Many North Americans would love to catch brown trout in their native environment, and most of us think of the UK or France or Slovenia for wild, native brown trout. But, Spain has a long history of fly fishing in the Pyrenees (Hemingway loved fly fishing in the Pyrenees and called this region "the closest thing to heaven") and for the traveler, the…

2025 Orvis Endorsed Wingshooting Guide of the Year Tyson Tabler chats with Reid about wingshooting in Saskatchewan, building an outfitting business in western Canada, and what keeps him coming back to guiding year after year. Tyson, a Colorado native, built his business Feathered Fowl Outfitters to deliver exceptional waterfowl and upland hunts on …

This episode was originally published on February 5th, 2024. My guest this week is Charity Rutter [39:50], a great friend and longtime guide in the Great Smoky Mountains. She and her husband Ian have just finished a great book (I read the manuscript and loved it) and although it won't be available until April, you can pre-order it here: https://ran…

Reid has a chat with Connor Carson, Orvis in-house Gunsmith. Orvis has employed a full-time gunsmith (or 3) for nearly half a century, and Connor continues that tradition of repairing, maintaining, evaluating, and customizing fine guns for Orvis customers. Calling in from his bench at Orvis Sandanona, Connor discusses some favorite guns, some inter…

We're not talking about the poetry of a fly cast made by Pete Kutzer, but poetry about fly fishing, some of the well known poets who were fly fishers, and why the appeal of poetry and fly fishing have much in common. My guest, Andrew Grace [29:19], is a published poet and professor of English, and he'll read us some of his own work as well as from …

Every week I get some iteration of this question: "I hooked three fish and lost all of them before I could get them to the net. What am I doing wrong?" Well, often you did nothing wrong and it was just bad luck. But there are steps you can take to make sure you land the fish you've hooked and Josh Nugent [36:46], a regular on my podcast and one of …

Vermont Game Warden Kyle Isherwood joins the podcast to revisit the topic of the Vermont Warden Service. For any interested in learning more about what goes into becoming a Game Warden, and what our Warden Service does day-to-day, this is a great conversation with a great guy. Kyle discusses his personal path into the service, and also explores som…

I get frequent questions on the fly box about fishing for sea trout, or sea-run brown trout. I've never caught one and have never fished for them, so I brought in an expert on the subject, Krystjan [35:21] from Fish Partner in Iceland, owner of the organization Orvis uses for its hosted trips (and I'm hosting one in July) to Iceland and a fanatic f…

Inside nearly every fly fisher is a budding writer, eager to share their passion with the world. I've done podcasts on how to write better fly-fishing stories in the past, and figured it was time to talk to an editor and publisher about how you can get your masterpiece published. Ross Purnell [32:15], editor and publisher of Fly Fisherman magazine,…

In another solo installment, Reid shares a story first published in Shooting Sportsman Magazine. He explores old friendships, memory, and the threats to both while telling a story of a long-ago waterfowl hunt in Northern Vermont.

I've had a number of guests on the podcast teaching us about urban fly fishing and it will be an ongoing process because everyone has different takes on how to approach it. There is nothing better than a few hours of peace before or after work, without needing to drive for hours, and you can find it, even in the middle of our largest cities. My gue…

I get a lot of questions about wader care, storage, and washing instructions. Fit can also affect how long waders last and how comfortable they are. Waders are one of our most expensive purchases, outside of a rod and reel, and in order to make them last longer we need to take good care of them, so they stay waterproof and comfortable. My guest thi…

Del Whitman of DC Whitman Custom Gunsmithing returns to the podcast to explore the challenge of finding the right gunsmith for your needs. Del and Reid dig into the question, and provide some thoughts on how to best assess the issues that need attention, the level of execution desired, the time and money a customer is willing to dedicate to a gunsm…

Tic Smith [37:18] is head guide at Orvis-endorsed Southeastern Anglers and is a veteran guide with many decades of experience on southern tailwaters. Our discussion centers on his home river, the Hiwassee, but the tips and tricks he shares will be valuable on many other tailwaters. He talks tackle, flies, presentation, and most importantly reading …

Reid is joined by @birddogvet Seth Bynum to discuss the common field injuries that impact gundogs, and how t deal with them. Seth goes on to detail what he takes in the field with him for a first-aid kit, what protective gear he recommends, and how to complete a through tailgate check of your dog post-hunt. He also describes his journey as a hunter…

It's always interesting to find out that public figures can be as obsessed with fly fishing as we are. People like Harrison Ford, Jeff Daniels, Tucker Carlson, Bette Midler, Jimmy Kimmel, and Dick Cheney are all serious fly fishers. (And no, I don't have any of them on tap for my podcast). But Rahm Emanuel [37:25] is a dedicated listener to this po…

This show was originally posted on Januaryt 21, 2022. Wade Truong of Elevated Wild joins Reid for an hour discussing food. Wade and his partner Rachel Owen built Elevated Wild as a platform to discuss hunting, fishing, foraging, mentorship, and game cooking. Wade, a Virginia native, describes his career in commercial kitchens and his journey into t…

I get lots of questions about dubbing, which is a simple process that we sometimes complicate with hundreds of different blends and as many opinions on how to apply it. But it's an essential skill in fly tying, so Tim [35:18] and I spend a whole podcast exploring types of dubbing, when you would use them, and different methods of applying this esse…

Mark McConnell, Asst. Professor of Upland Birds at MS State, joins Reid to discuss Gentleman Bob, his distribution, habitat needs, and history in North America. Mark is a biologist and hunter who has been drawn to bobwhite quail research for his entire career, and he speaks to the different habitat types that sustain bobwhites, and the ways in whic…

My guest this week is country singer JD Clayton [35:35], a talented singer/songwriter and all-around nice guy who loves to fly fish for smallmouth bass in his native Ozarks. He fills me in on what their fishing is like, and why he loves this rural part of the country so much. In the Fly Box this week, I answer some questions and we have a couple ti…