Hot Tips on Using Split Shot, with Dom Swentosky

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

🗓️ 17 November 2025

⏱️ 91 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

I am not a big fan of using split shot but after this interview with Dom Swentosky [36:41] of the Troutbitten blog and podcast, I'm going to use it a lot more. Dom's method of using split shot is simple and convenient, and he teaches us about placement, adding shot, and removing shot easily—and how to keep it from sliding on your tippet without placing it above a knot. Whether you fish nymphs or streamers, Dom has some great suggestions on using split shot properly.

In the Fly Box this week, we have some great tips and questions form listeners, including:

Is a 10-foot, 4-weight fly rod a good all-around rod for fishing in New England?
If I have a floating and full sinking line for bass fishing, would an intermediate line be the next one to try for largemouth bass?
Why aren't there more resources like books on fly fishing for largemouth bass?
How many different floating fly lines do you have at home?
When you are taking a trip, how many floating lines do you take?
I have been steelhead fishing in Alaska with a tight line presentation. In what situations would an indicator be beneficial?
I don't quite understand why we would take food out of a fish's mouth by using a throat pump. How can you justify this?
Will egg flies work in Colorado?
Is it possible to shoot line with a bow-and-arrow cast?
Are there any saltwater barbless hooks?
Why do spawning shrimp patterns always have the egg cluster tied near the head?
A tip on using small magnets to hold hooks at the fly-tying bench
A tip on using a pool noodle to hold larger saltwater flies after tying them
Is an 8-pound bass leader the same as a 3X leader?
A tip from a listener on how to alleviate shoulder pain when fly fishing.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, and welcome to the Orvis Fly Fishing Podcast.
0:15.9	This is your host Tom Rosenbauer.
0:17.5	And my guest this week is Dom Swentowski.
0:25.5	Dom is the proprietor of the trout-bitten blog and podcast, and he's a guide. And if you haven't checked out his website and his blog,
0:36.0	you should because he is a really fishy guy. He has got some,
0:40.9	he's got some techniques that he uses that are different than a lot of people use. He's
0:46.0	known for tightline fishing, but Dom fishes with all different kinds of methods. And he's always
0:52.8	interesting to get on the podcast, fun and this week we're going
0:58.0	to talk about split shot now if you've listened to this podcast at all you know i'm not a big
1:04.1	fan of split shot i i hate putting it on my leader if i can help it when i'm nymphishing i've
1:10.1	always tried to do it with one or two
1:13.1	heavy nymphs and either an indicator or a dry fly in a dry dropper rig. And I've avoided
1:19.7	split shot because it's a pain. I think it's a pain anyways. And you can't use it with a dry
1:26.2	dropper, which I use a lot. But Dom uses split shot a lot.
1:31.1	And I think it's always good to have somebody on the podcast that uses a method that I don't use
1:38.1	very much because I'm probably missing something. In fact, after doing this podcast with Dom,
1:43.6	I realize that I am, I am missing some things. fact, after doing this podcast with Dom, I realized that I am missing some
1:46.9	things and I am going to use a lot more split shot in the coming season and experiment with it.
1:54.5	And I think that Dom's system is very simple, relatively simple, and makes a lot of sense so hope you enjoy the podcast it's
2:04.5	always an i think it's always an interesting discussion with dom now before we do the flybox i just
2:11.8	wanted to tell you about some orvis endorsed operations that you might be interested in. You may want to go
2:19.9	fishing soon or you may want to plan a trip for next season. And I'm going to give you some
	...

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