This week, the main event is a fascinating podcast with Tom Bie, editor and publisher (and founder) of The Drake Magazine, an unconventional, edgy fly fishing publication that addresses the new, media-related fly fishing culture. Tom talks about his favorite fish, the steelhead, and about his passion for swinging flies, East vs. West, hatchery vs. wild steelhead, using Spey rods, and lots on the philosophy of the best swing speed for steelhead. We also touch on steelhead flies, and the future of fly fishing in general. It’s a great interview and a little more cerebral than we usually get on the podcast.
Also in this week’s Fly Box, we circle back to fly tying materials to get a little more clarity on thread sizes and types of elk hair. I answer questions on fighting big trout in confined quarters, what to do if a big trout sulks, the difference between a creek, brook, and river; the characteristics of spring creeks, tailwaters, chalk streams, and freestone streams; sight fishing to trout in shallow water without indicators, and just why a Zebra midge with a pink body sometimes out-fishes one with the standard black-and-white body.