Anchored Outdoors is an ever-growing network of fly fishing experts who’ve been interviewed and brought together by podcaster and fellow outdoorswoman, April Vokey. The brand evolved from the Anchored podcast, which produced its first episode in December 2014.
Anchored Outdoors helps new and intermediate fly fishers become confident, well-rounded anglers with the help of top industry experts who help grow their skillset with resources and support they can trust.
Alaska is such a vast land that the sunlight conversation confuses some people. I grew up in Anchorage AK which is quite a bit further north than Wrangell. In Southcentral AK the summer is more like 1-2 hours of darkness. If you are looking to fish Wrangell is not your destination. Everyone that knows the runs knows the salmon and trout that are native to or return to spawn in the Kenai Peninsula are the biggest no question. The Silver Salmon are beloved in the Kenai. Nobody turns their nose up to Silvers. Not in Alaska. Wrangell is not the place to go to fish in Alaska. Lol. It's the poor man's Kenai.
I live in louisiana. One day, I was loading my kayak into my truck, and a guy on a cross-country motorcycle was their watching me. He came up and started talking. He asked if i fly fished. I told him yes, and it's actually one of my passion, he went on to tell me he was from Washington, and when he was in grade school, he had a teacher who taught it. We had a pretty good conversation about Swinging fly. It was a good morning catching Redfish and an even better talking about spey fishing
I am a long time Alaska resident accustomed to large Bows on the Kenai and Russian during the fall. My wife and I are now in Dallas and looking for a fishery where we can hook into large Bows and Browns. I caught a video of you steelheading the Skeena and showed it to my wife. She was inspired by the way you handled the fly rod and thought if you could do it then she would try it. Now I can't keep her off the water. After watching videos on this river it looks like we will be floating the White River. Thanks for the video.
Euro Nymphing is cool Tenkara is not HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I really feel its to each their own. There are a lot of old dudes like me who just love to fly fish ANY WAY. The only thing left on my list is Spey and I am working in that. Leave the Nymphers alone and direct all that hate and energy towards the Tenkara guys ;-)
i fish what is appropriate for the water im fishing. i grew up traditional flyfishing but learned to tight line nymphs with a mono rig many years ago. i saw some older guys in a creek using mono on flyrods to tight line salmon eggs and started tight lining nymphs the same way. it works very well in creeks and rivers but not too well on tiny creeks or lakes. the last couple of years ive learned alot from George Daniels and have adapted my nymphing equipment micro mono rig, 6x tippet and tungston but i still traditional fly fish a majority of the time as im a 90% sierra nevada backcountry fisherman. mostly lakes and small creeks. imo its much harder to learn tightline nymphing than traditional fly fishing. especially if like George, old dominion trout bum and a few others stress; your actually learning to cast the micro mono rig and not lob it like the majority do. unfortunately or maybe fortunately the rainbow warrior and flashy perdigons do not produce in the waters I fish. olive and black ones do but I mainly use tungsten flashback pheasant tails and gold ribbed hares ears or a similar jigged variation like a blowtorch or sexy waltz worm.
When I saw that this was going to happen, I knew it was going to be a hoot, and April, you didn't disappoint! Lots of great comments here from your panel, and I think as everyone said, the bottom line is catching fish. The lesson learned is that the more techniques you have in your toolbox, the better you will be. Not every situation is the same, and you need to be able to adapt in order to be successful. Also, as the old saying goes, "Variety is the spice of life!" Great job, April, and I look forward to next months presentation.
Good stuff! David Brenna here. We connected through Trey Combs. We have talked and I’m interested in steelhead and Spey casting but my focus is dry fly and trout. Glad to see a video by you: and this vid is loaded with valuable info for all levels of fly fishing. Well done!
one thing you didn't mention is having the total outdoor experience while fishing the different fly fishing styles. a trophy fish can still be a 5 inch fish too. there is also other wildlife to enjoy and notice . The only person you have to impress is yourself at the end of the day, what others say and do should not enter your mind.
Nice pod, April. George and Kelly nail it. But if you used split shot and egg "flies' with a spinning rod, would it be fly fishing? The euro nymphing strategies and tackle are a shot jump from what the Brits call "trotting". Tackle is basically the same, just no maggots. Hard to beat a take on top, though😇.
I rarely spend time on social media or listening to podcasts. I do really enjoy yours April! I agree with so much that was said here. I believe my following comments were said by all... I enjoy casting too much, so mono nymphing isn't for me... I don't really care if someone fishes a certain way as long as it's legal (I don't however, believe "as long as one doesn't get caught" thing. A comparison would be harvesting fish in a no harvest area.)... In crowded technical rivers, such as the Delaware in the East, it can be tough to watch someone put down rising fish by monoing a run...I don't think that my ego talking.
I haven't tried euro nymphing yet, but I don't see why anyone should discourage others from giving it a shot. I prefer to form my own opinions based on personal experience and stick with it if I enjoy it. Simple as that. From what I've seen in videos, I think I'd lean toward a slower, more traditional approach-letting the mystery of what's underwater unfold naturally. For me, the imagination and anticipation are key parts of the experience, rather than relying solely on sighting and waiting for the bite every 20 seconds.
Fun podcast! Listening to this, someone who has never euro nymphed might get the impression that you can catch fish at will. Maybe in some spots, but most of the places where I regularly fish are pressured, and your technique has to be decent just to get a few fish.
Haters going to hate,be it tight line nymphing,carp,streamer,spey,salt or trout/mirco spey,gezz fly fishing cover many things & pick your poison & enjoy the sport,tight lines 🤙
I can't stand fly fishing elites and elitest perspectives. Make that plain old elites period. Any suggestion that euro nymphing is not fly fishing stems from that perspective. I like catching as many fish as possible. I've caught 550 brook trout so far this year with a $40 maxcatch rod, $10 vintage martin 60 reel and $20 fly line off Amazon. Why, because it beats not catching. Got news for the elites - you don't need to spend more to catch trout, why do you buy $1000 rods, $500 reels and $200 wading staffs, ego?
A single hook rooster tail spinner is a legal fly in Missouri. In fact, anything with a single hook and has hair or feathers. Not saying I agree, the point is there are differences among our fishing waters, including definitions of terms and various fly fishing tools. Is it really that important to analyze this - other than it being a fun discussion, which it should be folks!
I went nymphing today on my local river in a spot only accessible from private property down a steep canyon through thick brush and caught 12 rainbows in 30 minutes. It's about the experience and the solitude of a lonely place. When the fish aren't rising, start nymphing.
