The Power of Observation in Fly Fishing, with Guide Cliff Weisse

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

🗓️ 4 December 2023

⏱️ 92 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Careful observation, active instead of passive, is the hallmark of a good fly fisher. They pick up patterns by observing exactly where in the river a fish came from , or how it behaved when feeding, or what weather patterns preceded a particularly successful day. Head guide Cliff Weisse [46:15] of Three Rivers Ranch in Warm River, Idaho tells us some things many fly fishers don't pay enough attention to, and thus lose the ability to improve their skills.

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

How many flies and leaders will I need for a single day of guided fishing in the Bahamas? And what gear will I need that I would normally not take for a day of trout fishing?
If I catch a trout from a small pool, should I assume the rest of the fish in that pool are spooked?
When should I strip a fish in, and when should I get the line on the reel?
My buddy and I lost 100% of the trout we hooked one day. WE normally land most of them. What did we do wrong?
What flies will imitate shad, small rainbows, sculpins, and small brown trout?
I fish a piece of water with lots of swirling eddies and have trouble with a normal hard strike indicator. What should I use instead?
How can I manage using multiple fly lines without buying a new reel or spool for each one?
Is it OK for a guide to give me an unsolicited lecture on etiquette even though I never crowd anyone?
If I only make casts at a maximum of 15 feet in a small stream, is there a special fly line I should be using?
I read somewhere that the author uses "gel flotant on all my flies". Am I missing something?
How do you determine the shuck color on a Sparkle Dun?
A great tip from a listener about using a "backing barrel" on a sighter leader when you have trouble seeing it.
How can I avoid spooking smallmouth bass on a small, clear stream?

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 Rosenauer and my
0:15.8	guest this week is Cliff Weiss. Cliff is the head guide at Three Rivers Ranch in Warm River, Idaho.
0:25.0	Cliff has been a lifelong fly angler and he's one of these very, very thoughtful and analytical anglers. I always enjoy talking to Cliff he's also an
0:36.4	incredible ornithologist so he's a fascinating guy to talk to he also raises
0:41.4	English setters So Cliff is a pretty cool guy and one of a
0:47.9	podcast idea he suggested to me when I was out there this fall was why don't we talk about the power of
0:56.7	observation and the value of observation in fly fishing and what Cliff meant by that was not just kind of a passive
1:06.5	observation. You look at something and say, hmm, that's interesting, but looking at
1:11.8	something and say, okay okay why did that fish do that why did I hook
1:16.4	that fish there what's going on with the currents there why did it behave like it
1:21.6	did and and really kind of really kind of question everything
1:26.6	and and think about it and so it's a it's a more active form of observation.
1:33.6	So Cliff's going to give some examples
1:36.1	and I think it'll change the way you spend your time
1:41.3	on the water, observing both the fishy stuff and the non-fishy stuff that goes on around
1:48.7	you when you're immersed in a drop stream. But before we get to talk to Cliff, we're going to do the flybox.
1:58.0	And the flybox is where you ask questions and I try to try to give you an answer if I can.
2:03.0	You can either email me your question at podcast at Orvis.
2:10.0	com. I read them all and don't answer them all.
2:12.0	Or you can send me a voice file just
2:15.3	attach a voice file to your email and if I can I'll read it on the air so let's start
2:22.3	out let's start out with a phone call. Let's do something really wild. I always start out with an email.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from James Hathaway, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of James Hathaway and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.