Reading the Water is a new podcast presented by Hatch Magazine, hosted by longtime Hatch Magazine contributor and author of the new book A Cast Away in Montana, Tim Schulz. With a focus on literature, art, adventure, and conservation in fly fishing, the podcast will dissect compelling subjects the way an accomplished angler or paddler reads the water on an unfamiliar river or stream.

Over the first few months, guests will include writer and conservationist Hal Herring; author, poet, professor, and guide Chris Dombrowski; aquatic biologist and writer Ann Miller; writer and contributing editor Monte Burke; writer, poet, and teacher Michael Garrigan; writer, conservationist and master angler Graig Mathews, writer, poet and professor Bob DeMott; and the author, editor, and publisher Nick Lyons.

Reading the Water will feature both one-on-one conversations and panel discussions tackling important and pressing topics facing wild fish, rivers, and landscapes.

In the first episode with Hal Herring, Tim and Hal discuss early influences on Hal’s writing and conservation work, a homicide case involving public land access, the importance of native trout, the dangerous situation concerning minimum in-stream flows in Montana, Hal’s latest project on national forests, and the most famous firearm from the Old West.

In Episode 2, Tim welcomes Chris Dombrowski to the show, and they discuss Chris’s migration from Michigan to Montana, his development as a writer, guide, and educator, his recent book Body of Water, a streamside meal blunder with Jim Harrison, and they even debate whether A River Runs Through It is Norman Maclean’s best story.

Whether you follow the podcast on Substack, YouTube, Spotify Podcasts, or Apple Podcasts, we’ll bring you conversations and explorations with fascinating guests on a wide range of topics, and we hope you’ll join us.

Episode 1 of Reading the Water is available now wherever you get your podcasts.