How To Fly Fish In An Overgrown River - S5 E10

In this episode of RIO's "How To Fly Fish" series, Chris Walker explains how to fly fish in a river that is overgrown and has numerous obstacles that prevent a regular overhead cast.
Chris's tips include the side cast for getting a fly underneath an overhanging tree, the roll cast for when obstructions are tight against the back, a bow & arrow cast for when even the roll and side cast cannot work, and finally finishes with a really neat technique called "Controlled Drag", which gets the fly into places no cast ever can.
#flyfish #flyfishing #learntoflyfish
Clearly explained in Chris's easy-going, simple-to-understand style, this is a great film for anyone who arrives at a river and finds out it is a little harder to fish than expected.
RIO's "How To Fly Fish" videos are a series of short films that explain all you need to know to learn a particular way to fish or cast. Where applicable, each film talks through the gear that you need, shows how to rig the gear, how to read the water, and how to fish that particular technique. These educational films are packed with information and top tips designed to improve the knowledge and skill level of all fly fishers. Each one is bought to you by a RIO employee or a RIO brand ambassador.

[@jimbolt5170]

I like that Rio gives real tips that are useful to an ordinary everyday fly fisher without using the video as an advertisement in disguise. In my opinion this gives Rio more credibility.

[@RIOPRODUCTS]

Thanks Jim - glad you enjoyed it...

[@jessemcauliffe362]

Looking forward to trying these techniques on my next trip to the river.

[@vacationrichard974]

This is great. Really valuable tips for fishing southern appalachia.

[@RIOPRODUCTS]

No problem! Good luck!

[@davyjones922]

Great tips! I can totally relate to the bow cast and drag mend. Most of my local fisheries are totally overgrown mountain tribs and you have to basically almost crawl or jungle push your way through the brush. I usually spend 50% of my fishing getting my line out of the brush and trees 🌳 😂😂

[@RIOPRODUCTS]

Hopefully some of these tips will help you lessen the number of times that happens, Davy.

[@maxless6655]

Hvala, odličan video. Pozdrav iz Srbije

[@forrestnorman9359]

Excellent instruction.

[@RIOPRODUCTS]

Thank you Forrest!

[@gerardostheimer43]

That well done controlled drag deserved a grab.

[@RIOPRODUCTS]

It does indeed - such a great technique!!

[@lepy277]

How do you prevent your leader from falling into the guides when you're casting with just the leader or just a short bit of line out? I'm new to flyfishing and have been fishing small creeks in SoCal and struggling with this issue.

[@RIOPRODUCTS]

Ideally, your leader should never be in your guides. Sometimes it's inevitable when you're landing fish. You could try a shorter leader or changing your casting position, though sometimes it's just a part of the game.

[@Flies_the_limit]

Controlled drag is neat

[@RIOPRODUCTS]

It is useful!

[@lazygardens]

This was 90% of the fishing when I was a child. And, because these areas scare fishermen, they are usually good places to fish.

[@Ei2iP]

Seriously that's not overgrown!!! Compared to my local steams..

[@adventureducklings]

I still need to learn how to stop sucking at fly fishing :p

[@RIOPRODUCTS]

Always room for improvement!