Our destination is Canada’s Lake Superior Marine Conservation Area for giant coaster brook trout—3,800 square miles of crystal-clear water and steep, rocky drop-offs hiding the biggest brook trout on earth. Joining me is author, guide, and Great Lakes expert Jerry Darkes, who gives us a whirlwind tour of fly fishing the Great Lakes and a deep dive into where, how, and when to find these genetically supercharged brookies.

Jerry’s been fishing the Great Lakes for 50 years and this remote area for 15. Today he shares his strategies on sinking lines and tag-teaming for big fish, plus top flies and the logistics of getting there. And as a bonus, Jerry dishes out smallmouth hotspots, flats fishing for carp, and even lake trout and pike bulldogging in the shallows.

With host Steve Haigh

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Contact Jerry:

https://jerrydarkes.com/

Instagram @jerrydarkes Facebook @jerry.darkes

Destination Angler Podcast:

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TroutRoutes

The #1 Mapping Resource for Trout Anglers. Podcast listeners can try one month of TroutRoutes PRO for FREE by clicking the link in the episode description. Explore 50,000 trout streams with TroutRoutes today. Get 1 Month Free

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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

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 Sep 10, 2025

Our destination is Big Pine Creek in the remote “Dark Skies” region of Pennsylvania. Joining me is expert fly angler, Ethan Albright, a reformed diesel mechanic who traded wrenches for fly rods and is now head guide at Slate Run Tackle Shop. Ethan gives us the low down on the numerous creeks and rivers in the area and shares stories of black bears and rattlesnakes, stargazing and remote living, triple-digit days and 25" brown trout.

Bonus: stick around for a great story from a listener of a close encounter with a bear in Alaska.

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Contact Ethan:

Slate Run Tackle Shop | 570-753-8551 | wolfesgeneralstore@yahoo.com

Instagram @slateruntackleshop Facebook @WolfesGeneralStore/

Destination Angler Podcast:

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• Instagram & Facebook @DestinationAnglerPodcast

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Got Fishing

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

Facebook @GotFishingAdventures Instagram @GotFishing

TroutRoutes

The #1 Mapping Resource for Trout Anglers. Podcast listeners can try one month of TroutRoutes PRO for FREE by clicking the link in the episode description. Explore 50,000 trout streams with TroutRoutes today. Get 1 Month Free

Facebook @troutinsights Instagram @TroutRoutes

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 Aug 28, 2025

Our destination is the hidden fly fishing paradise of Tasmania— that far-flung island at the bottom of the world with beautiful lakes and trout that can top 20 pounds – with industry icon and fly fishing legend, Jack Dennis.

Jack opened one of the most iconic fly shops in America in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He’s produced best-selling books and videos, helped launch Team USA Fly Fishing, and co-founded the Jackson Hole One Fly. He’s fished and filmed all over the world and has guided everyone from President Ford and Harrison Ford, to Denny Crum and John Wooden, and half of Hollywood. Hear wild tales of a 27-pound brown, hot dogs with Indiana Jones, and why Tasmania was his wife’s all-time favorite fly fishing trip.

With host Steve Haigh

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Destination Angler Podcast:

• Website
• YouTube
• Instagram & Facebook @DestinationAnglerPodcast

Please check out our Sponsors:

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

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

Facebook @troutinsights | Instagram @TroutRoutes

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

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

Recorded Aug 7, 2025

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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Adamsbuilt Fishing

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

Facebook & Instagram @Adamsbuilt

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

Got Fishing

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

Facebook @GotFishingAdventures Instagram @GotFishing

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

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.

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

Destination Angler Podcast:

• Website
• YouTube
• Instagram & Facebook @DestinationAnglerPodcast

Please check out our Sponsors:

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

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/

Destination Angler Podcast:

• Website
• YouTube
• Instagram & Facebook @DestinationAnglerPodcast

Please check out our Sponsors:

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/

Destination Angler Podcast:

• Website
• YouTube
• Instagram & Facebook @DestinationAnglerPodcast

Please check out our Sponsors:

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

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:

• 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 May 29, 2025