Live Q&A: Becoming a well-rounded fly angler

Join us live at 8 PM on Wednesday, March 29 for another live event with The School of Trout
school of trout instructors john juracek brant oswald
Instructors John Juracek [left] and Brant Oswald [right] from The School of Trout (photo: Tim Romano).

Most of us still learn how to fly fish through old-fashioned trial-and-error. If a technique works consistently, we continue to employ it. If it doesn’t, we either attempt to tweak it or give up on it completely and move on to something new. And there are no shortage of virtues that arise from being self-taught. Hard-earned skills and experience are often the most valuable, and experimentation on the water is the stuff well-rounded anglers are borne of.

Along the way, however, most of us lean on friends, family members or fishing partners when we have questions. That advice can be invaluable. The very act of seeking counsel from other anglers is also one of the things many of us enjoy most about the sport of fly fishing. But that doesn't negate the fact that not all advice is good advice.

Very few of us have the opportunity to ask anglers with outsized knowledge and experience — folks who have spent more days chasing trout with fur and feathers lashed to hooks than many of us will spend in our entire lives, not to mention those that have spent decades teaching other anglers how to hone their skills — for their opinions. And while magazine articles and YouTube videos can be helpful, they can’t respond directly when we have a specific question on a specific subject.

Which is why tonight’s live event with the School of Trout’s John Juracek, Patrick McCabe and Todd Tanner can be a game changer for those of you hoping to become better, more well-rounded anglers. Anyone can ask John, Pat and Todd — fly fishing instructors with decades of knowledge and tons of real-world experience — for their opinions and their suggestions.

Be sure to set aside a little time at 8 PM Eastern/5 PM Pacific today—on YouTube, Facebook or Twitter—to participate in the Hatch Magazine/School of Trout Q&A — and don’t be shy about asking the angling questions that have been keeping you up at night.

Essentially, any and all questions fly fishing are fair game: dry fly fishing, nymphing, streamer fishing, gear queries, questions on tactics and strategies — you name it. If you'd like to have your questions queued up prior to tonight's broadcast, you can enter them in the comments below.

This event aired live on March 29, 2023. If you missed the live broadcast, you can watch the replay below.

Comments

As I begin my 3rd season of fly fishing, one of the most challenging aspects of being a new angler is figuring out where to fish, particularly figuring out where to successfully fish away from the crowds amassed at the popular locations. I like exploring, I don't mind hiking or wading a good distance in that exploration, but I'm wondering if there are any tips on narrowing down those exploratory trips? I have been wandering the Catskills waters for the past two seasons, and sometimes it feels like everyone has their "spots" while I'm still mostly flying blind.

Pages