Bugs & Beards Podcast

In this episode, Shawn talks with one of his old friends, Drew Pellerin, about a trip they did a few years back to Miami for Peacock Bass.  Drew was raised in the suburban Miami area and has been fishing for the peacock bass for years, but Drew has finally found the excitement of catching them on the fly.  In this show, we discuss the great fishery surrounding the Miami area and the many opportunities to catch multiple species of fish.  By far, this trip was one of Shawn's most memorable fishing trips and one that he looks forward to doing again soon.  One of the great things about this trip is, depending on where you're at, flights to Miami are often very affordable.

For this episode, Shawn and Pat sit down and discuss ways to stay active and fly fishing in the summertime when the water gets too hot for trout.  All trout are cold water species and require much cooler water temps than a lot of other species of fish.  So, as water temps rise in the summer and the flows of most trout streams drop, it becomes more important than ever that we give the trout a break.  The guys discuss some of the things they plan on doing to stay busy on and off the stream this summer while still pursuing the sport they love.

Dave Allbaugh is a regular on the eastern fly tying show scene and is well know for his wet flies.  Dave is a licensed fly fishing guide in Pennsylvania and specializes is swinging wet flies on big water.  In this episode, we dig deep into wet fly fishing and discuss rods, flies, lines, leaders and anything else we can think of dealing with this very productive style of fishing.  I've fished wet flies for 30+ years now and have learned from Dave in this podcast and got a better understanding of some different situations when swinging wets.  I hope this episode gets you thinking and if you don't yet fish wets, you will consider this productive method.  If you are interested in more information on Dave Allbaugh, you can find him at www.wetflywaterguides.com Thanks for listening

In this episode, Shawn brings his dad, Ron, back in the studio as a guest host to sit down with the man that got Shawn and Ron started in the fly fishing lifestyle.  Jack Igou has been a friend of the family for over 30 years and has been a great mentor to the Holsingers.  We take the time to sit down and talk to Jack and find out how Jack got his start with the fly rod and lead that into how he got us into the sport.  Jack has been fishing wet flies nearly 70 years and is a master of the art.  The main reason for this podcast is to take the time to thank the man who has stood by us and mentored us for all these years and to immortalize our stories forever.

We bring Mike Komara back into the studio to sit down and discuss his recent experiences at the 2019 Youth World Championships as one of the captains of Team USA.  We talk about the things we learn from this trip to the Czech Republic and how it differed from Poland the year before.  We were amazed at the different styles of fishing used during the tournament.  Then to finish out the podcast we find out what Mike is up to.  Find out more about Mike on his website, www.fringeflyfishing.com

In this episode, Shawn and Pat sit down to discuss the reasons why they tie their own flies.  There are many reasons to tie your own flies when you get into fly fishing, such as cost savings, understanding what you are imitating better, matching the hatch and others. The guys cover these and share the things they've learned along the way.

In this episode, Shawn brings in a guest co-host who is also his father, Ron to cover for Pat.  Shawn and Ron bring onto the show, this week, one of the guys who was instrumental in getting them into the industry.  Eric Stroup is a long-time fly fisherman and tier in the Central Pennsylvania region.  Eric is well known for some of his patterns like the J-bug and is also an accomplished guide and writer.  We sat down with Eric and discussed some of his history and time in the industry as well as the ups and downs along the way which have led him to where he is at today.  We hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it.

In this episode, we had the pleasure of having Dan Collins in the studio with us to sit down and discuss with us what it took for him to catch at least one trout every day for what ended up being 107 consecutive days.  If you don't know Dan, he is a YouTuber and his channel is called Hardway Outdoors.  He is a recent college grad with a major in Fisheries Biology and knows his stuff.  You can find Dan on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook under Hardway Outdoors.  Thanks for listening.

Shawn and Pat sit down around the mics again and discuss a topic that has changed the way they fish recently.  A lot of people will shy away from fishing in muddy water, but after a day on the water with their friend and mentor Gordon Vanderpool, the guys learned they were missing out on a ton of fishing opportunities.  Shawn and Pat discuss some of the lessons learned that day and the many times afterwards.

Shawn and Pat sit down at the mics to discuss their fishing goals and "bucket list fish".  Anyone who spends a lot of time fishing, has that one fish they are chasing after and dreaming about.  The guys discuss the fish that they dream about and the ones they chased after and caught.