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Me and a friend are thinking about trying two handed fly fishing for salmon and sea-run browns in northern Sweden. We both have been fishing for these same species with single-handed rods, but have decided to give two handers a try after a few tough days at large and deep rivers this autumn.

Our goal is to be able to fish starting from next spring in a section of our river that is about 100 m wide and between 5 to 6 meters deep. There is not much room to wade there, as the depth drops suddenly beyond our chests a few meters from the bank. The fish hold in the main current and my friend succeeded (after a hard day of long casts) to land a nice sea-run brown from there.

We obviously don't need to cast to the opposite bank, but we need to constantly make 30+ meters casts towards were the fish hold. Additionally, there are many spots where we have very tight room for backcasting with our one-handers. Lastly, we will probably be fishing with sink-tips and large streamers.

There are so many casting stiles (spey, skagit, scandi), each with its own gear requirements, so I need suggestions regarding which two handed casting style we should learn for our particular application (and what gear we should buy as well). We prefer something that is versatile and would work also during summer when water levels are lower.

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To answer your question, "Which two handed fly casting style should I learn?" the answer is all of them. After you've learned every style then you'll know which one suits your needs best in any situation, but whenever you have something behind you I always recommend the roll cast, which is very effective with a double handed rod especially.

As for what gear you should buy, this is never a question that you should ask an enthusiast, because it's a never ending list. But if you want my recommendation on what you should do in your big river, it's to quit throwing your arm out trying to cast 30m+ every time from the shore and get out in the water in a float:

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You can either get a tube float and kick around with flippers, or you can get a pontoon float with oars. You will likely want to get a nice warm insulated drysuit if your river is as cold as I imagine it is (You're further North than I am, and the rivers are plenty cold enough where I live in Canada). Then you can just paddle or kick your way out into middle of the river where all the fish are and float down the current with your lure.

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  • Thanks for the float tube idea. I really wish I could use one of these, but I forgot to mention that the regulations also forbid fishing from boats in that section o the river. Perhaps I can try to get around by saying that it is not technically a boat, but the wardens may not swallow.
    – Kenji
    Commented Nov 3, 2015 at 20:35
  • @Kenji The pontoons could maybe pass as a boat, but they'd be hard pressed to argue being up to your chest in water and wearing flippers as fishing from a boat. At most it's a glorified life preserver.
    – ShemSeger
    Commented Nov 4, 2015 at 2:51
  • You are right. I will try them next season if I get a chance. I suppose that I have to get to the middle of the current and then troll my fly all the way to the end of the fishing zone, get back to the bank, walk upstreams, rinse and repeat. Sounds like quite the workout, but those large two handers also seem like a lot of work to use.
    – Kenji
    Commented Nov 4, 2015 at 6:43
  • @kenji Depends on the strength of the current, you'll be wearing flippers, so you'll have some manouver ability. And it won't exactly be trolling. Once you're moving with the flow of the river it'll be like fishing on still water.
    – ShemSeger
    Commented Nov 4, 2015 at 14:19

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