Fly Fishing with Chris Dore

If you havent seen Part One on the gear and rigging, you should do so. In part two we discuss the fundamentals of spey casting, correct technique and mechanics, how to fish your flies, set and play fish. Enjoy!

Welcome to the Manic Guide to Spey, a complete overview of two handed fly fishing without all the BS, presented simply to be easily understood. Enjoy.

There’s been a lot of discussion of recent surrounding single hand spey techniques, and rightly so. However, roll casting has been around since the beginning of time and if you’ve been pulling your line into place to facilitate a roll cast delivery then congratulations, you’ve got it…to some extent.

Over time the tact...

One thing I don’t get is how much time, effort and patience anglers put into being stealthy over the summer months and how that all goes out the window on winter time waters. These are still the same fish with all the same senses and sure, while the character of many winter rivers may see the fish less affected by a heavy footfall, you will sti...

A recent river session with a good mate found us talking about short grabs - those hits to the swung fly that just never seem to convert into hook ups. My feelings were that they can often be turned into a hook up if the angler simply does nothing, and then a little bit of something. Follo...

Swinging sexy water. Don’t just fire out random casts thinking they will work. Identify structure in the water ahead of you and think about how your fly will present to fish holding around that structure. How fast / slow will the fly pass through the bingo zone and should it acce...

Having a variety of flies, in a number of patterns and profiles, along with a variety of heads and sink tip options sure makes a difference on those slower, winter days. Add in a bit of imagination and a few different retrieves and you not only increase your options, but renew your entheusi...

Stripping streamers is one of the most efective methods of flushing out fish right? So why do so many spey anglers fish out the swing, then rip the line haphazardly back upstream in preparation of the next cast.

I often take in a couple of strips then let it hang, then repeat. Maybe ‘pump’ the rod to...

Swinging sexy water.

Don’t just fire out random casts thinking they will work. Identify structure in the water ahead of you and think about how your fly will present to fish holding around that structure. How fast / slow will the fly pass through the bingo zone and should ...

Yo! Let’s chat about a rather important aspect of swinging that most two hand tyros neglect...

Undoubtedly the sexiest part of your routine with compact head systems is seeing a tight, straight D or V loop being transitioned smoothly forward and sent off...