What defines a Spey fly? Two distinct features – the low brown mallard wing and the long, flowing hackles, often from a heron. So can you justify adding the “Spey” in from of a fly, which you modify using a long, flowing hackle rather than a more traditional cock- or hen hackle found on most traditional wet flies? And what if the long hackle isn’t even a heron hackle? I’ll steer clear of that discussion for now.
Most flyfishers slow down a little during the winter season, even though there is fishing as long as there is open water. Slowing down for a flyfisher doesn’t necessarily mean that fishing as such is on hold until next season. No, personally I like to spend some evenings maintaining my tackle. Salmon rods, lines and reels won’t see you until next spring, so I make sure everything is in order, rods checked, lines cleaned, reels lubricated, backing checked if you’ve been lucky enough to have use for it. The same goes for the dry fly tackle and an important part of this process is also checking flies. It’s just a nice feeling to unpack the gear again months after, knowing it’s ready to go.
