Back Cast: A Life in Fly fishing, with Tom McGuane.

The Orvis Fly-Fishing Podcast

James Hathaway

Bass, Fishing, Bonefish, Wilderness, Flyfishing, Trout, How To, Steelhead, Bluegill, Fly, Orvis, Sports, Salmon, Panfish, Education, Rosenbauer

4.8 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 27 November 2023

⏱️ 98 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Originally Posted on March 3rd, 2023

Back in 2008 when I first began this podcast I had two dreams—that I would have my two literary heros, John McPhee and Thomas McGuane as guests (they are both passionate fly fishers). I was lucky enough to record a podcast with John in August of 2021 and this week's podcast is with Tom McGuane [44:36], author of 20 highly regarded novels, screenplays, collections of short stories, and what is in my opinion the finest book of fly-fishing essays ever written, The Longest Silence. Most people who interview Tom want to talk about his crazy days in Key West in the 1970s, , fishing for tarpon with Jim Harrison, Guy de la Valdene, Jimmy Buffet, and other notable characters. However, in the podcast we talk about what he is doing now—his fascination with small-stream trout fishing, why he would rather wade than fish from a boat, his opinion on guides who yell at their clients, and how to grow old gracefully and still continue to fish with a fly rod. It was a real honor to chat with him and I know you'll enjoy this very special podcast.

In the Fly Box this week, we have some wonderful and thought-provoking questions and tips form listeners, including:

What is that white rod that Pete Kutzer uses in your casting videos?

Is there a written history of Orvis?

What is the best reel lubricant, and how should I maintain my cork drag surface?

Can dumbbell eyes damage fly rods? If so, what should I do to keep flies tied with them from hitting my rod?

Do trout eat those little black and brown stoneflies that hatch during the winter and early spring?

Can you explain when I would use weighted flies vs. split shot vs. poly leaders when fishing nymphs?

Can you compare the relative advantages of the 10 1/2-foot 3-weight and the 11-foot 3-weight Blackout rod?

I saw people catching fish on nymphs. I tried exactly the same patterns and didn't catch anything. Why?

I have a reel that takes a 9-weight line. Can I get an extra spool and put it on my 7-weight rod?

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hi and welcome to the Orvis Fly Fishing podcast this is your host Tom
0:15.5	Rosenbauer and I have for you this week what to me is a very special podcast
0:20.3	back when I first started doing these podcasts and I think it was 2011, there were two people that I always wanted to get on the podcast because they were my literary heroes.
0:35.0	One was John McPhee, who I was lucky enough to have on my podcast in August of 2021 and John is an incredible writer of non-fiction books
0:49.9	who I've read all my life and just just really admired his writing style.
0:55.0	And that was a fun one and I finally gotten my second literary hero on the
1:01.8	podcast Tom McQuane. Tom McGuain is is a writer of novels and short stories and
1:09.1	he's also written what I consider the finest book of flyfishing essays called The Longest Silence.
1:17.0	So it was a real honor to talk to Tom about flyfishing.
1:20.6	We had a lot of fun doing it.
1:22.0	We talked about things like guides that yell and how to grow old and continue fly fishing and how you never get tired of fishing small trout streams. So anyway, I hope you
1:36.5	enjoy that. I certainly I certainly enjoyed it and it was an honor to be able to interview Tom for the podcast. But first, before we do that, let's do the flybox. Flybox is where you ask me questions and I try to answer them.
1:54.4	You can send your questions to me
1:57.4	in an email at podcast at Orvis.com.
2:01.4	You can either just type your question in your email or you can attach a voice
2:06.0	file using the voice memos function on your phone. So let's start with an email from Drew. As always really enjoy the
2:20.3	podcast and really appreciate all that you do giving back to the fly fishing
2:24.5	community. Couple quick questions. Number one, the casting instruction from
2:31.4	Pete Kutser are excellent. The question I have is what kind of rod does he use in his instruction?
2:36.8	I have never seen an all white rod like that and I have always have wondered if it is a special
2:41.5	model made for him or an older Orvis model.
2:45.2	Question two. I'm a big history buff. My grandparents had a hardware store and I love being there
	...

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