Our destination is the legendary Missouri River near Craig, Montana, one of the most technically challenging rivers in the West. Joining me is guide, author, photographer, Marine Corps vet, and adjunct professor, Micah Fields, who unpacks his playbook for dry-fly headhunting, the quirks of Holter dam, and the art of reading a river that fishes like a giant spring creek.

Plus, hear about Montana’s highly selective “Guiding for the Future” program and why it matters for the rivers we love, MRE’s and chickens in Helmand Province, and an encounter with the great John Geirach. Stick around to the end for Mica’s favorite shore lunch – you will be drooling over this one! Get out the chalk board as we talk serious X’s and O’s on technical fly fishing with Micah.

With host Steve Haigh

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Contact Micah: Micah guides for Montana Fishing Outfitters and Mountain Prairie outfitters. You can find Micah’s book, We Hold Our Breath, here.

Destination Angler Podcast:

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TroutRoutes

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Comments & Suggestions: host, Steve Haigh, email shaigh@DestinationAnglerPodcast.com

Available on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Recorded July 22, 2025

Our destination is the massive Upper Columbia River in southeastern British Columbia, with football-field-sized back eddies, hydraulics that'll flip drift boats, and rainbow trout that'll bend your rod like a bonefish. Joining me is veteran guide, Kelly Laatsch, general manager of St. Mary's Angler, Cranbrook, BC, who's spent three decades mastering these waters.

Today, Kelly opens his playbook, sharing secrets on fly fishing extreme hydraulics, why a single-fly rigs is a good strategy, and pointers on guiding men vs women. We'll also touch on BC’s legendary Elk, St. Mary, and Skookumchuck rivers, plus Argentina’s trout paradise. Stick around for a wild story of 400-pound sturgeon—and an unforgettable first date.

With host Steve Haigh

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Contact Kelly: https://www.stmaryangler.com/ Instagram @stmaryanglerflyshop Facebook @StMaryAnglerBC

Destination Angler Podcast:

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TroutRoutes

Podcast listeners can try one month of TroutRoutes PRO for FREE by clicking the link in the episode description. Explore your water with TroutRoutes today. Get 1 Month Free

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Adamsbuilt Fishing

THE trusted source for quality fly fishing gear, built to last at an affordable price. Waders, Nets, Outerwear.

Facebook & Instagram @Adamsbuilt

Got Fishing

Crafting world-class fly-fishing adventures specially designed to your level of experience and budget.

Facebook @GotFishingAdventures Instagram @GotFishing

High N Dry Fishing

Where science and performance meet. Check out the full lineup of Floatants, Line Dressings, and Sighter Waxes at www.highndryfishingproducts.com

Facebook @highndryfishingproducts | Instagram @highndryfishing

Comments & Suggestions: host, Steve Haigh, email shaigh@DestinationAnglerPodcast.com

Available on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Recorded July 10, 2025

Our destination are the technical trout waters of the Truckee River with Mike Anderson, head guide at the Reno Fly Shop. Mike gives us a detailed rundown of the Truckee, along with stories of ornery wild horses, giant browns, and a trout so big it scared the pants off a client. As a bonus, we dive into the legendary Pyramid Lake—home to monster Lahontan Cutthroat trout and one of the best shots at a 10+ pound trout in the lower 48.

With host Steve Haigh

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Contact Mike: https://renoflyshop.com/

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High N Dry Fishing

Where science and performance meet. Check out the full lineup of liquid floatants, desiccants, and gels at www.highndryfishingproducts.com

Facebook @highndryfishingproducts | Instagram @highndryfishing

TroutRoutes

Podcast listeners can try one month of TroutRoutes PRO for FREE by clicking the link in the episode description. Explore your water with TroutRoutes today. Get 1 Month Free

Facebook @troutinsights Instagram @TroutRoutes

Adamsbuilt Fishing

THE trusted source for quality fly fishing gear, built to last at an affordable price. Waders, Nets, Outerwear.

Facebook & Instagram @Adamsbuilt

Got Fishing

Crafting world-class fly-fishing adventures specially designed to your level of experience and budget.

Facebook @GotFishingAdventures Instagram @GotFishing

Comments & Suggestions: host, Steve Haigh, email shaigh@DestinationAnglerPodcast.com

Available on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Recorded June 3, 2025

Our destination is the remote backcountry of Bristol Bay, Alaska—where the bears are fat, the rainbows are wild, and the guides row, cook, clean, and occasionally yank a size 8 hook out of their own finger. Joining me is Zach Nemelka with Hooked on Alaska. Zach grew up in Utah, but has been coming to Alaska since he was 5. After a stint in college, he moved for Alaska to specialize in multi-day backcountry float trips for giant rainbow trout.

What’s it like to float 60 miles of wilderness chasing trophy rainbows, dodge 1,000-pound Alaskan brown bears, and endure the wild weather makes Alaska, Alaska? Stick around for a too close for comfort bear charge, a 60-fish day, and the tale of “Jules”—a 28-inch rainbow with a Dalai Lama stuck in his lip.

With host Steve Haigh

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Contact Zach: https://hookedonalaska.net/

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Got Fishing

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Facebook @GotFishingAdventures Instagram @GotFishing

TroutRoutes

Podcast listeners can try one month of TroutRoutes PRO for FREE by clicking the link in the episode description. Explore your water with TroutRoutes today. Get 1 Month Free

Facebook @troutinsights Instagram @TroutRoutes

Adamsbuilt Fishing

THE trusted source for quality fly fishing gear, built to last at an affordable price. Waders, Nets, Outerwear.

Facebook & Instagram @Adamsbuilt

Comments & Suggestions: host, Steve Haigh, email shaigh@DestinationAnglerPodcast.com

Available on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Recorded June 17, 2025

Our destination is the legendary South Fork of the Snake River, a world-famous Blue-Ribbon fishery in eastern Idaho. Joining me is Sage Unsworth, regional fisheries biologist, expert angler, and fifth-gen Idahoan, who gives us the skinny on the South Fork from top to bottom covering the top sections anglers need to know about, selective trout strategies, and the science behind fish counts. Also, the controversial rainbow trout management program to conserve Yellowstone cutthroat, stories of squirrel-induced starvation, the dos and don’ts of fish handling, and why you can’t be a jerk as a fisheries biologist.

With host, Steve Haigh

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Contact Sage: Sage.Unsworth@idfg.idaho.gov

Destination Angler Podcast:

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Facebook @troutinsights Instagram @TroutRoutes

Adamsbuilt Fishing

THE trusted source for quality fly fishing gear, built to last at an affordable price. Waders, Nets, Outerwear.

Facebook & Instagram @Adamsbuilt

Got Fishing

Crafting world-class fly-fishing adventures specially designed to your level of experience and budget.

Facebook @GotFishingAdventures Instagram @GotFishing

TroutRoutes

Podcast listeners can try one month of TroutRoutes PRO for FREE by clicking the link in the episode description. Explore your water with TroutRoutes today. Get 1 Month Free

Comments & Suggestions: host, Steve Haigh, email shaigh@DestinationAnglerPodcast.com

Available on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Recorded May 29, 2025

Our destination is Abell Ranch, a 1,500-acre slice of trout heaven on Colorado’s South Platte River with former guide and fifth-generation Coloradan, Clint Packo, who just might have the coolest job around: running Abell, restoring trout streams, and brokering some of the West’s most iconic ranches.

Abell is known for its three miles of gin-clear water, rare solitude, and some of the best hopper fishing in the state. Along the way, we tackle big questions—like how do you design a trout stream? And who drops $38 million on a ranch…and actually makes it work? Stick around to the end for a wild story involving a tarpon, a blacktip shark, and a few unexpected cartwheels.

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Contact Clint: Freestone Aquatics | Abell Ranch | Confluence Land Company

Destination Angler Podcast:

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Facebook @troutinsights Instagram @TroutRoutes

TroutRoutes

Podcast listeners can try one month of TroutRoutes PRO for FREE by clicking the link in the episode description. Explore your water with TroutRoutes today. Get 1 Month Free

Adamsbuilt Fishing

THE trusted source for quality fly fishing gear, built to last at an affordable price. Waders, Nets, Outerwear.

Facebook & Instagram @Adamsbuilt

Got Fishing

Crafting world-class fly-fishing adventures specially designed to your level of experience and budget.

Facebook @GotFishingAdventures Instagram @GotFishing

Comments & Suggestions: host, Steve Haigh, email shaigh@DestinationAnglerPodcast.com

Available on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Recorded May 13, 2025

Our destination is the fabled Smith River with Evan Youngblood, Livingston, Montana. The Smith is a remote, permit-only float in central Montana that offers fly anglers a truly unforgettable multi-day experience. Winding through a stunning limestone canyon, the river holds healthy populations of eager wild brown and rainbow trout.

Evan unravels the mysteries of fly fishing success on the Smith and explains why anglers covet an opportunity to float this remote 59-mile beauty. A great storyteller, Evan regales us with tales of stack mends, groover duty, and peregrine falcons as only a seasoned guide could tell.

First published in May 2020.

With host Steve Haigh.

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Destination Angler Podcast:

• Website

• YouTube

• Instagram & Facebook @DestinationAnglerPodcast

Please check out our Sponsors:

Facebook @troutinsights Instagram @TroutRoutes

Got Fishing

Crafting world-class fly-fishing adventures specially designed to your level of experience and budget.

Facebook @GotFishingAdventures Instagram @GotFishing

TroutRoutes

Podcast listeners can try one month of TroutRoutes PRO for FREE by clicking the link in the episode description. Explore your water with TroutRoutes today. Get 1 Month Free

Adamsbuilt Fishing

THE trusted source for quality fly fishing gear, built to last at an affordable price. Waders, Nets, Outerwear.

Facebook & Instagram @Adamsbuilt

Comments & Suggestions: host, Steve Haigh, email shaigh@DestinationAnglerPodcast.com

Available on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Recorded May 12, 2020

Episode 143 of the Destination Angler Fly Fishing Podcast – May 8, 2025

Our destination is SW Montana and Yellowstone country veteran outfitter and dry fly aficionado, Walter Wiese, Yellowstone Country Fly Fishing, Livingston, Montana. We explore the aftermath of the massive 2022 flood and how it’s changed—or not—some of the most iconic rivers in the West, like the Yellowstone, Lamar, and Slough Creek, the Madison, Gallatin, and more. Which ones bounced back? Which ones are still healing? And what can you expect if you go? Along the way, he shares dry fly wisdom, his own go-to patterns, and hot tips on indicator fishing. Plus, stories of salmon fly eating grizzlies, swimming buffalos, and a client you can’t believe.

With host, Steve Haigh

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Contact Walter: https://flyfishmontana.biz/ |Facebook @ycflyfishing Instagram @yellowstonecountryflyfishing | YouTube @YellowstoneCountryFlyFishing

Destination Angler Podcast:

• Website
• YouTube
• Instagram & Facebook @DestinationAnglerPodcast

Please check out our Sponsors:

Facebook @troutinsights Instagram @TroutRoutes

Adamsbuilt Fishing

THE trusted source for quality fly fishing gear, built to last at an affordable price. Waders, Nets, Outerwear.

Facebook & Instagram @Adamsbuilt

Got Fishing

Crafting world-class fly-fishing adventures specially designed to your level of experience and budget.

Facebook @GotFishingAdventures Instagram @GotFishing

TroutRoutes

Podcast listeners can try one month of TroutRoutes PRO for FREE by clicking the link in the episode description. Explore your water with TroutRoutes today. Get 1 Month Free

Comments & Suggestions: host, Steve Haigh, email shaigh@DestinationAnglerPodcast.com

Available on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Recorded March 27, 2025