Friday Fly Day - Dore's Top 3 for Winter '17

Winter fishing getting you down? With very low and clear conditions for the majority of winter thus far, your usual winter fly box might be a little too much. Big, flashy streamers, size 8 glo bugs are putting fish down and why employ that big double tungsten bomb if the river is at half it's normal winter flow?

There are still a number of anglers out there killing it, and a peep inside their fly boxes is likely to reveal why. Here are my three top winter patterns so far, fished to the conditions this cold season...

Ishiwatas Snitch

Slim, easy casting and oozes movement. My go to for swinging in low, clear rivers with the smaller stinger hook converting the most subtle of takes

The Yoshi Bugger

Always a favourite in still water or swung, the orange bead is always a winner and makes this fly stand out a little. It could also promote the subtle suggestion of an egg. Plus, anything Yoshi fishes is a winner, isn't it?

PT Soft Hackle

Twitched to sighted lake edge fish, fished on the hang behind a streamer or as a dropper behind a bigger nymph. Fish haven't really keyed in on eggs yet with their usual gusto, so fishing a small natural pattern in these clear conditions, sporting soft hackle movement nails it. These little observations are often the difference between a two fish, and several fish day.