Frustrated that The Drake Magazine only comes out four times a year? Well now there’s more. Introducing The Drake’s new weekly flyfishing podcast, The DrakeCast. Just like the magazine, we’re bringing you stories–some fun, some serious. Except this time, you don’t have to read. All you have to do is press play.
There are a lot of great flyfishing podcasts out there that interview legends within the industry or tell you how to catch more fish. Each episode of this podcast contains interviews and tips, but neither are the main focus. Our goal is to put listeners on the water and make them laugh. If they learn a thing or two, all the better. In the first few episodes, we chase trout on a nearly frozen stream in Northern Wisconsin, check in on Great Smoky Mountains National Park after a fire tried to burn it to the ground, and swing flies for Great Lakes steelhead on Michigan’s Pere Marquette River.
Each episode relates back to flyfishing, but sometimes the connection can be subtle. For example, how did the reconstruction of a dam in Kentucky affect the non-native trout below? How are the changes in the ecology of Lake Michigan affecting lake-run fish and the anglers that target them?
We release a new episode of The DrakeCast every Friday morning. Our hope is that you listen to our show as you drive to your favorite fishing hole. If you’re not able to make it out of the office that weekend, plug us in while your boss isn’t looking.
When you press play, we hope to tingle that ever-so-sensitive spot inside your ear drum.
You can subscribe to The DrakeCast via these links: iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud. Make sure to check back each week to see behind-the-scenes photos taken during the recording of each episode.
In this episode of The DrakeCast we traverse the mountains of North Georgia in search of the southern-most population of wild, native brook trout in the world. But while we’re at it, we’ll also take a trip to another fishery just down the road that claims a host world class trout. However, there is a…
Before Chuck Ragan appeared in the 2018 F3T Film “Landsick,” he was a musician, a fishing guide, and a father. But before Ragan acheived any of these titles, he was a son. This episode of The DrakeCast is a celebration of fatherhood and the outdoors. Tune in as we follow Chuck Ragan’s rebellion against his father…
Though native to the coastal rivers of the Atlantic seaboard, you can now find Striped Bass in just about every state below the Mason-Dixon line. We chose to chase these creatures on Lake Hartwell which forms the border between Georgia and South Carolina. While we’re on the water we learned about the history of the area…
Mosquito Lagoon sits on Florida’s East Coast and is known as the redfish capitol of the world. We made a visit to these hallowed waters to see what all the hubbub is about. While poling around in search of tails, we found a much more interesting, disturbing tale of neglect, destruction, and a fishery on…
In early May, we headed south to the Florida Keys to grab Clyde and deliver him north. But while we were down there, we figured we better get into some tarpon. But we weren’t just there to jump of even catch a tarpon. It’s what we were going to do after landing the fish that really…
These episodes of the DrakeCast conclude the Road Trip Miniseries, which follows the Fly Fishing Film Tour road crew as they make their way from coast to coast to coast. In episode #34 we’ll hear about the steelhead of Oregon and their Michigander cousins. Episode #35 tracks the team from Michigan to Georgia to California…
Every January, three fishing bums make a pilgrimage to Boulder, Colorado. While in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, the young wards practice the ancient art of moving coolers, throwing swag into raucous crowds, and pressing play on a Blu Ray player. Upon the completion of their training, the crew heads out on the open…
Way back in June of 2017 we released the first episode of The DrakeCast, which featured the musician Sean Carey. He told us about his living room tours across the country that were more or less an excuse for him to fish with his best friends. We take the first half of this episode to…
While the Spring 2018 issue of The Drake Magazine is on its way to fly shops and mailboxes across the country, we figured we’d give you eager readers a taste of what to expect. In this episode of The DrakeCast, we chat with editor Tom Bie about the stories covered in the most recent issue,…
Roughly six years ago, Hank Patterson was born. He exited the womb as a physically grown, mentally stymied flyfishing expert and guide. But before there was Hank, there was a Shakespearean actor turned video producer named Travis Swartz. This is their story.
Montana’s Bighorn River is known throughout the world as a premier, blue-ribbon trout stream. The fishery below Yellowtail Dam holds some of the most robust tour-per-mile numbers in the nation. But in the last decade, the river has changed. There’s more water, the fish are skinnier, and some say it’s just not the way it…
Last week, we had a chance to catch up with Tim Evans. He’s a salesman that lives in Casper, Wyoming but you most likely to know him as the man behind the Fish on the Brain podcast. This episode documents Tim’s entry into the world of flyfishing, podcasting, and storytelling. While we cover those topics,…
When there is fourteen inches of ice on the local pond, the fly rod normally stays in the closet and the we resign ourselves to dreaming of the Bahamas while working at the vice. But there are a few flyfishers out there who won’t take no for an answer. This week we follow anglers Lucky…
Carp aren’t native to the US, but at this point, they’re here to stay. This episode follows the meteoric rise of the nation’s number one trashfish and how folks with flyrods began targetting them. During this story we’ll hear the musical stylings of the carp loving crew that makes up the string band, Horseshoes &…
With the Winter 2017 issue of The Drake Magazine on its way to fly shops and mailboxes around the world, we figured we’d chat with Tom Bie about his favorite parts of the upcoming mag. We also hear from authors Dave Karczynski and Michael Graybrook about their recently published books, Smallmouth: Modern Fly Fishing Methods, Tactics…
A few weeks ago I found myself in a boat with fishing guide Stephen Wisner. Before we even shoved off, he reached into the cooler and sternly told me, “These fish are the working man’s trophy; this is the fish that your grandpa fished for. There’s no fancy-pants beer allowed while fishing for these fish.…
In the early 1970s, Don Wisner learned how to flyfish. It was around this time that his life began to parallel a certain flyfishing story. When Don’s son, Stephen, came of age, the two spent hours together fishing the brook trout streams of Western Wisconsin. As the men grew in both age and skill, their…
77 years ago, November 11th started out as a perfect day for migrating waterfowl. Thousands of birds filled the sky along the Mississippi River corridor, propelled by strong winds. The journeying ducks brought hunters to the river by the hundreds. Unfortunately, the weather continued to go south. By the end of the next day, 149…
This week’s episode of The DrakeCast aims at introducing our listeners to another great flyfishing podcast that has recently hit the airwaves. Jason Rolfe is a flyfishing guide for Emerald Water Anglers in Washington State. When he’s not on the water with clients, he’s sitting down with some of the most influential flyfishing writers to…
A lot of people claim social media has killed flyfishing. But has it? In this episode of The DrakeCast we chat with parties on both sides of the divide as we suss out the positive and negative impacts social media has had on flyfishing. We’re pleased to announce that the Editor of The Drake, Tom…
There are plenty of dirty, abused, and exploited rivers in the United States, but one of them holds the least-desired rank. If this river were a country, it would have the fifth biggest economic output in the world. This river drives a 1.4 trillion dollar economy and a 26 billion dollar recreation economy, 40 million…
There are plenty of dirty, abused, and exploited rivers in the United States, but one of them holds the least-desired rank. If this river were a country, it would have the fifth biggest economic output in the world. This river drives a 1.4 trillion dollar economy and a 26 billion dollar recreation economy, 40 million…
Many of you know Jeremy Wade, host of Animal Planet’s “River Monsters,” as a globe-trotting Brit who believes every fish in the water wants to kill you. Well, it turns out he’s ready to apologize for parts of his on-the-water persona. In a speech given at Montana State University in April of 2017, Wade fully…
Many of you know Jeremy Wade, host of Animal Planet’s “River Monsters,” as a globe-trotting Brit who believes every fish in the water wants to kill you. Well, it turns out he’s ready to apologize for parts of his on-the-water persona. In a speech given at Montana State University in April of 2017, Wade fully…
After a long journey through the islands of the North Atlantic, we’re finally back in the United States – smack dab in the middle of the states actually. Both parts of this episode take us through the Rocky Mountains. In the first part of the episode, we visit a fishy hideout in the suburbs of…
After a long journey through the islands of the North Atlantic, we’re finally back in the United States – smack dab in the middle of the states actually. Both parts of this episode take us through the Rocky Mountains. In the first part of the episode, we visit a fishy hideout in the suburbs of…
This week’s episode of The DrakeCast takes us to a volcanic island unchanged by time. The hills, mountains, and rivers of Iceland are largely the same as they were when the last Ice Age receded. I was there to continue my quest for the illusive Atlantic Salmon. But while there, I stumbled into so much…