Free field guide

Trout won't bite? You're fishing too high.

One rule, one $2 rig and a season chart that put your fly where trout actually feed.

Get the free guide

They're eating. Just not where your fly is.

Most of what a trout eats drifts underwater, close to the bottom, where the current runs slower. Change flies all day and you'll still miss them. Change your depth and the day changes.

What most anglers do

Fish the top foot of water, swap patterns every ten minutes and blame the weather.

What works

A $2 pack of split shot, the 1.5x indicator rule and a drift that ticks the bottom.

Page 3 of the cheat sheet: the split-shot rig diagram and indicator depth table

Six pages you'll take to the river.

Before you cast

  • The depth rule and the test that tells you if you're deep enough
  • The $2 rig with a cheat table for indicator depth
  • Reading water: runs, pools, pockets, seams and banks

On the water

  • Season and temperature chart for all four seasons
  • Troubleshooting for no bites, snags and missed strikes
  • Pre-trip checklist so you're never at the wrong depth
Get the free guide Free PDF, instant download.

Pull up a chair.

I'm Julius. On my channel I break down the simple, old-school fixes that turn a quiet day on the river into a bent rod. No expensive gear and no secret flies, just the right thing in the right place.

"If you never touch the bottom, you're not deep enough."
Watch the channel on YouTube

Julius is an AI-generated presenter. The techniques he shares are standard, field-tested fly-fishing practice.

Julius Fedman, an older angler with a white beard and a fishing vest, in his fly shop
The Old Guide's Trout Playbook, a 76-page PDF guide
The complete guide

The Old Guide's Trout Playbook

Everything in the cheat sheet taken all the way: how trout think, rigs for every kind of water, knots, a 12-fly box and a plan for every month of the year.

76pages
14chapters
51diagrams
184sources cited
$27.99One-time, instant PDF
Get the Playbook

Stop fishing over their heads.

Free, instant, and small enough to keep in your fly box.

Get the free guide