The DrakeCast #67: A Conversation w/ TroutRoutes

In May of 2025, I found myself in a boat with someone who on paper, I did not like. I was on the oars and my nemesis was watching a popper, twitching it every three or four seconds, along a line of lily pads. It was Wisconsin’s trout opener so instead of battling crowds on the small streams of the Driftless Area, we decided to hit a slough off of the Wisconsin River in search of anything that would bite.

Erik Johnsen with what may have been our largest bass of the day

In the boat with me that day was Erik Johnsen, the Community Marketing Manager for TroutRoutes. For those of you who are unfamiliar with TroutRoutes, it’s an app that lets you know where you can legally access a piece of trout water. It shows you public land boundaries, and whether or not there is an easement for anglers on private water. There are a bunch more features, but It’s basically the hunting app, On-X, only for trout fishing. So much so that in 2024 TroutRoutes was acquired by On-X.

While on the water together, we managed to land largemouth bass, pike, bowfin, and a few other panfish. But the real reason for this fishing outing was so I could grill Erik on what exactly TroutRoutes is, whether it’s harming our fisheries, and what our responsibility as anglers is to these resources that are worth protecting.

Many thanks to Patagonia and their new and improved line of Swiftcurrent Waders for making this episode possible.