March 30, 2026
By Fly Fisherman Staff
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Dusty Wissmath is a fly-fishing instructor, author, and travel host based in Pennsylvania’s Cumberland Valley. He teaches with TCO Fly Shops, Orvis at Allenberry Resort, and the Wulff School. With 30-plus years of experience, he’s also a climber and outdoorsman, currently writing a book on fly-casting body mechanics.
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Truncated transcript:
00:00:00.260 --> 00:00:20.480: When you're, when you're fly fishing and you're totally in the flow state, you're not worried about deadlines tomorrow or stuff your wife said or any family problems or bills. I mean, you're not worried about anything. It's just like, it's the all-consuming thing that just like takes over your mind. I love it.
00:00:20.480 --> 00:01:05.140: And how lucky we are to have something like that, you know, that, that the thing that I've, I feel about fly fishing too is that I've gotten older, I've, I've gotten out of climbing, or at least the level of climbing I was able to do when I was younger. But I find in, in fly fishing, I can still push my limits. You know, whether it's the, the quarry that I'm chasing or the presentation I try to make or as, as you and I probably both experienced a couple of weeks ago in Chile, the conditions that you're, you're trying to fish under, you could still push it. And it's always fun, I think, to be able to push your own limits.
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00:02:04.201 --> 00:02:31.061: Hi, I'm Ross Purnell, editor and publisher of Fly Fisherman magazine. Welcome to Loop to Loop, where we make deeper connections with the people behind the magazine. Our guest today is Dusty Wissmath. We have been friends and acquaintances for a long, long time, but we've never really had a chance to sit down and have a big conversation like this so thank you for agreeing to come into the studio and have a chat.
00:02:31.061 --> 00:02:59.842: Ross, it's a pleasure. Thank you for inviting me. I guess some of the earliest guy ... I, I, I'm pretty sure I first ran into you at TCO Fly Shop. Probably so. Years ago or maybe at the shows and stuff like that, but you and I both have a background in rock climbing and fishing, so there's always been lots to talk about. There is. We never run out of things. It's always fun to meet somebody that shares that kind of background.
00:02:59.842 --> 00:03:22.822: The crossover between climbing and fly fishing has always astounded me. There's, like, everybody knows there's, there's a crossover between a lot of things. Sure. But I mean, there's a pretty big group of people who f- are really into fly fishing who also enjoy the mountains and mountaineering and climbing. It just seems to go hand in hand for me.
00:03:22.822 --> 00:04:00.422: I think you're right. It always, it, it, it always did for me too, Ross. I think ... And I've, I've thought about this a couple of times, why, why that is. And, and for me at least, when I was really active in the climbing world, when I lived in Wyoming and, and you know, when you're pushing a new route or when you're on an established route that's pushing your own limits, it can be rather stressful. And, you know, you kind of feel that you're, you're on the edge. And I, I'm not, I, I'm not what I would call an adrenaline junkie…
