Be Prepared for Medical Emergencies When Fly Fishing, with Mike Tayloe

The Orvis Fly-Fishing Podcast

My guest this week is Mike Tayloe [33:07], who is a fishing guide, EMT, and wilderness medicine trainer. Tayloe (he prefers this to Mike) has trained many Orvis-endorsed guides and lodges on emergencies that you'll encounter on the water. Basically, they're the same emergencies you'll find at home but without the ability to get a rescue squad or ambulance quickly. The bad news is that we can't give you training on wilderness medicine on a podcast. The good news is that Tayloe will tell us how to get training for these emergencies (an online course is not the recommended way to go) and how to put together your own first aid kit so that you are prepared to deal with common medical problems. He goes into great detail on what to include in your kit, and recommends places to either get a complete pre-made kit or where to buy the right components—and the best course is not to buy a cheap kit in a big box store. This podcast, with proper training and a good kit, could save your life or that of a fishing buddy. In the Fly Box this week, we have a number of questions that may answer questions you have had, such as:

• When should I use split shot as an "in-line" rig as opposed to the drop shot method?
• Is it better to use fewer big split shot or a number of smaller ones?
• What can I do with egg yarn other than make egg flies?
• Mayfly nymphs look flat. Why don't we use more flies with a flattened shape?
• Should I cast my streamers upstream, across-stream, or quartering down and swinging?
• Where should I look for striped bass along a marshy shoreline?
• How important is color on emerger flies. Most of the patterns I see imitate the color of the duns but shouldn't we be more concerned with the color of the nymph?
• Why are high-end fly rods more expensive than high-end conventional rods?
• When tying flies, should I tie every size in the right range or should I skip sizes?