Only Fins Fly Fishing Podcast - Ep. 2

Toby:
Hi, I’m Toby Swank, here with my son Alex.

Alex:
Hi, I’m Alex. Welcome to the podcast.

Toby:
We run a fly fishing outfitting business in Bozeman called Fins and Feathers Guide Service. I started it years ago, and Alex joined more recently. This podcast is about our stories and insights into fly fishing and the life around it.

Alex:
We’ve been fishing a lot on our local rivers lately. It’s early spring in southwest Montana, so we’ve been doing a lot of nymph fishing—mostly attractor patterns, classic nymphs, and small mayfly patterns.

When conditions line up, we’ve also been fishing dries. Midges have been coming off on warmer days, and we’re starting to look ahead to the next hatches.

Toby:
We made the drive down to Thermopolis and went through some rough weather, but I’m excited to fish here again with you and our buddy Jasper.

We’ll be fishing the Wind River Canyon. It’s always a great experience—beautiful scenery, strong fishing, and excellent guides.

This place brings back a lot of memories. The last time we were here was right before I sold the fly shop.

Alex:
Yeah, I remember that.

Toby:
I was excited—not just because the fishing was good, but because I knew I was about to step away from the shop.

Alex:
It also reminds me of our first trip here.

Toby:
That was a good one. I fished with your mom during the day, and you and Matthew were downstream.

Alex:
Then that evening, we went out to wade fish.

Toby:
That’s right. We tried to cross to an island.

Alex:
And it was deeper than expected.

Toby:
Halfway across, it became clear we were going to swim.

Alex:
We were wet wading, moving fast, and didn’t think much about it. I had a few essentials in my pocket—including the car keys.

Toby:
Unsecured.

Alex:
Yes. Unsecured.

Toby:
We made it across, started fishing, and realized we needed to adjust rigs.

Alex:
I reached into my pocket and immediately knew something was wrong.

Toby:
That look said everything.

Alex:
No keys.

Toby:
At that point, we stopped fishing and headed back.

Alex:
It was dark, no cell service, and we were stuck.

Toby:
You were trying to figure out what to do. I’ve been in enough situations like that to know we’d find a solution.

Alex:
We ended up finding the campground host, who had just enough signal for us to make a call.

Toby:
We called a friend, had him track down a locksmith, and eventually got help.

Alex:
It turned into a long night—locksmith, alarms going off, people yelling.

Toby:
And your first ride in a cop car.

Alex:
Meanwhile, the rest of the family wasn’t even concerned.

Toby:
Not at all.

Toby:
Fast forward to today—we fished the Wind River. It was a challenging day. Snow, wind, shifting conditions.

But we made it work.

Jasper, we’ve been fishing together for years. Do you remember when we first met?

Jasper:
Yeah, I was early in my guiding career. I’m from Lander, Wyoming.

Toby:
How did you end up guiding here?

Jasper:
I was guiding in South America and met someone connected to this operation. That led me here.

Toby:
So Lander to Patagonia to Thermopolis.

Jasper:
Exactly.

Toby:
How did you get into fishing?

Jasper:
I got my first fly rod as a kid and caught a salmon on my first day. That was it.

Toby:
Fishing takes you to incredible places. That’s what keeps me hooked. There’s something about water—it feels like exploring another world.

Alex:
It’s unfamiliar, but also something you can learn and understand.

Toby:
We were talking earlier about nymphing versus other techniques. For me, nymphing is more than watching an indicator. It’s about understanding current, weight, presentation, insect life, and fish behavior.

Alex:
That’s what makes it so engaging. You’re constantly chasing the perfect presentation—depth, drift, fly choice.

There’s a lot more going on below the surface than people realize.

Toby:
Exactly. With dry flies, you’re matching what you see. With nymphing, you’re trying to match a much broader range of possibilities.

Alex:
And figuring that out is part of the challenge.

Toby:
At the end of the day, though, placement matters most. Where you put the fly is more important than what fly you use.

Alex:
Today was a good example. Conditions were tough, but we still found fish by adjusting where and how we fished.

Toby:
We saw fish holding in slower, deeper water early, then moving as conditions changed.

Alex:
And later, we started moving fish in shallower water with streamers.

Toby:
We also saw a good mix of fish today.

Alex:
Is that typical here?

Jasper:
It varies. Some days it leans one way, some days the other. But it’s a healthy fishery with strong opportunities for big fish.

Toby:
That’s one thing that stands out here—the size of fish.

Jasper:
Yes, both species can get large, but landing them is another story.

Toby:
Compared to home, fish of that size are rare.

Alex:
Here, they’re more attainable—but still challenging.

Toby:
Another interesting thing about this river is access. Your company has unique access through the canyon.

Jasper:
It gives a different perspective, but it’s not easy water. It’s technical and demands effort.

Toby:
Low pressure doesn’t mean easy fishing.

Jasper:
Exactly. You still have to put in the work.

Toby:
Before we wrap up, I’ll share something I learned from years in the fly shop.

People walk in thinking they understand what they need, but there are always small details they miss.

One example—during peak season, if you see empty bins where certain flies should be, there’s a reason.

The guides bought them all that morning.

Those are the flies you want.