Who Owns the River, with Beau Beasley

The Orvis Fly-Fishing Podcast

Who owns the banks of a river? Who owns the bottom? Who owns the water that flows through a channel? And what defines whether a river is navigable or not? There are often no easy answer to theses questions, and much of it is determined on a state-by-state basis. Beau Beasley [35:27] has spent years looking at specific cases of access controversies, and some of you may not like what he says because he often comes down on the side of a landowner who prohibits access to a piece of river. But Beau looks at the facts and the law and approaches these issues in an objective manner. It's a fascinating discussion. In the Fly Box this week, we have some comments, a bunch of tips, and some tricky questions, including:

• Will I find steelhead in the same places I find resident rainbows?
• How much time do you spend swinging a run for steelhead before moving on?
• A listener makes a case for the positive cost/benefit ratio of fishing with a guide.
• How much can a fly rod bend before breaking?
• Do trout seem to have an affinity for one color of nymph over another?
• How long does a frightened fish stay spooked? And do hatchery fish differ from wild fish in this respect?
• If you use a barbless hook on a two nymph rig and attach the bottom fly to the bend, how do you alleviate the problem of losing the lower fly and tippet?
• Do you fish a streamer in the same way you would fish a spinning lure?
• How can I get smaller nymphs down into very deep, fast pockets in a river?
• What would I consider the best roll-casting rod Orvis makes?
• Do you have any tricks for hooking fish on a direct downstream presentation?