Spry also served in Sierra Leone and Afghanistan, where he was injured by an improvised explosive device.
The veteran first started fly-fishing when he was 12 and found returning to the sport after serving in the army to be “very relaxing”.
“Getting in the river, three hours can fly by,” he said. “It’s almost like meditation – the focus on everything, making a nice cast, tying flies, changing flies and trying to trick a wild fish into taking it.”
The 30th European Fly Fishing Championship will be held in Mostar and Livno regions of Bosnia-Herzegovina, with teams competing on the Buna River and Mostar Lake in Mostar, and the Sturba River in Livno.
“It’s going to be tough,” Spry said. “A lot of the other teams have easier access to fishing in those kinds of rivers than we have. They have a lot of skills, a lot of experience, a lot of funding.
“But we’ve got a pretty good team and we’ll do our best.”