WFS 348 – Fly Fishing Stillwaters & Euro Nymphing with Norman Maktima – High Desert Angler

Show Notes: wetflyswing.com/348

Presented By: Bearvault, LakeLady Custom Rods, Reyr Gear, Zoe Angling Group

Sponsors: wetflyswing.com/sponsors

Norman Maktima, competitive angler from Team USA, shares a number of tips on fly fishing stillwaters, euro nymphing, and casting.

Norman tells us how he fished his way up from the Youth Team to representing Team USA in international competitions.

We discover how to analyze a lake before getting started, how the loch style can be more effective, and also how to fish buggers and leeches.

He also shares a little about his Native American roots which is pretty interesting.

Fly Fishing Stillwaters Show Notes with Norman Maktima

04:26 – Norman currently lives in Rio Rancho, New Mexico – he grew up in a town called Pecos

05:30 – Devin Olsen and Lance Egan were here at WFS 043 and WFS 108

05:30 – Norman started on the USA youth team (1998)

07:15 – Norman listened to one of our recent episodes with Taylor Streit. They were on the same team in 1998. Davie Watton was their assistant coach. They finished 2nd but Norman won the individual gold.

09:45 – Norman became the assistant coach for the youth team in 1999. From there he was asked to compete with the adult team. In 2001, he competed with the adult team for the first time in Slovakia

12:30 – Shoutout to Zach Vandehey – he co-hosted an episode at WFS 212

15:30 – Tip: Look for those high points – ridge lines that create a nice underwater point.

17:10 – They did all their National competitions on stillwater – Lava Lake, Crane Perry

23:40 – Pop’s Bugger and Humongous are Norman’s go-to flies

30:30 – Norman breaks down his competition setup – they fish 6, 7, or 8 wt, 10-foot rods. They’re not allowed to stand on the boat.

31:00 – Norman talks about his pull and retrieve techniques

39:20 – He’s got 12 extra spools. Airflo is one of his favorite fly lines.

41:45 – He explains why their boats should move perpendicular to the wind

46:00 – Drift sock prevents you from struggling to keep contact with your flies as you’re retrieving

50:30 – Tip: On the boat, take a towel and get it damped – lay it down like a casting platform to have a clean surface to cast

51:10 – Tip: Keep your head on the swivel – always look around

58:55 – We mentioned some good resources for fly fishing stillwaters like Phil Rowley and Brian Chan’s book

59:50 – Lance Egan and the Fly Fish Food crew are great resources for video tying tutorials

1:02:00 – Norman’s favorite pattern is the Humungous (size 10 hook). Enter your Top Fly here and get a chance to win a box of flies from JH Fly Co

1:07:50 – Norman came from the indigenous people in the South West

1:10:50 – We had Matt Shilling from Indifly recently on the podcast. Norman mentioned the film by Patagonia called, Tribal Waters – watch that film below 👇🏻👇🏻

1:15:30 – Supaman HipHop also came from a Native American culture – a great influence on his music

1:16:50 – Norman shares a bunch of tips on Euro nymphing, casting, and leader setup

1:21:00 – You can get one of Norman’s original flies at Umpqua Feather Merchants – HDA Fav Variant

1:22:00 – We hear a tip on keeping the distance between your flies, dropper and point fly

Show Notes: wetflyswing.com/348