Every time you head into the backcountry, there's a chance things could go wrong. No matter how experienced you are, how much training you have, or how long you've been fly fishing in the wilderness, you could find yourself in trouble out there. If that day ever comes, you'll be incredibly grateful for the amazing folks on your local search and rescue team.

One of those wonderful folks, Dave Arnett from Douglas County Search and Rescue in Colorado, joins Ross on this episode to give you an inside look at a search and rescue team. Dave also provides tips and information that could save your life if you ever do find yourself in a bad situation.

We are immensely grateful for Dave's work and the work of all wilderness search and rescue teams. THANK YOU for all you do to keep us safe as we chase beautiful fish in wild places.

There's a lot of stuff you don't know about backcountry fly fishing (or fly fishing in general), and in many cases, you may not even know you don't know it. That's true for every fly angler, no matter how many years you have under your belt. Perhaps the greatest thing about this sport is that it's all about constant learning.

In this episode, Ross provides ten tips that you probably didn't know you needed, but that could help you have a better, more successful day on the water the next time you decide to hit the trail or hop in the stream.

Don't forget your meat thermometer!

Everybody needs good gear, and that means everybody needs a good fly shop. Plus, it's always fun to have someplace to talk with other fly fishers, get some helpful advice, and maybe spend a little too much money on this crazy hobby we all love.

In this episode, Patrick Srebniak from AvidMax, a national online fly shop based in Denver, talks to us about how to find your shop and get geared up for a great time on the water. Whether you're hitting the backcountry, driving to your local stream for the first time, or looking for some obscure feathers for your latest fly pattern, this episode will help you think through where to get the stuff you need for the sport you love.

Backcountry fly fishing, by necessity, requires a lot of hiking. Your legs are the primary vehicle you'll use to access the wild places we love to fish, and that means it pays to know how to be a good hiker.

In this episode, Maggie Peikon from the American Hiking Society joins us to talk about what to bring, how to stay safe, how to share the trail, how to deal with wildlife, and various other topics that will help elevate your hiking game.

If you want to learn more about AHS and their amazing work, or if you want to get involved (and you should), you can visit the organization's website at https://americanhiking.org/.

Fall has officially arrived! It's definitely not time to stop fly fishing, but the arrival of changing leaves and cooler weather does require some changes in where and how we fish after a beautiful, long summer of hiking to various alpine lakes and other high-elevation locales.

In this episode, Ross walks you through how to stay on the water through the first month of autumn and have an absolute blast banging fish on your favorite backcountry creeks. If you're a small-stream aficionado, you're going to like this one.

In this episode, Colorado Parks and Wildlife aquatic biologists Ben Swigle and Gage Dean join Ross to discuss their work with and management of high-alpine lakes in Colorado's wilderness areas. They discuss the history and current state of alpine stocking programs, how CPW backcountry teams survey these lakes, competition between native and non-native species, fishing tips, and how anglers can go about finding, researching, and accessing these incredibly beautiful places.

If you're interested in high-alpine fishing for cutthroats (or anything else), this is the episode for you.

Gear is one thing, but what about clothing and apparel? It can be very difficult to find good information about what you should wear for backcountry fly fishing, which sets you up for a frustrating (and expensive) trial-and-error approach.

In this episode, Ross walks you through what he wears for wilderness fly fishing trips in the summer and fall.

What do you need for a backcountry fly fishing trip? What should you carry? What should you leave behind? In this episode, Ross walks you through what he carries for day trips into the wilderness.