The Orvis Fly Fishing Podcast with Tom Rosenbauer

Mon, 5 May 2025

How Do I Get My Fly-Fishing Writing Published? With Ross Purnell, Editor of Fly Fisherman Magazine

Inside nearly every fly fisher is a budding writer, eager to share their passion with the world. I've done podcasts on how to write better fly-fishing stories in the past, and figured it was time to talk to an editor and publisher about how you can get your masterpiece published. Ross Purnell [32:15], editor and publisher of Fly Fisherman magazine, was happy to share his advice on this subject—and no one in the fly-fishing world has more experience in this topic than Ross.

In the Fly Box this week, we have some great tips from listeners, some questions that I've answered before, and some fresh ones that I haven't, including:

How do I deal with leaders that get knotted up when I am ready to use them?
When you have fished a section of water, how long do you stay there, switching flies and techniques? Or do you move on?
From a listener, a great fly and technique for catching yellow perch.
A listener relays his approach for minimalist equipment when fishing close to home.
What is your opinion using balsa wood for fly tying?
My casting with a dry fly is OK, but I struggle with dry dropper and streamer rigs. What can I do?
Do trout get "lost" after being landed in another part of a river?
A listener adds some corrections to the proposed selling off of public lands.
When fishing a double nymph rig, do you put the bigger fly above or below a smaller fly?
How do I keep my dropper from slipping off my barbless dry fly? I don't like using separate droppers on the leader.
If I mess up and tie a dry fly with oversized hackle and wings, will it matter?
How many flies of a given pattern will you tie? What is the minimum number?
Is there an easy way to get beads on a size 18 hook?

Direct download: RossPurnell25.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:01pm EST

December 2025