Steve Peach

1. Choice of equipment Rods, reels, fly lines, fly floatants, clothes, glasses, and other useful items.

For dry fly rods, I prefer a longer 9' to 9'6" length in most cases. While very tight, overgrown creeks might suggest shorter rods, I still usually opt for a 9' even there. The extra length can add range with bow and arrow casts when there's not enough room for a proper cast. Though I own a 7'6" #3 weight, it mostly stays in the cupboard these days. Regarding rod weight, I favour a #3 or #4 rod with a #3 line—there's value in under-lining rods to make the action faster and reduce flex in the cast, improving accuracy and helping create tighter loops. However, when using very fine 7X or 8X tippets on the #4 weight, you need to be careful not to set the hook too hard or put too much pressure on the fish, as this can pull hooks or break off flies. I'm still not sure I’ve found my ultimate dry fly rod yet, but I don’t think my wife agrees!

I prefer a #3 weight fly line with a fairly long front taper. The #3 weight offers a good balance for me - light enough for subtle presentations while still having enough power to handle wind or cast a weighted nymph under a dry fly. While #2 weight lines work well in still conditions for dedicated dry fly fishing, they're not as versatile as a #3. #4 weight lines excel for nymph-under-dry setups, but they're often too powerful for smaller dry flies when I want to underpower the cast for slack line presentations.

I have a collection of dry fly reels, and lately I've been using a semi-automatic reel that I find handy for quick line management. I started fishing at a young age (back in the last millennium) when almost all fishing reels were right-hand wind. As a result, even though I cast right-handed, I became accustomed to swapping my rod to my left hand after casting and winding with my right. This technique is largely frowned upon today in trout circles, though in saltwater fly fishing, winding with your dominant hand is more widely accepted. The automatic reel helps compensate for my relative inability to wind properly with my left hand! When choosing trout reels, I believe the key factors are reliability and a smooth, light drag to protect light tippets.

I carry several fly-drying tools: an amadou patch, a rubber band on my chest pack, powder floatant, fly dip, Payette paste for the leader, and a couple of floatant gels for flies. Keeping both fly and leader floating is crucial, particularly when the fly is in the water a lot while prospecting or covering water rather than sight fishing.

Sun protection is very important in Australia. I try to cover up as much skin as possible to avoid sunburn, using light hoodie-style shirts with the hood pulled up over my hat. Sometimes I wear sun gloves with open palms, though they slightly reduce the feel of the line compared to bare hands. Glasses are critical—I prefer low-light yellow lenses in a wrap-around design for eye protection. Being a bit long-sighted these days, and having lost many pairs of prescription glasses in the river, I've tried various solutions for threading flies and tying tippets. Prescription sunglass lenses proved unworkable since I only need them for close-up knot tying, and they don't work well with wrap-around frames. My best solution so far has been stick-on +3 bifocal lenses at the bottom of my non-prescription yellow glasses.

Snake gaiters are indispensable in Australia—these thick protective layers around our lower legs guard against snake bites while also protecting waders from barbed wire fences and thorny bushes like blackberries. When fishing low water to spooky fish, or in slippery rocky rivers, I sometimes opt for knee and shin pads instead, as they're better suited for situations where I need to kneel, and can save painful knee landings on slippery rocks.

I've found it helpful to use a separate backpack that I can leave on the riverbank while fishing. Since I typically carry camera gear, water bottles, lunch, and safety equipment, removing this excess weight whenever possible makes fishing more comfortable. To further reduce weight, I sometimes bring an empty water filter bottle instead of full water bottles—I can simply filter river water as needed.

2. Leader material, build-up, length and knots.

Since I compete in fly fishing competitions, I like to practice only with comp-legal gear (at least for trout fishing). Following FIPS-Mouche rules, I keep my leader length to less than double the rod length - my maximum dry fly leader is 19', though I typically vary between 17' and 19' depending on the fly and conditions. While I've experimented with hand-tied leaders, I now prefer the simplicity of starting with a factory tapered leader: a 12' 5X nylon tapered butt section down to a tippet ring. I cut off the loop on the butt end of the leader and tie it directly to the fly line loop with a clinch knot. When choosing tapered leaders, brand selection matters - look for ones with longer tapered sections rather than those with flat butt sections, short tapers in the middle, and flat tippet sections. For building out the leader with additional tippet, you'll want a tapered leader with the longest possible taper and minimal flat sections at either end. I attach a 1.5mm or 2mm tippet ring to my butt section, then add 6X fluorocarbon, followed by 7X fluorocarbon. I adjust the tippet sections' lengths based on the fly's size and wind resistance.

3. Approach and stealth.

When approaching a new piece of water, I try to assess how close I can get to the fish without spooking them. Depending on the water type and surroundings, you can often get much closer than most people think! In a still, clear pool, I'll approach carefully and slowly, maintaining distance since fish typically cruise in various directions. However, in flowing water - especially where the surface is rippled or broken - it's possible to get much closer and fish at shorter range. The fish will be facing into the current, and the surface disturbance helps hide both them and us. In fact, fishing at longer range in such conditions is a disadvantage. You'll unnecessarily sacrifice drift quality, contact, accuracy, strike indication, and line control.

I recall fishing with Tom Jarman, a member of the Australian team, when we were nymphing (pardon my reference to the dark arts) a pocket of water beneath a tree branch dipping into the stream. The pocket was about 60cm wide, 3–4m long, and just over knee deep. I'd caught three fish there the previous day while single nymphing, so I knew it held trout. On this day, Tom was coaching another angler and I on achieving good drifts with a double nymph rig. It’s a challenging location, with narrow current seams and a second low-hanging branch right above the sweet spot, directly in the casting line. The other angler made several casts without success before snagging his rig in the overhanging branch. Tom waded into the middle of the pocket to free it. Then it was my turn. After a few casts that I thought were half decent - but brought no results - I also caught the branch. Tom again waded in to untangle the line. When we asked him to demonstrate, Tom proceeded to catch two fish in three casts from the same tiny pocket he'd just walked through twice, including the same distinctively marked rainbow I'd caught the day before. After picking my jaw up from the riverbed, I learned two important lessons: first, trout in flowing water aren't nearly as easily spooked as we sometimes think; and second, the quality of our drift really, REALLY matters!

So I try to ask myself, "What is the best position to fish the water I want to fish?" Some say you shouldn't get into the water or you'll spook trout - I disagree in many circumstances. It's more important to get into the right position for the right cast and drift. You just need to figure out how to do this without spooking the fish. Sometimes that means covering less ideal water first and working your way slowly into position.

4. Reading the water.

"Reading the water" goes so much deeper than it seems (excuse the pun). While some might think it's simply about analyzing the water to find the best spots for trout, true understanding requires much more than just knowing the river’s contours. You need to understand the trout themselves - their population, physiology, and behaviour. You must consider water conditions like temperature, dissolved oxygen, and turbidity. The river's ecosystem matters too: food availability, seasonal changes, other species present, predators, and daily variations in food, light, and temperature. All of that has a bearing on where trout position themselves in the river.

For example, this season in Australia we have had an unusual abundance of cormorants (a predatory water bird), which seem to have had a marked impact on the position and availability of trout. Many of the rainbows have been eaten as they tend to inhabit the runs at the top of deeper pools, easy water for cormorants to catch them in. But the brown trout have largely survived, and are increasingly found in shallow runs and riffles which are harder for the birds to hunt in, or tight in to undercut banks or other structure. Without the knowledge of these predators, one could easily spend a lot of time fruitlessly nymphing the good looking runs at the top of big pools, while walking past most of the fish in the less likely looking shallow water.

We often make educated guesses about these kinds of factors. With enough time at a spot, we can start to piece together parts of this complex puzzle. The daily quest to solve these questions lies at the very heart of fly fishing, I like to ask myself “what are the fish doing right now?”

From competition fishing, I've learned that while good technique is non-negotiable, it’s our decision-making that more often determines success or failure on the water. Where should we fish? Which technique should we use? Which fish should we target? These critical questions all fall under what I consider the larger umbrella of "reading the water."

When we get the answers right - happy days! Yet the further I progress in fly fishing, the more I realise how much I still have to learn in all of these respects. What I can tell you is that great anglers combine technical skill with knowledge, experience, observation, and intuition. And perhaps most importantly, they maintain an insatiable appetite for learning.

5. Casting ability which casts are essential.

Casting ability is crucial in all forms of fly fishing - practicing casting is both fun and productive. While some anglers catch fish despite minimal practice and mediocre casting skills, and others enjoy casting in parks without much actual fishing, the reality is that different fishing situations demand different casting techniques, and these require practice! This is especially true in dry fly fishing. Mastering fundamental skills like loop control, straight rod tip path, line speed control, and hauling creates the foundation for developing more specialized casting skills.

In dry fly fishing, casting, presentation, and drift are interconnected elements of success. Good drifts depend on proper fly presentation, which comes from skillful casting. Therefore, the casting style we choose is determined not only by the obstructions around us, but by the presentation and drift we want to achieve.

The key distinction of dry fly casting lies in presenting slack in the tippet. While anyone can create slack, the art lies in placing both the fly and the slack accurately where needed. This precision requires several elements: proper leader design with long, fine leaders that are correctly balanced to the fly; tight loops off the rod tip aimed directly at the target (usually angled down a little towards the water surface); and the ability to cast from either side of the body to control line and leader placement. A short, compact stroke with the hand in front of the body offers the best control. Line speed is also important for counteracting wind and ensuring accuracy.

Sometimes we might want to under-power the delivery cast to provide some slack in the tippet. When controlling power on the delivery stroke to adjust leader straightening, avoid the common mistake of dropping the rod tip. Instead, maintain the same stopping point as in false casts but simply reduce the power. If you're having difficulty, focus on stopping your rod tip high during the delivery cast.

There are some other particular casts which can be very useful in dry fly fishing. The ability to cast with a very low casting plane under bushes is a useful one. Single handed spey casts of various types can be very useful both in repositioning the casting direction, and in dealing with obstructions in the back cast. Picking up the fly cleanly with a snake roll pickup or a flick pickup is an important skill to have. Constant tension (Belgian) style casts can sometimes be useful in dealing with wind. But the slack line casts are generally the most useful, the pile cast to create slack directly in line with the fly, and the left or right negative curve casts to place the slack to either side of the fly.

Beyond trout, I fly fish for many other species in Australia's freshwater and saltwater, which has provided valuable lessons for trout fishing. Bass and bream, in particular, require casting very close to bankside structure - placing flies into small pockets between trees, mangroves, and snags, often with branches hanging low over the water. To catch these fish consistently, we must cast accurately through these pockets and land the fly within inches of the bank. This demands tight loops and high line speed, sometimes even "skip casting" the fly under branches. Fishing whole days in this way has significantly improved my trout fishing, building confidence and the ability to cast effectively around obstructions. After watching world-class anglers like Tom or Stew from the Australian team, or Pablo and David from the Spanish team fish such structure, I've noticed that while most competition anglers use similar approaches and equipment, superior results come down to extraordinary precision and efficiency. There's only one way to achieve this level of skill - dedication and years of practice. There's simply no substitute for hours on the water.

6. Entomology, what should we know.

A basic understanding of river food sources is valuable for any angler. While entomology is complex and location-specific - with thousands of insect varieties in each region - knowing the fundamentals can greatly improve your fishing. Understanding key insect groups helps guide not only fly selection, but also fishing techniques, and which type of water to fish. Mayflies, caddis, and midges inhabit most trout rivers worldwide, and learning their basic behavior, habitat, and seasonal patterns provides an excellent foundation when exploring new waters. Terrestrial insects are also important and usually easier to spot on the water. When fishing unfamiliar rivers, I often start by observing insects in the surface film, checking under rocks in riffles, and examining riverside vegetation.

7. Rise forms Can they tell us something?

This primarily applies to slower water, since trout in fast water must make split-second decisions to eat from the surface. In slow to medium water, trout can choose whether to rise slowly or quickly. What influences this choice? Trout mostly feed based on energy efficiency - they need to gain more energy than they expend. A slow surface feed might indicate several things: 1. The food is trapped in the surface film and unlikely to escape. 2. It's a larger fish conserving energy. 3. There's no nearby competition from other fish. Conversely, a fast surface feed might suggest: 1. The food sits high on the surface and could escape. 2. It's a smaller fish. 3. Other fish are competing for the food.

Generally, faster splashy rises or rises where the fish's nose breaks the water and leaves bubbles suggest a higher-floating fly, such as an upwing mayfly or caddis. A slower take - more of a bulge - typically indicates a lower-floating fly like a spinner or emerger pattern, or perhaps a small F-fly or wet fly.

8. Fly selection, Size, shape, materials, which flies are essential.

In Australia, our fishery rarely sees the huge single-species hatches common overseas, so we tend to take a more generalist approach to fly selection. Trout more often feed opportunistically rather than selectively, so I don't carry exact imitations of every insect subspecies. However, fish sometimes reject a pattern - whether because the fly doesn't look right or it doesn’t drift correctly - so it's important to have alternatives to show them, either different sizes or different profiles.

My box contains mainly CDC split wing mayflies, CDC sedge, F-Fly, a few klinks, some plume tip emergers, and several larger buoyant flies for floating nymphs like rockerkas and CDC & poly caddis. I mostly keep it simple with colors, carrying just dark and light options. I tie almost all my dries with CDC - it's a wonder material with three key advantages: excellent buoyancy, soft fibres that reduce wind resistance when casting, and feathers that collapse around the hook when struck, improving hookup rates compared to stiff hackled flies.

I'm also experimenting with other buoyant natural materials like kapok. For bodies, I sometimes use poly dubbing for its floatability, and I incorporate buggy natural materials like hare's ear when useful.

9. Presentation and drifts.

It's hard to overstate the importance of good presentation and drifts. Starting with presentation, how I land the fly, leader, and line on the water depends on the water type I'm casting into. In slower, stiller water, I'm more careful about touching down gently. I imagine the background noise or vibration that a trout perceives is fairly quiet in still water, whereas moving water creates more background noise. So I do want the fish to notice the fly touching down over the background noise, but not be alarmed by it. While I'm more careful in still water, in flowing water it's less critical—there may even be benefits to landing the fly a little more firmly. Additionally, running water allows for a more aggressive downward angle to push the leader onto the water and create slack more intentionally than I would in still water, where I want everything to land softly.

In most cases, we aim for the best possible dead drift. Sometimes, however, we might want to animate the fly slightly to get the fish's attention. In certain feeding patterns, trout can respond aggressively to a fly that's skated or twitched a little on the surface. I have seen trout do curious things particularly in still water, so while dead drifts are certainly the norm, sometimes it doesn’t hurt to think outside the box.

10. Upstream or downstream?

I generally prefer fishing upstream when possible, though I'll fish downstream if conditions require it. The choice usually comes down to finding the optimal position to cast to my target water - sometimes presenting a fly upstream simply isn't feasible. Fishing upstream offers distinct advantages for both hooking and fighting fish. With downstream takes, there's a higher risk of pulling the hook free, and I tend to miss more hookups and lose more fish. Additionally, when you hook a fish downstream, you must fight it against the current to bring it back upstream, increasing the chances of breaking off or pulling the hook. Since I aim to get fish upstream of me for proper netting, fighting a downstream-hooked fish means a longer distance and more prolonged battle to bring it to the net.

11. Fighting fish.

I'm working to improve my fish-fighting technique, particularly trying to break a long-ingrained habit of lifting the rod tip high when setting the hook. This high lift often causes the fish - especially smaller ones - to surface and jump back toward me. Instead, I'm training myself to set the hook low and downstream, maintaining low side angles to keep fish deeper in the water rather than jumping. I'm also focusing on playing fish more gently, letting the rod absorb their head shakes and lunges. This gentle approach is crucial because sometimes trout take flies tentatively, resulting in a light hook-hold around the mouth. If we pull too hard, we either create a hole that lets the hook slip out or tear away that bit of skin entirely. While having some slack in the tippet when the fish takes helps achieve better hook-sets, we still need to exercise caution.

Larger brown trout present the biggest challenge, as they tend to head for snags or undercut banks when hooked. With light tippet, we can only keep the rod low and to the side, trying to guide them out gently—though sometimes they simply can't be stopped.

Landing fish requires careful attention too. Though I always try to position fish upstream before dropping them back into the net, things don't always go according to plan!

Final thoughts.

Fly fishing in Australia has progressed rapidly in recent years, largely due to European influences reaching everyday anglers. As Australian teams have improved their performance at world championships, team members have brought back new techniques and equipment that have gradually filtered into recreational fishing. Additionally, we've been fortunate to have several top European anglers visit Australia to coach our teams and other competition anglers. While it was rare to see rods longer than 9 feet here just a few years ago, it's now common to see anglers Euro-nymphing with long, light rods or even Spey casting with light two-handed rods. The latest innovations focus on dry fly fishing, particularly the long-leader slack line casting styles that have evolved in Europe over recent decades. Previously, many recreational fly anglers used short rods with heavy 9-foot leaders to cast big hackled flies or foam hoppers. Now, both competitive and recreational angling standards are rising as these techniques become more widespread. It’s an exciting time to watch the Australian fly fishing scene grow and evolve.