Three Styles of Dry Dropper -- Dry Dropper Skills Series #1

For this final episode of Season Ten and of 2023, we wanted  to have some fun. In this episode we walk through a bunch of Troutbitten . . . terms, words, sayings, phrases . . . and talk about what all of this means. Let’s call it a Troutbitten glossary.If you’re lucky enough to have your own group of long-time fishing friends, then I’m sure you have your own phrases too — your own idioms and ways of talking about things. It’s all a lot of fun.Long-time listeners understand what it means when Austin says he could have caught a lot more trout — if he really wanted to. Most of you also understand what it means to play bartender for a friend, and you know how many inches a trout should be to fall under the Troutbitten classification, Whiskey.Our lingo is part of the Troutbitten culture. Here we go . . .ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | Category | HistoryPODCAST: Troutbitten | The One With Sloop, Stories with a Fishing Friend S7 Ep12PODCAST: Troutbitten | Fishing Buddies S5 Ep12VisitTroutbitten WebsiteTroutbitten InstagramTroutbitten YouTubeTroutbitten FacebookThank You to Pre-Roll Ad Sponsors:SkwalaandOrvis

We’re in between podcast seasons and on a bit of a summer break. But I wanted to keep in touch here. I’d like to tell you more about the Troutbitten Project -- about all of the branches, what’s coming next and how all of this ties together.Season Four of the Troutbitten podcast begins on August 14th. It’s a five-part tactical series on Dry Dropper styles. We followed the same platform — or style — in season two, when we covered the Nine Essential Skills of Tight Line and Euro Nymphing. These are compact, informational episodes that detail one narrowly focused topic. I’ll be joined again by my friend, Austin Dando, to build through the framework of this fun, effective style. And by the end of the series, you should have a thorough understanding of the three styles for dry dropper.Maybe you’ve never thought of dry dropper this way. But the point is, there are three drastically different ways that we fish dry dropper. The rigs, the casting, the tactics and the intentions for each style are unique to each method. And sure, there’s some crossover, but in many ways, these styles are more different than they are similar. I call them Light Dry Dropper, Bobber Dry Dropper (or standard dry dropper for you purists out there) and Tight Line Dry Dropper.READ: Troutbitten | Series | Three Styles of Dry DropperSo that podcast series — Season Four — begins August 14th. But now’s a good time to mention that this full Dry Dropper series already exists on the Troutbitten website. The Three Styles of Dry Dropper is a four part series that I published on Troutbitten a few years ago. That series gets a lot of traffic every year, and I receive a lot of questions on the styles. So there’s more to be said, and I think it’s the perfect choice for our second installment of the skills series format on the podcast.Here’s the point: everything at Troutbitten ties together. None of it stands alone. Troutbitten started as a fishing blog eight years ago. Then it became the place where I published my tactical articles and best stories. Because as the traffic grew, ad revenue from the site added up to more than I could make with magazine placements and book contracts. By following that route, I maintained the copyright to my own works, so I can still do things like this — taking the Dry Dropper Styles series and building a podcast around the topic.It ends up that the choices I made years ago, fortuitously setup everything that Troutbitten has grown into. And because it’s so much more than a website now, I refer to all of this as the Troutbitten Project.The website, the podcast, the YouTube channel and the shop -- all of it ties together . . .Visit:Troutbitten WebsiteTroutbitten InstagramTroutbitten YouTubeTroutbitten FacebookThank You to Pre-Roll Ad Sponsors:SkwalaandOrvis

Every Troutbitten regular knows about Sloop. We’ve referred to our friend on nearly every podcast, especially in the last few seasons, as it’s become a running contest to see how we can sneak in a Sloop John B reference.So we’re excited to have John here. Because what we all find so rewarding about this life on the water are the friendships. We form deep bonds with people because they are . . . fishermen. Because they too are captivated by the trout, by the places trout take us and by the refinement of tactics required to catch a wild trout.Our friends are at the heart of it all. And really, that’s what we’re adding in tonight — another friend, and possibly the deepest friend to Troutbitten, if we consider how all this started. Sloop tied it all together from the beginning.Here are good stories and fun with our friend, John Burgos (Sloop).ResourcesREAD: Troutbitten | How It StartedREAD: Troutbitten | Fishing With FriendsVisitTroutbitten WebsiteTroutbitten InstagramTroutbitten YouTubeTroutbitten FacebookThank You to Pre-Roll Ad Sponsors:SkwalaandOrvis

In this inaugural Troutbitten podcast, my friends Bill, Austin, Trevor and Josh join me to discuss how fly fishing for wild trout creates a life on the water. We consider what it means to fish hard, how hope is the strongest trait of a successful angler, why everything works sometimes, and how fly fishers, all too often, are a little much. We also talk about the tenets of Troutbitten, or the shared interests and characteristics about fly fishing that bring us together and keep us excited about trout fishing for a lifetime. In 2014, Troutbitten.com started with fishing stories and tips. And from the beginning, the tactics articles have leaned toward the advanced angler without neglecting the beginner. Now over 700 articles deep, the Troutbitten website has become a huge resource for trout anglers on a fly rod. Dry flies, nymph fishing, streamer fishing and more, Troutbitten articles offer tactics, commentary and stories to educate and entertain. Visit:Troutbitten WebsiteTroutbitten InstagramTroutbitten YouTubeTroutbitten Facebook