What Do Distilling Bourbon and Fishing Have in Common and Other Top Stories from Fishing on SI

These 3 stories captured our Sports Illustrated fishing reader’s attention on Fishing on SI this past week.

What Fishing Taught Master Distiller Eddie Russell About Bourbon; How I Trigger Trout to Bite When Nothing Else Is Working; Is the YETI Roadie 8 the Perfect Cooler for Anglers? | Kyle Niego | Ken Baldwin | Justin Hoffman

In case they slipped by you, following are the most read fishing stories of the week: What Fishing Taught Master Distiller Eddie Russell About Bourbon; How I Trigger Trout to Bite When Nothing Else Is Working; Is the YETI Roadie 8 the Perfect Cooler for Anglers?

1.) What Fishing Taught Master Distiller Eddie Russell About Bourbon

Eddie Russell searches for trout on Montana’s Gallatin River, where finding the right spot proved just as important as it is back home in a Kentucky rickhouse. | Kyle Niego, @kyleniego

Eddie Russell missed the first fish that hit his fly on Montana’s legendary Gallatin River that day.

“I was still fishing like I was trying to catch a bass,” the Wild Turkey master distiller confessed back at the lodge. We laughed together about it because I had missed my first fish for the same reason.

After decades perfecting your hookset, swinging hard and fast gets wired in. The reaction doesn’t just disappear because you’re holding a nine-foot fly rod. But both of these ol’ bassin’ guys managed to calm down enough to enjoy a successful day of fly fishing for trout.

By late morning Eddie’s group had left their “warmup” stretch for a classic deep pool with bigger rocks and rapids at both ends. “The perfect little spot,” Eddie said.

Sure enough, that spot produced the biggest fish of the trip…GET THE REST OF THE STORY HERE.

2.) How I Trigger Trout to Bite When Nothing Else Is Working

I pulled this trout from deeper water with a black rabbit-fur streamer. | Photo provided by Ken Baldwin

There will be days when you are fly fishing for trout, and the fish aren't biting what you are throwing. You can jump back and forth between different nymphs and dry flies and still come up empty.

When this happens, I fall back on a technique conventional bass anglers use to efficiently find feeding fish or trigger a strike from non-feeding fish.

Bass anglers use "search baits" to cover water quickly and find an active fish. A search bait is a lure that does three things. It covers a lot of water efficiently, presents at a selected depth, and gets a detectable response. Once the angler finds an active fish, they slow down and work the area more thoroughly. If nothing happens after a few casts, they move on to actively search more water.

You can do the same thing in fly fishing with a streamer…GET THE REST OF THE STORY HERE.

3.) Is the YETI Roadie 8 the Perfect Cooler for Anglers?

Keep food and drinks ice cold on those solo and single day fishing trips. | Justin Hoffman

A good quality cooler, either on the bank or in the boat, is paramount for making the most of your fishing day. Even if the bass aren't biting, knowing a fresh sandwich or ice cold soda is readily available lessens the sting of defeat and ensures the outing is still a great one.

There are literally hundreds of coolers on the market, all promising the same thing—to keep your meals, snacks, and drinks chilled and ready to go. But do they all live up to the hype?

I had the opportunity to field test the new YETI Roadie 8 Hard Cooler this summer, putting it through its paces on close to two dozen trips. And I fished on the hottest days to see if this latest release from YETI would give me the performance I demand from a cooler…GET THE REST OF THE STORY HERE.