Traveled #28 | The 2025 Women’s Fly Fishing World Championship with Melissa Smith

Dave (2s): This year marks the fourth year that the women’s team from Team USA has been in existence. And this year is also the first year that the World Championships are gonna be held in the US of a. Today you’re going to get a glimpse of what Fishing Stillwaters is all about in the competition arena. And by the end of this, you’re going to have a step-by-step guide to fishing a new Stillwater this year. Hey, I’m Dave host of the Travel podcast. I’ve been fly fishing since I was a little kid. I grew up around a little fly shop and creative, one of the largest fly fishing podcasts out there. I’ve also interviewed more of the competition team, USA anglers than just about anyone out there. Melissa Smith, president of the women’s team, USA and Stillwater master is gonna give us her best tips and how to have success this year. Dave (48s): Even if you’re in a new area, you’re gonna find out how to do research on a lake, what you should be thinking about, what factors also are most important to be really digging into. Then once you’re on the lake, we’re gonna talk about the techniques that are gonna allow you to find the most fish and how to adjust on changes that occur and how to get systematic. We talked about being systematic. Plus we’re gonna get her top three most important factors in fishing still, waters, and what leader set up you should use, even if you’re brand new to Stillwaters right now. This episode of travel is presented by Yellowstone Teton territory, where you can explore great fishing, great hunting, the world championships this year, and you can just get out and explore some great part of the country and the US West. Dave (1m 32s): The big event is even closer. Hope you have plans. Here she is. Melissa Smith. How are you doing, Melissa? Melissa (1m 40s): I’m great. Thanks for having me. Dave (1m 41s): Yeah, I appreciate you putting some time today to dig into a few topics that we’ve been working on here in recent episodes. Part of it is, today’s gonna be Team USA, I think we’re gonna talk about that this year. They’re actually gonna be in the us so over in Eastern Idaho. We’ve had a few episodes where we’ve talked about that, some of the youth stuff. So I think the women’s and youth will talk about that today. We’re also in a hotspot for fly fishing Colorado. You’ve got a good background. I think your husband has maybe some good influence on you, so we’ll talk about that. But yeah, I just wanna check in. How are things going today? What are you up to now? We’re, we’re in kind of almost April as we’re talking here, what’s going on these days? Melissa (2m 21s): Yeah, things are starting to thaw, which is great. So we’ve been able to get out fishing here and there more in the Denver area, which has been great down into the Deckers. And so just kind of dusting off, dusting off the old reels and, and rods and, and getting out and fishing. Dave (2m 38s): Yeah. Do you, what, what’s your, when it’s windy or when it’s cold and you’re frozen, no fishing, what are you doing during the off season? Melissa (2m 46s): So, we ski a lot. We live up in Black Hawk, and so we’re right in the middle of all the ski resorts, which has been great. So yeah. Dave (2m 53s): Yeah, skiing, that’s, I I feel like that’s one of those outdoor sports in the winter. Maybe it’s the number one. I, I know Brian Ska on the, on our in the Bucket podcast talks a lot about the overlap between skiing and fly fishing and, you know what I mean? There’s, it seems like, I guess anything outdoors, right? We’re all kind of into all that stuff. Melissa (3m 11s): Oh, yeah. Well, I mean, it’s a good winter. Fishing’s tough. It’ll take a number on your confidence. Yeah. So, so sometimes skiing’s a good break. Dave (3m 21s): That’s right. Yeah. And the older you get, the harder that becomes to love the, the, the cold, the abuse, I guess is what you’d call it. But we’ll leave that for the, the younger kids out there. But what does it look like for you? I want to hear about Team USA, ’cause this is pretty exciting. I think the women’s program has been going for a while now, but is this the first time it’s been in the us the World championship? Melissa (3m 43s): It is the women’s team, yeah. So we’re excited to be hosting, it’ll be our first championship. It’s the, actually the fourth championship for the women’s team, for the women’s organization, if you will. So it’ll be an island park. That’ll be exciting. It’s gonna be an incredible event. We’re gonna be hosting on venues like the Henry’s Fork River and the Hep Lake. And so there’ll be seven teams from around the globe here. So we’ll be the host country. We’re thrilled to share some of our, our most cherish fishing spots and welcome anglers from all over the world. Dave (4m 19s): Yeah, they, so it’s gonna be the, so yeah, the Henry’s four cab. Do you know the program right now as you look at, do you kind of know exactly where you’re fishing? Are you starting to think about what does that look like? Are you starting to think about getting over there and, and kind of checking things out? Melissa (4m 33s): Yeah, in the next couple of months, everything’s still frozen over there. Okay. But in the next couple of months, yeah. Dave (4m 38s): Okay. And then when does the, as a reminder, when does that all start? Do you have all the dates? When, when is the, the opening ceremony? When do you start fishing? Melissa (4m 46s): So the 13th is the opening ceremony, and we start fishing on the 14th to the, I think the closing ceremony is on the 18th. Dave (4m 55s): And that’s of July, right? Melissa (4m 56s): Of July, Dave (4m 57s): Yes. Yeah. Okay. And what do you expect this one, so you had four years now, how has that been? Have you been there for all four years or talk about that a little bit? Melissa (5m 5s): So the first year was in Norway. I wasn’t at that one, but I have been at the, the next two, so the first year in Norway, they took fourth place. The next one was in British Columbia. That one was mainly a lake competition. And that was my first one, and that’s my specialty is lakes. And so while we were there, we took bronze medal and it was an incredible opportunity. That was a, a really cool championship. So in British Columbia. And then that was in 2023. In 2024. Last year we were in the Czech Republic. Incredible country. We had the best food, and I would love to go back just to fish again, but the, we were there with the master’s team. Melissa (5m 51s): My husband’s on the master’s team, so we were able to fish at the same time. But it was just a really cool experience and we took forth place there. Dave (6m 0s): Okay. So you’ve been right up there, I mean, since the beginning, you’re up there almost, you know, in the meddling. Right. What do you attribute that to? You’re brand new, this scene, there must be other women’s teams out there that have been doing this for a while. Has that, what is the history of the women’s program? Has it been out there for a while worldwide? Melissa (6m 16s): You know, we started in 2022, so brand new, our, our women’s team is, is new. I would say a lot of the women’s teams are new-ish, but some of them, like the check team, have been around for quite a long period of time. Same with a lot of them in like England. And, and all of those teams have been around for quite a, a long time. They have been competing. And so for our team to start up just recently and to be competing at the level we are, it’s been incredible. We have a really, really strong group of women. And so we just work really well together. It’s all about communicating and, and just supporting each other along the way. Dave (6m 55s): Nice. And who are the, on the women’s team, how many are people? Are there total Melissa (6m 60s): On the team? For the world’s team, there’s five competing anglers, and then there’s one reserve that we have. But on the national team, we have 12. Dave (7m 9s): Yeah, 12. Gotcha. And those people are spread kind of throughout the US all over the country. Do you, do you fish with them regularly? How does that work? Or do you kind of meet up at just the national champion, you know, how does that work regionally? Melissa (7m 22s): Yeah, so, well, we just, our national team was just announced in September. And so, so I’m lucky because here in Colorado there’s four of us. And so we have the opportunity of getting together. We live fairly close to each other, so we’re able to get together pretty frequently. There’s a few folks, I think there’s three in the Montana area, so they’re able to get together with Oklahoma, North Carolina, they’re just all over the country. And so the ideas will get together often. We do have calls frequently, so we’re able to share ideas. We just started an internal intranet so we can share ideas, best practices, and just start bonding together. Melissa (8m 6s): So. Dave (8m 8s): Nice. Yeah. So you mentioned lakes is kinda your specialty. How did you, is that just something that, you know, you had some background in. What do you love about the lake fishing? Melissa (8m 18s): Yeah, so Lake lifestyle, fishing without a doubt, one of my favorite competition formats. So, so what I really love about it is, especially this, this competition like style. I’ll break it down for you because it’s, yeah, it’s really a unique way of fishing. So it’s all done from a drifting boat. So unlike anchored fishing where you’re stationary, the boat is constantly in motion where that makes it exciting. So we use a drug which is a wind sock, it trails behind the boat and it slows the drift and keeps things under control. So you have two anglers fishing at the same time, one from the bow and one from the stern. Melissa (8m 58s): And each of us gets our own half of the boat to work from. So it’s fair game. You have three hours to fish when you’re in the competition setting. And then every single detail matters because you’re gaining points for the number of fish that you catch and the size. And so there’s a lot of strategy in that. You’re thinking about everything, the precision of your cast, where your flies are sitting in the water column, how you’re retrieving every environmental factor kicks in, like the wind, the sun, the cloud cover or the weather. And then there’s the added challenge of paying attention to what your competitor is doing right next to you. So it’s as much about focus and adaptation as it is about skill. Melissa (9m 40s): So I love this because it’s not just about catching fish, it’s about being fully in the moment. You’re constantly adjusting, reading the water, refining your technique. It’s just so engaging. Wow. Dave (9m 54s): Yeah. We’ve heard a little bit on the lock style over the years. I think Devin and Phil Roy who did an episode on the Laal zone where they talked a little bit about that and we’ve kind of briefly chatted on it, but hadn’t gone deep on it. Do you know the history of the lock style? Is that something like, why is that the, and that’s the only thing you can do in competitive fishing, right? It sounds like. Do you know why that is? And do you know much of that history? Melissa (10m 17s): You know, actually I, I don’t know the history of the lock style. Yeah, I’m not really sure. Yeah, Dave (10m 24s): Well I can, we’ll, we’ll do a little research actually. I’m trying to think who would be the best person. There must be some anglers out there that have, did you know many, I mean, when it comes to lock style, how does that work on the lake when you’re, let’s, let’s take it to the BC event. When you guys were up there, how did that work? Did you choose somebody to fit or does all, do all five of the competitors fish the lock style throughout the event? Melissa (10m 45s): Yeah, so we all do all at once. And so you’ll have each of the teams. So you’ll have five boats on the water all at once. I do know, you know, actually I was sitting in the boat with one of the ladies from Scotland and she did mention that there were roots from Scotland and Ireland, that it had something about the top of the water technique. And that’s all I remember. It had something about casting multiple flies, about a team of flies from a drifting boat. But yeah. Dave (11m 15s): Gotcha. Yeah, we’ll put a couple links in the, in the show notes. I’m looking at some stuff now here back on, on the u in the uk. So yeah, we’ll, we’ll get a little bit of information there on that, but, so well let’s take it to, so you have the, let’s take it to the water like, and say we’re not even competition. I mean, do you think this is a technique that people should be implementing if they’re just out there fishing on lakes? Do you find that’s something more common these days Melissa (11m 40s): Using a drug and lal fishing? Dave (11m 42s): Yeah. Do you find people are doing this out just recreationally? Not, not just competitive fishing out there, Melissa (11m 49s): You know, not so much, but I, I think it’s a great way of covering water and keeping your, you know, boat moving and covering water when you’re just stationary. Yeah, you can catch fish and you know, there’s something to that. I see a lot of people fishing that way with an indicator and, you know, catching fish that way. But there is something about keeping your boat moving and covering water to be able to catch fish. And there’s so much more technique and, and a lot that goes into that when you’re, when you’re on a lake. Dave (12m 18s): Yeah, definitely. Well, let, let’s take it to, you know, I want to take it to the, the events coming up. ’cause it’s right around the core. I mean, it’s April, may, June, July, just a few months really, that, that time is coming quick. Do you feel at all, you know, nervous? Does this feel like something you guys, you’re all ready for? How does that look as far as the event? Melissa (12m 39s): You know, we’re all getting, we’re all getting prepared for it. I wouldn’t say we’re, we’re nervous for it, but there’s a lot of preparation that goes, that goes into it. A lot of strategy, a lot of practice, and a lot of mental focus. So we just had a, a team practice last night to talk about one of the venues and, you know, sharing ideas and techniques and, and getting familiar with, with that particular venue. What do we know? And so I think there’s just a lot of preparation that goes into the championships. Dave (13m 11s): How did the, what does that look like, team practice? Is this something where you’re hopping on, on a zoom call, but walk us through that. Is this something where it’s like 30 minutes on a call or are you talking like hours and hours of you guys with the team practice? Melissa (13m 24s): Yeah, so it’ll be multiple Zoom calls, one for each venue. Sometimes it is just tying together as well. And so we’ll do about an hour call for each venue and then we’ll get together and we’ll just tie together. We will get together in advance of the championships and actually fish together as well. And so that’s a huge part of the preparation. So it’s a whole mix of strategy, practice and mental focus. Dave (13m 53s): Gotcha. So when you, on this Zoom call, let’s just take it to the last one. Which were you talking about Henry’s or what, what, which area were you covering? Melissa (14m 2s): Sheridan. Dave (14m 2s): Oh, Sheridan. Yeah. Perfect. Yes, Sheridan, we actually had, I think, well last year, we might even be going back in this next year, but Sheridan Lake’s cool because it’s a private lake there. What did that look like on the call? How do you, I’m just trying to get to that point, like how does somebody prepare for a new lake? How do you prepare? You guys are in a championship, you know, what tips can somebody get if they’re getting ready for a new water? You know what I mean? Like what did you guys talk about? Or is it more you’re just kind of chatting, you know, kind of like, I’m just trying to get to that. How do you, what do you get out of those meetings on the Zoom calls? Melissa (14m 34s): So when we talk about each of those new lakes, it’s about gathering knowledge, planning carefully, and being adaptable. So we, we did a lot of research on the lake. So we talked about the landscape doing the fish species, the type of feeding behavior, water temperatures, common fly patterns that are used there. And then we check for any reports, current conditions or or hatches that happen different times of the year. We map it out, understand the layout of the lake, that’s really crucial. So study maps to identify key areas such as drop offs or weed beds, inflows, things like that. And then also look at the weather forecast to anticipate how wind or sun might impact the fishing at different times of the year. Melissa (15m 22s): And so, yeah, then we talk about different casts and retrieves, what would you do if the weather happened in this type or those kinds of things. And so we chat about what have you done and what has worked best for you and how would you adjust for these types of factors if you were sitting in this portion of the lake. Dave (15m 42s): Hmm. Yep. Well that’s awesome. Yeah, that’s exactly. So you guys just basically take a deep dive and then when everybody comes together, you probably all have your specialties and you’re providing different feedback. I mean, the cool thing about, I think what we have going is you’ve got, you know, the youth team, you’ve got the women’s, you’ve got the two levels of the men’s. Is there some form of, I guess you have a benefit because Chris right, your husband is also, is he still in the, in competing? Melissa (16m 8s): He is, he’s actually the president of the master’s team. Yeah. Dave (16m 11s): Perfect. And the masters, Remi, I, I’m always, I can’t get this through my head. I always, the masters is the younger of the men. Which one’s the, there’s not the seniors is, or No, that’s, he is the older. Yeah, Melissa (16m 22s): He’s the older. Dave (16m 23s): It’s confusing ’cause I think of the golf, I think of golf as the opposite. Right. But seniors are actually the the younger, the younger, yeah. Seniors are the younger, the masters are the older, so, so yeah. So he’s in it with that crew, which is awesome. Pete Erickson. Right. And all those guys that have been, have already been through this for a while. Yes. So is that something you can, yeah, I mean, that must be pretty amazing having a resource like Krista, if you have a que something pops up and you’re unsure, you can just check in with him. Right. Has that been a big factor on you, your success? Melissa (16m 51s): You know, honestly, I think that’s like the biggest factor. That’s probably the best thing that’s made me a good angler. It comes down to, well the first thing is time on the water, but I think the biggest factor is the support system. So I’m incredibly fortunate to have Chris, my husband, as my fishing partner and my partner in life. So he is my fishing buddy, somebody that I can go out and go fishing with any day. It’s funny because when we first started, I didn’t wanna go fishing and I didn’t want to be the one to like this. Right. So I, I didn’t start fishing until, you know, maybe 20 17, 20 18. And I just went out because he just kept escaping every weekend. Melissa (17m 33s): And we had really stressful jobs and, you know, I, I was like, ah, let’s just take me out there. And we went out and he put me on Phish immediately and ’cause he used to be the, the coach for the youth team. Oh Dave (17m 44s): Yeah. Melissa (17m 45s): And so, you know, 15, 20 fish later we went home and I was like, oh, that was, that was, was kind of cool. So we went out again and again and I didn’t realize that was like a lot of fish until we started talking to people. And I was like, oh, you only caught two fish. Right. And so, so it was actually really cool. So having him be my mentor, my teacher has just been incredible. Yeah, Dave (18m 8s): That is incredible. So that’s, yeah, obviously been huge and then you can share right, your wisdom now with everybody else through the, through the team, but that’s great. I love how you broke down a lot of the stuff you just rattled off there about species temperature, all these things. If you had to put that in a nutshell, as far as the research you do, preparing for a new river, a new lake, is that something where you have, you know, your spreadsheet, you have all these checklists? Or is it just in your head when you think about this stuff, are you kind of more, what, what’s your, how’s your brain work? Do you, are you more like, I’m more of a list person? I would have this thing as a list, but, but how do you do it? Melissa (18m 41s): Yeah, I actually do have a list, but it just depends on what you’re doing. So in a lake, I’m very much a linear list person in my head. Dave (18m 50s): Yeah, in your head. Yeah. So you got it all in your head. Yeah, yeah. Melissa (18m 53s): Do a lot of research, mapping gear, weather conditions, you know, all of those things. Dave (18m 57s): Okay. So when you look at, let’s just take it to share. And you guys talked about sharing, you’ve got species, you mentioned everything. Let, let’s just start there on that, just real quick, we’ll go down this road. So on, on species, do you know exactly what species are in the lake, whether it’s hatchery versus wild, all that stuff? Melissa (19m 14s): We do. I’m not gonna share it though. Dave (19m 16s): Oh yeah, that’s right. Because there’s other people that could be listening. There’s other, so we’ll just walk through it. So there’s species, there’s temperatures. You mentioned looking at other reports. Reports could be like anything, right? Just search for fishing reports, go to local fly shops, all that stuff. Hatches another big part on lakes. Do you feel like with the, you know, with the, the drogue fishing on the lake, that I guess hatches obviously, even if they’re not on the surface, fish could still be hatching. Talk about that a little bit. How do the hatches work on these lakes? Are you fishing dry or is this mostly below the surface? Melissa (19m 54s): It can be a combo of, of both. It just depends on, like I said, the weather and, and the hatches. And so I’m not gonna give out too much. Yeah, Dave (20m 4s): Okay. We don’t wanna get all your secrets out. So let’s maybe not talk specifically about Sheridan, because obviously you guys are getting ready for this event. Let’s talk more like fly fishing 1 0 1. Let’s just go high level on this. This will be easier because we won’t have to worry about any of any competition issues here. So let’s say we’ve got a brand new angler right now. They just came into fly fishing, they heard about it, you know, and they’re like, whoa, this looks pretty cool. I, I don’t know quite what this, what what this is about. What would you tell that person, they’re brand new, they want to like learn about it, get into it, what are the, the steps you would tell them to help them kind of get started? Melissa (20m 42s): Yeah, so I think the first thing is kind of gear up. Start with the basics. You’ll need, you know, a basic rod and reel, fly line leader tip. It flies just the, the basic gear. A nine foot five weight is pretty versatile for most, if you’re talking about lakes. Dave (20m 59s): Yeah, let, let’s keep it on lake. Let’s just get, we’ll keep it real high level. We’ll just say, let’s say this is a fly fishing 1 0 1 for lakes, so you need the gear. So fly rod reel, that’s the start. Yeah, you gotta get the gear, Melissa (21m 9s): Study the lake. So even before you make any cast, I think it’s a really good time to observe where you’re gonna fish. So I always look for areas with structure like drop offs, weed beds or inflows. Those will attract fish. You’re gonna look at water clarity and depth. So clear water will require lighter presentations, while deeper areas will need a sinking line or weighted flies. You’ll look for fish activity. If you see surface rises or swirls or any signs of movement or bird diving that can indicate where some action is casting. If you’re new to fly casting, I would start with some very simple techniques. Melissa (21m 53s): Practice basic overhead cast to get some smooth controlled presentation. On lakes, you don’t really need a cast far, it’s just accurate. Just be really accuracy over distant. So on lakes presentation matters, so you’ll cast out and let your flies settle, experiment with your retrieve. That’s, that’s really important. So short jerky strips, mimic bait fish, so like tick, tick, tick type of jerky strips. And then if you do slow steady strips, those are better for nymphs or eds. Hmm. If you vary the depth of your fly, that’s important as well. Melissa (22m 34s): Finding the fish is the hardest part. So you can do that by counting down count seconds after your cast for your retrieve. That’ll help you cover the water column to find out where the fish are. Dave (22m 46s): There you go. Yeah, those are some awesome dose on the, on the rod, the, the nine foot five way, that’s always kind of been the, the standard all around Rod. Do you think there’s any event, is that what you use or do you find that there’s a benefit of going shorter or smaller and then weight-wise difference going lighter or shorter? Or do you think the nine foot five all around is kind of the best one? Melissa (23m 7s): That’s a good all around? I use a a 10 foot seven, I like a seven weight. It, it’s easier in the wind. My husband uses a 10 foot six weight. It’s easier to cast. You can get a lot more distance with that. So it just depends on your, on your personal preference, some good lines. I, I always would have a, an intermediate sinking line, a good floating line and a, and maybe a type three or type four. So you have a good, you know, variation of, of lines, so yeah. Dave (23m 40s): Yeah. So 10 foot and the, the benefit of the 10 foot is that it’s kind of, of a longer lever. It allows you to do more. Why do you think the 10 foot for you, do you like that over say the nine or nine and a half? Melissa (23m 52s): You know, I like the, the additional reach that you get, it allows you to cover more water without moving your position. So it helps you when you’re in a drifting boat, it helps you have better control of your line and fly over a greater distance. And then it gives you a little better line control in my opinion. So if you have techniques like nipping or your Yeah, just that additional length makes it easier to lift more line off the water. Dave (24m 21s): Okay, great. And when you’re fishing on lakes, if it’s not competition, are you doing kind of all sorts of techniques other than using the drug? Are you anchored up doing kind of everything? Melissa (24m 31s): No, I, we don’t really use anchors. Dave (24m 34s): Yeah. So it’s pretty much you’re using the drug if you’re out there on still waters, you’re, if even non-competition, you’re fishing with the drug? Melissa (24m 41s): Yes. Dave (24m 42s): Yeah. Okay. Gotcha. Then part of that is obviously you’re probably preparing for competitions, but also I’m guessing it’s pretty effective. Do you think, like, let’s just say, you know, we’ve talked a lot about kind of anchored up steel water, kron, mids kind of indicators, all that stuff too. Do you feel like the drug is as effective, more effective than some of those other techniques? Melissa (25m 3s): Yeah, it allows the boat to drift naturally with the wind. So creates motion that’s ideal for fishing. When you anchor the boat and you stay stationary, it can limit the dynamic presentation of the flies. So the, the steady movement provided by the drug helps mimic the lifelike movement of the insects or the bait fish increasing your chances of attracting fish. Yep. I think it also allows you to cover more water rather than anchoring. So you’re limiting the area you could fish when you’re anchored a drug allows you to, to fish across a larger area of the lake. So if fish are feeding, you know, when you think about how fish are in water, they don’t just sit, especially in a lake, they don’t just sit in the same spot. Melissa (25m 46s): They’re always cruising and, and going around and looking. Yeah. So it allows you to explore different depths and spots without constantly repositioning yourself. Yeah, Dave (25m 55s): I love this. No, I, I think, yeah, it sounds like it’s more en engaging, you know, and I always think of the old school, back when I started Stillwater Fishing and Lakes and stuff, it was, it was like trolling was a good way to find fish, you know? And it seems like that’s just kind of an old school, like it’s similar to this, but totally different. The difference is trolling, you’re kind of going over your water before you even hit it in some ways, depending on how you cast. But yeah. What do you think about that? Is trolling still something that people are doing out there, or is that just a method that, that’s maybe low on the list for still waters? Melissa (26m 25s): I see people trolling all the time and I see ’em catching fish. It’s wild. And so, so yeah, people are doing it. We do it when we’re, you know, I I I’ll be rowing and I’ll see my husband trolling behind us. Yep. So yeah, it happens. Dave (26m 39s): Yeah, throw it out. I mean, that’s one way you could do it, especially, I could think you’re in a boat, you could just throw your thing out there while you’re getting to another spot. I mean, definitely picked up lots of fish doing that. Right, for Melissa (26m 49s): Sure. Dave (26m 50s): Yeah. So, and then the, the dro but the cool thing is with the drug is you’re drifting, you’re getting a more natural drift so you can actually fish, you know, ahead of the drift. Right? So these fish aren’t seeing the boat you’re casting before. Is that kind of, maybe break that down. How does that work as you’re drifting? How are you casting? Let’s just say, you know, I guess you could take it to competition or, or just in general, if you, if somebody was out there with aro, how would they, are they always casting in front of the boat before the boat hits that area? Melissa (27m 16s): Yeah, so you’re always casting downwind. So you’re gonna cast in the direction of the boat’s drift, which is typically downwind. So you make sure that your flies land ahead of the boat, so you’re maintaining a natural presentation as you drift towards them. It keeps your line under control as you’re casting against the wind. So Dave (27m 38s): Yeah. So you’re going with the wind? Yeah. So the wind’s blowing. Oh yeah, I’m trying to get this now. So the drug’s out there behind you, the wind’s coming, blowing you down away from the drug. Right. And then you’re casting down kind of the wind’s at your back, so it’s easy to cast. You’re making the cast is easy. Is that the case? Yes, Melissa (27m 57s): Exactly. Yes. And then you’ll, you’ll work a fly pattern, a fan pattern, I apologize. Yeah, so you’ll cover the water systematically. You’ll cast in a fan shape. You’ll start at one side, for example, like 10 o’clock, and you’ll make a, a succession of casts to the other side to two o’clock. So you’ll make sure that you cover as much water as possible as the boat drifts. Dave (28m 18s): Gotcha. And then how slow or fast is the boat drifting? And can you control that? Or is it all dependent on the wind and is there a limit? Like what if there’s like white caps out there? You could, you still do this method? Melissa (28m 29s): I mean, it’s all dependent on the wind. It, yes, you can do it. You really don’t wanna be out in a drift boat with y caps because, no, yeah, yeah. I mean, there’s not high sides on a boat, on a drift boat. Dave (28m 43s): No. Yeah. I guess what is the boat you guys are, what is your typical boat? Is the boat you use in competition? The same boat you use just out fishing and what is that boat? Melissa (28m 53s): Yeah, so we just use a little, it’s a small little drift boat. What do we use? We, we use a adipose. Dave (29m 0s): Oh, so like a skiff with low sides, like, is that Yes. Yeah. Gotcha. So that’s your boat. So you don’t have a special like lake boat sort of thing. This is actually a, like a drift boat with oars or I guess depending on the situation, is that typically what you’re doing? Melissa (29m 15s): That’s exactly right. Dave (29m 16s): Yeah. I gotcha. What do you do when you’re fishing big lakes that require, you know, you to motor around to, you know, the other end of the lake if it’s a bigger lake, Melissa (29m 26s): Like at hep? Dave (29m 27s): Is that pretty big? Yeah, Melissa (29m 28s): It’s a really big lake. So with some of those, we do use a, a thwart board, and so we’re able to sit up on this, on this board. So we’re positioning ourselves higher up on the, on the sides, and we’re able to cast out that way. We, you still use a drug, so you’ll you’ll motor yourself out where you need to and then you’ll cast out the same way. You’ll still use a drug? Dave (29m 53s): Yeah, you still use a drug. Okay. And then, and so you do have like a, a motor on these skiffs. Do you, is this a, like an outboard motor or what are you putting on the skiffs to get around? Melissa (30m 1s): No, we’ll actually use if on those larger lakes we’ll use a motorboat. Oh, gotcha. That’s a size for those lakes. Dave (30m 9s): Yeah. Yeah. Gotcha. Okay. Yeah, depending. All right. So, but that’s the, the same technique is gonna be used, the drug’s out, it’s, you know, you’re, the wind’s blowing you, you’re fishing, you’re fly at a, with a fan, like, you know, casting. Once you cast, you know, what are you typically fishing? What are the flies? Are you fishing, you know, bigger streamers, you know, Coronas, nms, A little bit of everything. Melissa (30m 30s): Yeah, a little bit of everything. You know, streamers, damsels, really everything. Junk flies everything. Dave (30m 37s): Yeah, that’s right. Okay. So getting back to that person who’s kind of brand new, they’re thinking, okay, I’m at this lake, this giant lake, I’m out here fishing, you know, okay. Maybe they, they did some research, they found some drop offs, maybe there’s a spring or something. They’re fishing around. How do they know what to use? Like there’s cronin, there’s all these bugs. How do they know? What bug does that first fly to put on? Melissa (30m 58s): Yeah, so, so to get started, eds are, are small. It’s really just a look at like what’s happening out there. So a really good, easy one that everybody starts with is a wooly bugger. They’re versatile streamers, they’re effective in almost any lake. They ate, bait fish, leeches or, or larger insects. So black, olive, brown, those are great for beginners. And those are, are great to retrieve with varied strips to mimic like a swimming motion. Damsel flies are, or dams will fly. Nymphs are, are long, slender patterns. Those are great in late spring and summer. Melissa (31m 39s): Those are great near weed beds. So if you find yourself near a weed bed where dams will fly, nymphs are often found. Those are good with a really slow retrieve, with occasional pauses. Those are good. If you are cid, those are small flies that imitate the larvae and pupil stages of midges. That’s a major food source for lake trout. And so black, red, or olive with a bead head. And I would normally fish those under a dry or something like that, or suspend them in some way. That’s usually how those are fished. And then pheasant, nymphs or hairs, NPHs, those are great classic patterns. Melissa (32m 22s): Those imitate a variety of insects. Those are great for subsurface fishing as well on a, a sinking line. Yep. And then dries, those are great. If you see trout rising. Dave (32m 33s): Yeah. If you do see fish rising on the surface, then you can try to try to match the hatch even on lakes. Is that the case? Melissa (32m 38s): Oh absolutely. Yeah. Good parachute atoms or an I care cas, yeah. Dave (32m 42s): Yeah. Okay. And so there’s a good little rundown of some, you know, top main flies that you can get started with. So if you take it to that woolly bugger, you mentioned some lines, the dry line, the intermediate type three. How do you know, again, experimenting, let’s say you’re on this new lake, you know, there’s a drop off here. You’re gonna start with the woolley butter. ’cause that’s an easier one. How do you figure out how to get that down? Do you typically start with an intermediate or do you start with the type three work down? Or what would you do? What would somebody new do? Melissa (33m 11s): That’s a good question. So I always start shallow, begin fishing near the edges, especially around the weed beds or the drop-offs or areas with underwater structure. Those are the spots that tend to hold more fish. And then you’ll experiment with the depth. So lakes with three dimensional fishing environments. So fish aren’t always on the surface. You’ll use flies and techniques that let you target different depths. So you’ll try a sinking line or a weighted fly to reach deeper zones. So if you’re using a, you can even use a, a floating line with a, a weighted fly just to get down to some of those, those depths, and then really focus on your retrieve that can make a difference. Melissa (34m 0s): It’ll make or break your success. So you’ll, you’ll experiment with the speed and the rhythm of your retrieve. So try really slow steady strips for nymphs or fast erotic retrieves for streamers. So like tick, tick, tick, or you know, like a tick tick paw you mentioned match the hatch. Yeah. And so pay attention to what insects or prey fish are in the water. So if you’re not sure, start with the wooly buggers or therons. Those are those almost always work. Hmm. So I always will, will start with some sort of a leach pattern or a wooly bugger, and that’s a really good place to start. Dave (34m 39s): That’s sweet. Yeah. No, I love that because that means that, you know, we’re, I’m not too far off a lot of people listening. Right. We could start with the basics and, and that’s what’s great about the wool. I feel like the wooly bugger, it keeps coming back to that the, the pheasant tail also is a popular pattern, but I feel like the woolly bugger is the, is the greatest fly pattern of all time. Do you feel like that that’s kind of the case? Melissa (34m 58s): Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Woolly bugger some sort of leach. Yeah. Throw a little flash in there and you’ve, you’ve gotta make, yeah, Dave (35m 4s): You gotta make, and that’s, and even some of these other patterns, like everything else, you know, I think Phil talks a lot about the balance leach, you know, but I mean, essentially those are all just woolly buggers. I, I used to love the mohair leach, you know, the mohair with the burgundy mohair leach and stuff with a little flash. But at the end of the day, they’re all just woolly buggers. Right. I mean, that’s kind of the same thing. You’re, IM, we’re all imitating that, at least with the leches. Is that, is that the case on most of this stuff? Melissa (35m 27s): Stuff, yeah. All some sort of variation of it, of a leach or a bully bugger in some sense. Dave (35m 33s): Yeah. Okay. And then you said the, the other cool thing is you mentioned you’re out there, you’re new to the lake, you have a wooly bugger, you know, you don’t wanna be necessarily slow retrieves, although you can mix it up, but these fast, erratic stop, you know, strip, strip stops and being erratic is a good way to do it because you’re imitating these bait fish. Or, or maybe talk about that a little bit. I guess you’re imitating a lot of stuff, but you’re imitating something that’s attacking or fleeing, or what are you trying to do with that? Woolly bugger. Melissa (35m 57s): Yeah, that’s exactly right. Those bait fish or the, the small little prey fish in the water. So that’s what you’re doing is the insects or, or those fish in the water. Dave (36m 7s): Yeah. Okay. And so that makes it good. So you got the bugger. And then to get down the right depth, you could just start even with the dry line, maybe a weighted fly just to get down below the surface, work on that a little bit. And then, and then could you also, would you also maybe cast out and then do some counting to let it drop a bit? What’s your systematic approach to finding those fish? Right. They’re at some level in the column, whether that’s a foot below or or four feet below, you know, how do people find those fish? Melissa (36m 32s): That’s the, that’s the whole game. Dave (36m 35s): That’s the hard Melissa (36m 35s): Part. Yep. And that’s my favorite part of it. It’s a big puzzle or a mystery. I’ve loved piecing things together. It’s being able to, to fi figure out that puzzle. And so casting out and counting is exactly it. Yeah. You wanna find out where the fish are, and that depth is the most important part. And so you can count, use the countdown method if you are using a, a sinking line. So you’ll cast it out and then countdown. So you’ll have to know at what speed your line is, is sinking. And so if you’re using a hover or a, a type three, you’ll know if it’s a one inch per second or three inches per second at how fast it’s sinking. Melissa (37m 19s): And then you’ll start your countdown and then start your retrieve at that point in time. So your erratic retrieves, you’ll vary the, the speed and length of your poles during that time. And then just keep mixing it up until you, you finally find the fish. Dave (37m 35s): Yeah. Keep, keep doing that. I love, we had a recent episode with Gunner Bramer and he was talking about more like streamers, but he kept talking about how there’s nothing that’s set in fly fishing. I think a lot of times we try to set rules of things like, you gotta use, you know, certain things, certain flies, whatever. But really, you know, he was saying like, it, it’s not set and you should just try stuff out there. Do you find that that’s the case with Stillwater, that people, if they’re new, you know, there’s nothing really set, there’s all sorts of ways to catch fish and people should experiment with things. Melissa (38m 6s): Oh, absolutely. That’s one of the best things about fly fishing in general, is that it’s full of challenges every single time that you go out. And so what worked today is gonna be different. Tomorrow we go out and we practice all the time for these competitions and we’ll, we’ll practice every single day. And then the day of the competition, everything changes. Yeah. And so everything that you knew, everything you prepared for, and you’re like, I have this thing dialed in, I know exactly what’s happening. It changes. And so whether it’s the, the clouds, the wind, who knows, everything is just different. And so it’s the game. It’s fun. Dave (38m 45s): Yeah, it is fun. And I think that’s where the team USA competitors probably do the best because you all fish on all these different water bodies, waterways, rivers, streams, whatever. And I feel like that’s the advantage you have is that you can be ready for that. So if something does change, just like when you’re in another country and you’re like, okay, you gotta be able to switch on the fly. How does that happen? So if you’re out there, you’re expecting something, you’ve got your game plan, you know what typically hatches in July, mid-July, all of a stuff, and all of a sudden something crazy happens, maybe, I don’t know, you know, it snows or something like that, right. Or something goes wild, the temperatures are maybe really warm, maybe it’s a really hot season and it’s super warm. How do you adjust to that? What, what do you, is that all on the fly? Dave (39m 25s): What’s your tip there? Melissa (39m 27s): You know, we, we all have our, our confidence flies. Yeah. And so it doesn’t matter what it is, they’re always going to work because, because you have confidence in it. But I would say the biggest thing is mental preparation. Competitions are, are nerve wracking. And so everything’s going to change. It’s gonna, the table’s gonna flip, everything is just upside down and it can be nerve wracking. And being able to stay calm and focused is, is critical. And so, so visualization is what I use. That’s the technique I use. So I mentally walk through the casts, the retrieves and the tactics before the event to build confidence. Melissa (40m 8s): And then at the end of the day, it’s all about being able to adapt and adaptability. So every venue, every competition is different, and the anglers who are able to adjust on the fly tend to have the greatest success. Yeah. So like I said, everything changes the day of we can strategize all day long. We can tie all of the flies in the world, every pattern, but being able to adjust to the local insects, the water conditions and, and the weather on the fly, the people that can do that are the ones that, that succeed. Dave (40m 40s): That’s awesome. And the, the confidence, I love how you mentioned the visualization and our in visualizing, right? The, I mean, is that part of that or you’re visualizing everything and then even catching of the fish? I, I feel like the, in sports, that’s always the analogy, right? Because this is kind of a sport, but the best of the best I’m sure are doing that too, right? The, the LeBron James, Michael Jordans, those people are visualizing what it, the championship already looks like, like they’ve already done it. Is that kind of what you’re saying that, are you doing through the whole thing, even of all the way to the catching of the big fish and winning the tournament? Melissa (41m 12s): Oh yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Taking it through to the finish and if you, you know, if I think of, oh yeah, I’m catching a fish on this, I don’t know, egg, and that’s the only thing that I can catch fish on, I’m cooked. Dave (41m 26s): Yeah. Right. Melissa (41m 27s): Yeah. The game’s over for me. And if I think that’s the only thing that’s going to work, but being able to walk through the, the game top to bottom, getting from point A to point B, it’s without my teammates being able to lean on sometimes. And we all have good days and we all have bad days, and your confidence is shaken from one day to the next. Especially if you have one bad session after another. Each one of us have had that time where we’re like, dang it, I knew I had this thing and it just fell apart for me. They, if I can’t visualize it for myself, the teammates that I have, we just lean on each other and it is incredible. So having that support system, again, I’ll mention it, it just is, is key to being able to be successful. Dave (42m 9s): Yeah, that’s, that’s awesome. Well, I wanna get back to a little bit on the, the flies. And we talked about some general categories, maybe some top flies you like just in general. But I wanted to also talk about the event coming up again. So how, you know, you’re, is it Island Park? Is that where everybody’s heading down for the first night? Melissa (42m 26s): Yeah, so we’ll be staying in Idaho Falls. Dave (42m 28s): Oh yeah. Idaho Falls. So you’ll be in Idaho Falls and then take us there a little bit. Are you familiar with that area? Have you been there before? Do you know kind of what to expect with that area? Melissa (42m 37s): A little bit. Like, my family’s from Idaho Falls, so Oh, okay. I’ve been there a couple times. Dave (42m 42s): Yeah. Okay. So yeah, you actually have family still in, in Idaho Falls? Melissa (42m 47s): No, that’s where my grandfather’s from. Dave (42m 49s): Oh, your, your grandfather. Yeah. Oh cool. Okay. Yeah, that’s right. Awesome. So you have some family connections there and let’s just walk through that. The event starts, you mentioned July, let, lemme take it back. I don’t have the dates right in front of me, but is it July 17th? That’s a Thursday, Melissa (43m 6s): July 13th to the 19th are the official days. Dave (43m 9s): Okay. 13th and 19th. So you’re probably going to be arriving on what, July 11th, 12th to, you know, Friday before, something like that, Melissa (43m 17s): Around that time period? Yeah. Yeah, Dave (43m 18s): Yeah. Okay. And then as far as fishing, you’re preparing for this, are you gonna be preparing, I guess that’s the one advantage you have, right? Because it’s your home country so you can go out there and fish this as much as possible. How does, does that, is that how that works? And these other teams that are coming from around the world, they’re not able to do that. How, how does that work? Is that just a advantage of being the home team? Melissa (43m 39s): Yeah, that would be wonderful. Everything’s frozen, but we’d love to get out there a lot more. We were out there this last year and we were able to fish all of the venues ahead of time. So that was, that was great. Yeah, so we’ve been out there and we’ve fished all of these Dave (43m 54s): And that’s probably the same thing when you turn around to the Czech over there, you, I’m assuming, didn’t go out there and fish, you know, months, you know, years before that you just kinda went there during your trip and fished for the first time. Is that kinda how that worked into check and on that last year that you did it? Melissa (44m 11s): Yes. Yeah, we show up about a week before the competition and we fished the week prior and then just go straight into it. Dave (44m 17s): Okay. And so that’s exactly what these teams are gonna do here as well. But I feel like that just having to, being able to fish, it doesn’t always mean you’re gonna win. You know, just the fact that you all can fish it more than the other countries. Right. There’s still some other pieces to the, the pie here, right? Melissa (44m 32s): Oh yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, like I said, everything changes. So what happened last year, this year, there could be a lot of runoff or, or maybe not so much runoff. The conditions can change year over year. Dave (44m 43s): Perfect. And I’m just looking now, so yeah, so July 13th, and we just wanna give people a heads up if they’re gonna be, if people are interested in checking out this event, what is the best thing to do? Is to go to the, the website. If people, do they have to register? Can they just show up to if they, people wanted to watch this event, wanted to volunteer, that sort of thing? Melissa (45m 1s): Yeah, I mean we’d love to have more volunteers. If you go to the US angling site, us angling.org are having the youth and the women’s at the same time. And so the youth team or the youth championships, there are nine teams competing. And for the women’s championships we have seven. And so there’ll be, at the same time we’re looking for a lot of volunteers. The home base is in Idaho Falls and so we will be having two river venues and no, I lied. Three river venues and two lake venues. And so yeah, come out, see some of the, the best anglers from around the world. Melissa (45m 44s): It’s incredible. Dave (45m 45s): Yeah. And when the people are out there, how does that work on the watching? Do they come there and just sit in certain river sections or, you know, is it different depending on where you’re at? Do you actually have spectators or is it, you know, how does that look? Melissa (46m 0s): The lakes will be easier. You’ll wanna bring binoculars so you can see what’s going on because the lakes are pretty big. The rivers, that’s, there’s a little, I don’t wanna say little, it’s a hike to get down to the rivers. Dave (46m 15s): Yeah. So there is some possibility. And then the volunteering, can they do that from, if people wanna get involved in that, just checking with us angling.org as well. Melissa (46m 23s): Oh yeah, absolutely. Yeah, Dave (46m 25s): That’s it. Okay, well let’s start to kinda take it out here, like we said with some of those, go back to the fi. I always like to get some top patterns, you know, and you mentioned the, the woolly bugger, a few of kind of the categories, but again, when it comes down to, if you look at these five categories you talked about, I guess the, the streamers, the woolly bugger, that’s one category. Is the fly that you would be using literally a woolly bugger just in general, if somebody was out there, is that the fly? Just grab a black woolly bugger, just your standard style Melissa (46m 52s): Kind of. Yeah, I, I kind of use a general woolly bugger. I do like for, for streamers when it comes to nms, I, I generally love a good pheasant nymph. It’s pretty classic pattern or a hairs air nymph for dries, I love a good elk care. Cadi Oh, Dave (47m 11s): Elk care. Okay. Melissa (47m 12s): Yeah, B WFS, bluing olives are, are great, especially this time of year RSS two for mergers. That’s a great mayfly pattern or a soft tackle. And then let’s talk about terrestrials. A good ants a foment is a, a good one. And I, I love that for the summer fishing your banks. It’s funny, you can catch a lot on a chubby as well. A chubby tno. Dave (47m 39s): Okay. Melissa (47m 40s): Every once in a while we’ll throw that on. And then for the lakes, I’ve been getting into a lot of damsels or some booby flies. Yeah, those are great buoyant flies if you’re gonna use ’em on a sinking line. And so yeah, those are, those are really good ones. You mentioned match the hatch. That’s a really good advice. A lot of people talk about that resembling, you know, choose patterns that resemble the insects that are present in your environment. So just be really observant. Observe the water. That can give you a lot of clues on what to use. Cover a lot of different layers. Keep flies that are targeting the surface, mid depth and the deeper zones to cover the water column. Melissa (48m 25s): And, and don’t be afraid to experiment. Try a lot of different patterns until you find out what the fish are responding to. Olive black, those two are great colors, depending on the time of the year. And that’ll set you up for success. Dave (48m 38s): Okay. And and what would be, if you had to say again, that person that’s kind of new to the lakes, they’re out there, we’ve now got ’em there, they’ve got their rod, they’ve got some fly patterns, their lines. What are two or three tips you’re giving them for that day to say, okay, you’re gonna be out here, think about this when you’re fishing still waters. What? What would you tell them? Melissa (48m 57s): Yeah, experiment with your retrieval. Speeds. Yeah. Dave (49m 0s): Retrievals, that’s number one. Melissa (49m 2s): Yeah. Fish respond to slow steady retrieves while other times they prefer fast erratic movements. So mix things up to mimic different prey like bait fish, nymphs, or leeches. Okay. So for beginners, short strips and pauses are good, are good way to start, cover the water thoroughly. So work systematically to cover as much water as possible. So cast in a fan like pattern, start from the left and move across to the right to make sure you don’t miss any of the feeding zones. And that’ll help you explore different depths in the areas efficiently. Gotcha. Dave (49m 37s): And then what would be one more bonus tip that you, I love that. So retrievals, that’s number one cover systematically. That’s getting you there. What would be another one you’d throw in there? Melissa (49m 47s): Pack the essentials. Dave (49m 48s): Yeah, right. Melissa (49m 49s): Bring flies. Tippet sizes and liter. Don’t forget polarized sunglasses. That’ll be a game changer for spot. Dave (49m 58s): Yep. Is the leader, is that a big part of this? Is the leader varied? Are you changing your leaders up a lot when you’re out there depending on the, the flies you’re using? Melissa (50m 9s): Sometimes it depends. Sometimes I’ll lengthen the leader depending on, you know, if it’s really still, it’s more the wind conditions is when I’ll change the leader. Dave (50m 18s): Yeah. When, okay, so you, when it, if it’s really blowing harder out there, you’re just gonna go shorter leaders? Melissa (50m 24s): Yes. Dave (50m 24s): Okay. And what is your, what would be a good typical leader. If somebody’s out there again, they’re that new person, they’ve got their holy bugger on. What’s your standard like leader length and kind of a build? Melissa (50m 37s): Usually I do a, like a nine foot liter if you’re just gonna do streamers or you know, if there’s gonna be some wind. So shorter liters are easier to control. A good 10 to 12 foot liter is what I use. That’s ideal for fishing. CIDs under, you know, if you’re gonna dangle them under a dry or something. So, or in clear water if they’re gonna be spooked. Dave (51m 1s): Hmm, gotcha. So 10 to foot and is that liter or something where you’re just grabbing it out of a pack? Or you building kind of this leader? Melissa (51m 8s): If you’re a beginner, I would just get pre-built leader. Yeah. Dave (51m 12s): Just get a nine foot and add three feet to tip it on on it. Melissa (51m 15s): Absolutely. Dave (51m 16s): Yeah. Gotcha. Okay. Yeah, keep it simple. And then, then if it is windy out there, you know, you can change it up. But like you said, you got the dry line, the sinking line and the, or the intermediate and the, and the type three or somewhere in that range. And then on the dry flies, how does that look when you’re, let’s just take it to the drug. If you’re drifting down, you see some fish rising, you already probably know maybe what some hatches are going on. Is that something where you’re, while you’re in the drug, you’re casting using your dryly rod and throwing it out there? Melissa (51m 45s): I mean, you can only have one rod rigged up at a time. Dave (51m 48s): Oh, you can. Only one. Yeah. Okay. Gotcha. Melissa (51m 50s): So you’d be switching out your line to that. Yep. So you wanna be strategic about the line that you’re using. Okay. Dave (51m 57s): So you pretty much, when you’re on your, when that event goes, you’re probably not switching your still water rod too much because if you do, you’re missing a lot of water. Or do you occasionally switch up completely, like go from a, a nif to a dryly setup? Melissa (52m 11s): Yeah, so you have to be real strategic, starting high and then going low. So, you know, if you are gonna start with a floating line, you’ll go floating and then you’ll put, you know, put your weighted fly on and start your depth there before you switch your line. Dave (52m 26s): Gotcha. Yeah. I see. Yeah, so again, back to that systematic, so you start and you gotta be on it. So you start, maybe like you said, start high, you know, maybe you do start with a dry, but you start higher. And then if you’re not getting anything, you’ve got your fly, you go a little bit deeper, maybe that’s a weighted fly. Then maybe you go to the intermediate so that, and then down until you find them. And then once you find them, you’re on. And then you also have your, and the competition’s interesting ’cause you have a person in the boat who you’re competing against. Is there, like, how does that work? ’cause I would imagine you could just look and say, oh, they’re using the, the type three airflow line, right. And that sort of thing. Is that kind of how it looks? Is it easy to see if they’re doing, have you been in that situation where the person’s just killing it out there, doing it, catching a lot of fish and you’re not catching anything and you’re like, oh, maybe I should switch to what they’re using? Melissa (53m 9s): Oh yeah, absolutely. And you have to pay attention to their line. Like, is it sinking? What are they doing? Dave (53m 14s): Oh, right, okay. So you are using them, you’re, you’re using, you’re basically kind of, we’re fishing with them in a sort, even though you’re competing against them. Melissa (53m 23s): You are. And then there’s a lot of technique. You’ll be in the boat and you’re kind of chitchatting with the person next to you trying to distract them, but also not, so there, there really is a lot that goes along with it, but then you’re also paying attention and you know, trying to see what they’re using and hiding your flies at the same time. Dave (53m 42s): Right. Wow, that’s so interesting. And then, and then do you get down, typically, I guess depending on the lake, you get down to the end of the lake and then you pull up your drug, you motor back up to the top and are you like making multiple runs out there? How does that work when you’re fishing on the comp? Melissa (53m 56s): Yes. Yep. And then you have to reset. So while you’re moving, while the boat’s in motion, nobody’s fishing just to be fair. And so you reset the boat and then you both start fishing again. And so each boat has to be, what is it, 50 yards from each other. And so while you’re repositioning, if another boat sees that you are on fish and you’re catching fish, they could sneak in there and hop in the line behind you. So then you have this assembly line of boats you could get pushed out. And so then you have to find a new spot. Dave (54m 27s): No kidding. Oh, so if you’re, yeah, if you’re getting the, the action, somebody can hop in line and then you get bumped out eventually outta that line. Melissa (54m 35s): Yeah, so there’s, there’s a lot that goes on. You wanna catch fish, but be very quiet about it. You and your boat partner. Dave (54m 41s): Oh, right. There’s stealth, Melissa (54m 42s): Yeah, there’s a lot of strategy that goes into it. So, so I love lake fishing. There’s, there’s a lot that goes into it. It’s a lot of fun. Dave (54m 48s): Yeah. Yeah. Right. That is awesome. I, that competition is kinda interesting ’cause yeah, you, you definitely probably don’t want a real loud reel out there. Right. And lakes are quiet. Depend, especially if there’s no wind, you can be on the other end and be, they know exactly what’s going on. So how would you, how would you stay quiet? I guess that’s it. If you’re starting to get into ’em, you just kind of, you’re low key. You try to not let anybody know and and just be as quiet as possible. Melissa (55m 9s): Oh yeah. You and your partner, you’re both quiet. You kind of make like a secret handshake deal when you start, Hey, yeah. Gonna be one and two if we’re gonna win this, this is the, the winning boat. Right. And then you immediately just go through the, the whole motion. Yeah. Dave (55m 25s): And then do you mix it up after that? So the session, well, so we, we haven’t talked a lot about the still water comp. So when you get done with that session, do you mix it up and then do all your teams go through and all your teammates fish that day? Or how does that work? On the Stillwater? Melissa (55m 41s): No, no. So each day only one person fishes or one team fishes that day. Dave (55m 47s): Oh, okay. So only one. So like you guys are starting on July 13th or in that range? So there’ll be, the first day will be one person, one team out there. The next day will be that a new person. So outta those five people you have, you got five days of fishing? Melissa (56m 0s): Correct. Dave (56m 1s): Oh, I see. Okay. So, and you’ll have, you said three still or two Stillwater and three Rivers. So you will be, do you know your lineups? Will you be probably your Stillwater right? You probably will be doing one of those Stillwater days, Melissa (56m 13s): Correct? Yeah, we don’t, we don’t have our lineups yet. We get those that week of the competition, but yeah, I believe it goes river. So Water River. So water. So, Dave (56m 25s): Okay. Do you have, does the women’s team have a coach? Melissa (56m 29s): Norm Mc? Mc is our Dave (56m 31s): Oh, norm is, yeah, yeah. Mc, okay. Yeah, we’ve had Norma on the podcast. He’s actually, it’s one of our most listened to podcasts in the history of our show. We’ll put a link out to that episode. Yeah, that was a great one. I can’t even remember to be honest with you. It was so long ago. I can’t remember exactly what we covered obvi. It was definitely some comp stuff, but cool. So yeah, you got Norm and, and like we said, obviously Chris, you know, having him there is big as well, so this has been good. Well I think there’s always so much to talk about. I, I kind of love that we chatted on, you know, kind of some high level getting people started. That’s always interesting. And then, and then the lake stuff. Anything else you wanna leave with on the competition or what you have going, we haven’t talked much about your home waters, we’ve kind of focused here, but do you, you know, when you’re not doing comp, you know, what’s keeping you busy on the fly stuff, are you guiding doing any of that stuff or is it mostly the competition? Melissa (57m 17s): No, you know, it’s, it’s mostly the competition. Like I mentioned, my, my husband’s the president of the master’s team and yeah, Blake Gunther, he was the, the president of the, the women’s team. And I guess in December of this last year of 2024, he was looking for, or he stepped down and he became the director of fly. So he asked if I’d take over the team. So I became the president of the team and I was a, a little intimidated, but I was honored on, on the opportunity to do that. So I became the president of the team. So I do a lot for the women’s team, but also I was able to create a whole leadership team here for the women’s team. Melissa (57m 57s): So I know you’ve spoken to some of the other folks on the team, but we have most of our, our world’s team that’s competing are also the leaders part of the leadership team on the women’s team. So our team manager, Lindsay Soran, our team Captain Tess, our secretary, Julie Matson, all three of them are guides. Our vice president, Katie Cher, she’s a lifelong athlete. She was a golf pro. Kristen Almond, she’s our communications director. So all of us. Wow. We all come on the world’s team as well. So we have a ton of talent, passion, and heart. So that’s, that’s what I do. So I do a lot with bringing the team together and being able to expand the work. Melissa (58m 43s): Yeah, Dave (58m 43s): That’s amazing. Yeah, and I think you mentioned, I think Lindsay te Julie, I think we’ve had all of them on the podcast and we haven’t talked to Katie, had everybody yet, but I, I think we’re doing a good job working on this through here. I I feel like, you know, occasionally we go back and talk about the, the 50 50, you know, Orvis movement back in the day where I think, you know, trying to get more women on the water, but how do you feel like, I, I feel like that’s going pretty well. It seems like, especially now you have a four years of the women’s team. Do you think overall we’re doing pretty well at getting more women out there on the water? Melissa (59m 17s): Yes. Yeah, I would say if you would’ve asked me, you know, four years ago, seven years ago, if this is what the team could have been and would’ve been, I don’t know that I would’ve believed it. But yes, I would say, yeah, this is incredible. I wouldn’t trade this journey for anything. The team is great, you know, our national team of 12 is, we’re all coming together and we have some good plans moving forward to be able to expand the team and to Yep. Have some more events and clinics to let people know that so cool. Exist. Yeah. So, Dave (59m 50s): And you got, and you got I think the gold medal still, right? You gotta, that, that’s probably, I’m sure the goal, it feels like that, that you’ve could, I mean, this could be the year, right? Do you feel like this could be there that, that you could win the gold out here, whether individually or as a team? Melissa (1h 0m 4s): Oh yeah. Yep. This is the year Dave (1h 0m 6s): It is, right? It’s on our home water. This, I think that’s what’s exciting about this is that it’s on the home water. So anybody listening now, if they’ve never been to a world championship, if they’ve never heard about it, never, well, they’ve probably heard about but never thought about it. I mean, that’s what I think is exciting that you could, like anybody can go there and watch this and, and it could be a gold medal sort of, you know, thing. And so I’m pretty excited about it. I think this is gonna be a great year. Hopefully we’ll get some people out there and maybe get some volunteers, you know, out there and helping out. But yeah. Any, anything else you wanna leave with Melissa before we get outta here that we missed today or about the competition or, you know, what you have going? Melissa (1h 0m 41s): No, I think that’s great. This has been wonderful and I appreciate you, you know, giving me the time. I, it’s been wonderful. Dave (1h 0m 47s): Awesome. All right, well, we’ll send everybody out like we said us angling.org and, and that’ll be the best place to connect. And also the Melissa Smith 82 on Instagram, they can connect with you there. And yeah, I appreciate all your time, Melissa. This is gonna be awesome. We’ll definitely, hopefully keep connecting with more of the team, USA members and all that. And until we talk again, thanks. All Melissa (1h 1m 8s): Right, thanks. Dave (1h 1m 11s): Quick call to action for you today. If you wanna check out this and see the best in the world. We’ve got the youth team this year. We’ve got the women’s team we talked about today. You can check it out right now. And, and this is gonna be amazing this year. If you haven’t checked in on this and you wanna learn and, and volunteer and get involved, you can also do that. Check in with us angling.org and check in there. All right, if you haven’t heard, we have something going on right now. It is called Wetly Swing Pro. And you can go to wetly Swing dot com slash join right now. Join, you can actually, you can actually join Wetly Swing Pro and we’re gonna have a special discount code for those that wanna get involved in this. Dave (1h 1m 54s): So if you’re interested, send me to me email Dave at wetly Swing dot com. This is where we’re all building trips together, building our best trips of the year. If you’re interested in getting first access to upcoming trips, everything we have going Wetly Swing Pro is the place to be. Alright, hope you enjoy that one. Hope you enjoy these episodes. We have more of these coming. We are going to definitely as we work up to this event, it’s gonna be a great one. So please check in with me if you have any questions and hope you enjoy this episode of Travel Today. And I hope you can live that dream trip this year and get out and fish some of those amazing waters and experience that road less traveled.