy with a spin rod caught a trout right in front of me.  Should I have switched to a streamer earlier?

    • 1 hr 6 min
    A New Way of Fishing a Dry Dropper, with Josh Miller

    A New Way of Fishing a Dry Dropper, with Josh Miller

    Josh Miller [43:10] is a guide and has been a competitive angler and coach for years and he, like many young fly fishers, is an innovative angler who doesn't rely only on older methods of fly fishing but develops his own techniques based on how he wants his flies to drift.  This is a geeky one with some rambling, but I think Josh has some thought-provoking ideas that will get many of us thinking.
     
    In the Fly Box we have some interesting questions and tips from listeners, including:
    What model of an older Orvis rod do you still fish?
    Do you have any tips from casting a Spey rod from the beach?
    The head on a fly I tied unraveled.  Was it because I used Superglue and half hitches?
    A tip from a listener on a product that will sharpen fly-tying scissors.
    What conditions are best for fishing a bamboo rod?
    Can I underline a fiberglass rod?
    Can I cut the taper off an old WF5F line to make a lighter line for small streams?
    How can I get my fly-tying thread to jump backward so I can tie in tricky materials?
    What kind of setup do I need for catching snakeheads on a fly rod?
    Why do smaller streams produce smaller trout and bigger rivers bigger fish?
    What kind of PFD should I get for wearing under a fishing vest?
    Why can't I find good brown and grizzly dry-fly hackle in size 12?
    What do I need to do to switch between conventional nymphing and Euro nymphing?
    Do most communities have fly-fishing clubs and how do I find them?
    If I am going from a small stream to a lake, should I lengthen my butt section or lengthen my tippet?

    • 1 hr 47 min
    How Fly Rods Are Developed, with Shawn Combs

    How Fly Rods Are Developed, with Shawn Combs

    This week, my guest is Orvis rod designer and my fishing buddy Shawn Combs [14:05], who uses the new Helios rods as an example of how a new rod series is developed.  What kind of input goes into a new rod design?  Why do we keep making new rod series?  How are they tested?  How many prototypes of a new rod are built before we decide on the final model?
     
    The Fly Box is short this week because I've caught up with questions and am doing this before I leave for a couple weeks.  But they're good ones, including:
    Do I need to set the hook in a different manner with a glass fly rod?
    Is there something about the new Helios rods that is not covered on the web site and catalog copy?
    Is there a place where I can still pick up a Helios 3 rod?
    I am going to Cozumel and will be wade fishing from the beach.  What should I know in advance?
    A listener gives some great tips on fly fishing for trout in Missouri

    • 1 hr 12 min
    The Amazing World of Trout Stream Bugs, with Anna Le

    The Amazing World of Trout Stream Bugs, with Anna Le

    This week, my guest is educator and aquatic entomologist Anna Le [18:57], who introduces us to the amazing world of trout-stream invertebrates.  She tells us how to gauge the health of a river by looking at the bugs, and also how we can all be citizen scientists and alert the authorities when we see a decline of important indicator species.
     
    In the Fly Box this week we have the usual mix of difficult and easy questions, plus tips,  including:
    A great tip from a listener—don't try to fish while you are wading.
    Can I put an 8-weight line on my 7-weight Pflueger Medalist reel?
    A funny story from a listener on another way to break a fly rod
    As I get older my eyesight and finger dexterity are not what they used to be.  Is there an easier knot for attaching flies to my tippet?
    Why don't more people fish for chubs, and why are they considered a trash fish?
    Do you have any recommended cicada patterns?
    A listener who is also a toxicologist warns that not all fly-tying materials are harmless and gives tips on how to avoid undue exposure to them.
    I have trouble tying tails on size 18 and smaller flies.  Do you have any tips?

    • 55 min

Customer Reviews

4.7 out of 5
54 Ratings

54 Ratings

Grandad Steve Uk ,

The reel deal

Tom your a top draw fisherman - even better knowledge sharer thank you :) All best for 2024 best wishes steve Uk

Jonfromcornwall ,

Excellent! Must subscribe for all fly fishers

Honestly one of the best fly fishing podcasts. Tom is a great host. I’ve learned a tonne and it helped me to catch the biggest fish on a river yet at 20” 🥳

M321 ,

Still listening - hooked!

This is a really great podcast for anyone, whether beginner or more advanced fly fisher, who wants to learn more about fly fishing and discuss some current topics. By some considerable margin, I think it’s the best and most informative podcast out there (and I think I’ve listened to most!). Outstanding.

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