Norman Maktima, competitive angler from Team USA, shares a number of tips on fly fishing stillwaters, euro nymphing, and casting.
Norman tells us how he fished his way up from the Youth Team to representing Team USA in international competitions.
We discover how to analyze a lake before getting started, how the loch style can be more effective, and also how to fish buggers and leeches.
He also shares a little about his Native American roots which is pretty interesting.
Click below and listen to the Podcast about Fly Fishing Stillwaters with Norman Maktima:
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(Read the Full Transcript at the bottom of this Blog Post)
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Fly Fishing Stillwaters Show Notes with Norman Maktima
04:26 – Norman currently lives in Rio Rancho, New Mexico – he grew up in a town called Pecos
05:30 – Devin Olsen and Lance Egan were here at WFS 043 and WFS 108
05:30 – Norman started on the USA youth team (1998)
07:15 – Norman listened to one of our recent episodes with Taylor Streit. They were on the same team in 1998. Davie Watton was their assistant coach. They finished 2nd but Norman won the individual gold.
09:45 – Norman became the assistant coach for the youth team in 1999. From there he was asked to compete with the adult team. In 2001, he competed with the adult team for the first time in Slovakia
12:30 – Shoutout to Zach Vandehey – he co-hosted an episode at WFS 212
15:30 – Tip: Look for those high points – ridge lines that create a nice underwater point
17:10 – They did all their National competitions on stillwater – Lava Lake, Crane Perry
23:40 – Pop’s Bugger and Humongous are Norman’s go-to flies
30:30 – Norman breaks down his competition setup – they fish 6, 7, or 8 wt, 10-foot rods. They’re not allowed to stand on the boat.
31:00 – Norman talks about his pull and retrieve techniques
39:20 – He’s got 12 extra spools. Airflo is one of his favorite fly lines.
41:45 – He explains why their boats should move perpendicular to the wind
46:00 – Drift sock prevents you from struggling to keep contact with your flies as you’re retrieving
50:30 – Tip: On the boat, take a towel and get it damped – lay it down like a casting platform to have a clean surface to cast
51:10 – Tip: Keep your head on the swivel – always look around
58:55 – We mentioned some good resources for fly fishing stillwaters like Phil Rowley and Brian Chan’s book
59:50 – Lance Egan and the Fly Fish Food crew are great resources for video tying tutorials
1:02:00 – Norman’s favorite pattern is the Humungous (size 10 hook). Enter your Top Fly here and get a chance to win a box of flies from JH Fly Co
1:07:50 – Norman came from the indigenous people in the South West
1:10:50 – We had Matt Shilling from Indifly recently on the podcast. Norman mentioned the film by Patagonia called, Tribal Waters – watch that film below 
1:15:30 – Supaman HipHop also came from a Native American culture – a great influence on his music
1:16:50 – Norman shares a bunch of tips on Euro nymphing, casting, and leader setup
1:21:00 – You can get one of Norman’s original flies at Umpqua Feather Merchants – HDA Fav Variant
1:22:00 – We hear a tip on keeping the distance between your flies, dropper and point fly
You can find Norman on Instagram at @nmaktima_flyfishing
Check out his YouTube videos at NMaktima Fly Fishing
Fly Fishing Stillwaters Resources Noted in the Show
Videos Noted in the Show
Related Podcast Episodes
Read the Full Podcast Transcript Below
![](https://wetflyswing.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Outlook-y34kj0db.png")
