Don't Play The Fly-Fishing Game By Someone Else's Rules, with Thi Nguyen

My guest this week is philosophy professor and fly fisher Thi Nguyen [33:31], who has spent his career studying the psychology and the value of games to our mental well-being. He argues that fly fishing is not one game but an infinite number of games that can be played by rules that we invent to challenge ourselves. And you might even change your rules within a single day of fishing. This podcast and my discussions with him have changed the way I view and teach fly fishing and I hope the interview will be equally fascinating to you. The Fly Box this week has some interesting tips and questions. Perhaps not as thought-provoking but still interesting, and I hope helpful. Will a premium rod magnify my casting mistakes? Will my 4-weight Helios handle brown trout over 20 inches? Can you elaborate on why someone would want to use two indicators and how to set them up? Will my nymphs sink better with 12-pound fluorocarbon or with lighter tippet? I am confused by the differences in hook sizes recommended for various diameters of beads. They don't seem consistent. Can you help? A tip for using paper key tags to learn to identify various flies A tip for using parachute cord to eliminate the loss of small items Why do I see bugs under rocks in one part of a river and not in another?

You can listen to Don't Play The Fly-Fishing Game By Someone Else's Rules, with Thi Nguyen online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Don't Play The Fly-Fishing Game By Someone Else's Rules, with Thi Nguyen is an episode from The Orvis Fly-Fishing Podcast by James Hathaway.

This episode is 01:26:15 long.

This episode was published on Jan 26, 2026.

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