TROUT Tip – small stream gear
If you haven’t checked out small stream fishing yet, now is the time.
Search results for “coaster brook trout waters”
TROUT Tip – hopper dropper alternative
It’s terrestrial time, so leading your rig with a hopper (aka grasshopper) is a great idea.
TROUT Tip – balanced bugs for lakes
We don’t know about you, but we’re having a blast figuring out the puzzle pieces to lake fishing.
TROUT Tips – more streamer tips
Give this Orvis tip video a watch to get some ideas to use while fishing streamers.
TROUT Tip – mastering the reach cast
The reach cast is a critical piece to add to your quiver of casting tools to smoothly deliver a fly and help ensure a drag-free drift.
TROUT Tip – parachute and pile casts
It’s always nice to have more tools in your casting arsenal to present a fly effectively. That is certainly true when fishing the tails of pools, where you’ll often find big trout holding and feeding.
The Trout and I Both Need a Break
I get a pretty serious case of the blues after the end of the Wisconsin trout season. The past few years warm weather has lasted well into October, and late season terrestrial fishing has been epic. So, I end the season in a kind of manic flurry because the fishing is great and the sand is falling through the hourglass. When the end comes, it comes hard,…
TROUT Tip – sight fishing nymphs
Learn how to sight fish with nymphs in this week’s video tip from Orvis’s Tom Rosenbauer.
TROUT Tying Tip – all about hooks
Here are a few more videos to get you started. Understanding hook sizes, debarbing them and securing them to the vise will get you on your way to tying your first fly.
TROUT Tying Tip – prepping materials
As we continue our tips for tying flies, it’s finally time to gather your materials, understand them, measure them and start spinning up some flies.
TROUT Tying Tip – simple midge
A midge is a good place to start learning to tie flies. Not only is it an effective fly pattern, but it is also fairly simple to tie and is often a go-to fly for winter fly fishing.
TROUT Tying tip – pheasant tail
Follow along on this fly tying video from Orvis and then get to tying these in various sizes to cover many situations.
TROUT Tying Tip – woolly bugger
Another fly you shouldn’t leave home without is the woolly bugger. You can tie in a wide spectrum of colors and sizes, and is a good trout producing streamer in lakes or rivers. So, follow along with this week’s fly tying video from Orvis to master this pattern. See All Orvis Learning Center Fly Fishing Video Lessons
TROUT Tying Tip – Prince nymph
Another nymph that can save a day of fishing is worth learning to tie; the prince nymph comes in a variety of styles. Dial in tying this pattern to fill your boxes with a few sizes to prepare for spring fishing. See All Orvis Learning Center Fly Tying Videos
TROUT Tip – Nymphing in deep pockets
Chances are good that a trout or two is living in a deep pool below plunge pools or other similar lies, so check out this video for tips on how to nymph in deep pockets.
TROUT Tying Tip – Copper John
This fast-sinking, highly-effective fly pattern is ideal for imitating mayflies or even stoneflies, especially in fast-moving water. Created by John Barr in the early 1990’s this is a great pattern for spring fishing. Tie some up today with these tips from Orvis. See All Orvis Learning Center Fly Tying Videos
Iowa to survey trout anglers in 2026
Iowa DNR is surveying 2025 license purchasers using an angler diary approach. If you received the early invitation, please participate, It’s a great way to help Iowa represent angler activity. There will be a more conventional, end of year survey in November, so you may receive an invitation later this year. Rebecca Krogman, the new DNR Biometrician, shared this cool map (link) showing the locations of license purchases from 2025. …
Video spotlight: The Hidden
The Hidden is one of nine videos included in the current International Fly Fishing Film Festival. Iceland may not seem like a serious fly fishing destination, but this slick film from Western Waters Media will change your mind with stunning landscape and lunker native brown trout. Here’s a trailer of the show. You can only…
Conservation Towns – Celebrating Rural America
Conservation Towns Celebrating Rural America What are Conservation Towns? In America’s “Conservation Towns,” rural communities that survived the past century’s boom-and-bust cycles are building new blueprints for economic success by tapping into their most important assets: the rivers and streams, public lands and wild landscapes that have always sustained them. At Trout Unlimited, we are putting a spotlight on these communities at the heart of the work…
Angler science: Help solve the mystery of Didymo
By Matt Barney A new Angler Science project from Trout Unlimited aims to mobilize our members to contribute their field observations and help scientists understand an organism that can dramatically impact trout waters. Didymo, more colorfully known as rock snot, has been labeled an invasive species in the past, and many anglers associate it with…