Podcast: Mousing at Night for Monster Brown Trout, with Joe Cermele

[Interview starts at 40:00]

Tom Rosenbauer’s guest this week is Joe Cermele, whom you may know from his podcast, “Cut and Retie,” or from his work over the years at Field & Stream as a writer and videographer. Joe loves hunting big trout, and one of his favorite ways of fishing for them is night fishing with mouse flies. Joe is always fun and informative, and you’ll surely enjoy this discussion.

In the Fly Box segment, there are some especially interesting questions, including:

• If I get a 10-foot 5-weight rod for nymph fishing and tight line fishing, will I sacrifice anything when I want to fish with dry flies or streamers?
• I keep breaking off large carp when they head for structure. Should I use something different than a surgeon’s knot?
• A listener who is also an aquatic toxicologist explains why smoke from fires may be deleterious to our rivers and lakes.
• What can I do to keep googly eyes from falling off my streamers? And do streamers even need eyes to be effective?
• Hiking the Appalachian Trail, should I take my 7 ½ foot 3-weight or 9-foot 5-weight?
• Why did a hybrid rainbow/cutthroat I played quickly turn belly-up?
• Do you think the fly-fishing culture should reflect more deeply on the morality of catch-and-release fishing?
• Do you have any suggestions for fishing hatches after dark? I typically high-stick with a dry fly and listen for the rise.
• When water warms up, do trout go into faster water to take advantage of the higher oxygen content?