The Deep Wade Podcast

Oct 14 2024 5 ep. 77 mins 7
The Deep Wade Podcast artwork

An in-depth podcast devoted to educating people about the latest fisheries and watershed science, a shared passion for fly angling, and their intersection and combined implications for conservation in a rapidly changing world. Tune in for monthly deep-dives into all things fish and fishing, along with monthly bonus episodes focused on topical issues and interviews with expert scientists and anglers. 

  Science  Education  Sports
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Hardcore History of Salmon with Bill McMillan

Oct 14 2024 82 mins  
This week, we repost an episode from the former Barbless podcast where I interview my father, Bill McMillan. We discuss the hardcore history of salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River and take listeners back in time to the mid-1800s through the early 1900s. how many salmon and steelhead were in the Columbia back then? How large were they? How early were they depleted? Tune in fo

Introduction to the podcast and the traits that make each salmonid unique

Sep 30 2024 171 mins  
In this episode John and Nick kick off The Deep Wade with a discussion about their background in science, fishing, and conservation, and what makes different species of salmon, trout, and char stand out from one another. They take a deep dive into each species' strengths and how those evolutionary traits undergird their success in Nature -- such as diversity in steelhead, large bod

To set the hook or not when swinging flies for steelhead?

Sep 14 2024 45 mins  
In this episode John and Nick discuss whether they set the hook when swinging flies for steelhead and why. There are many facets to hooking and landing steelhead, and setting the hook is one of the more divisive topics. They both agree, however, that they almost always set the hook. They take a deep dive into why they share the same strategy, and as John notes, based on his data fr

Steelhead and their astonishing life history diversity

Aug 23 2024 46 mins  
This is a repeat episode from John's Barbless podcast back in 2020.Original description: In this episode, John breaks down the remarkable life history diversity of steelhead, including the benefits of rainbow trout, using very simple language to expand upon a very complex topic. His analogies and metaphors, such as what Danny DeVito, Ah'nold, and the Mountain have in common with O.

Making sense of water temperature, steelhead, and implications for swinging flies

Aug 08 2024 41 mins  
This is a repeat of John McMillan's first Barbless Podcast episode on water temperature, steelhead, and how and why water temperature is critical to swinging flies.Original description from 2020: Winter steelhead season is almost upon us, and with it come colder water temperatures and higher stream flows. Water temperature is considered the master variable for salmon, steelhead and