Gray’s anatomy
WE’VE started to get the first regular frosts and as much as it’s a pain to scrape your car before and after work it does confirm it’s time to squeeze into the neoprenes and look forward to winter fishing.
I’ve dug out my nymphing gear and have restocked the fly boxes. Fario Flies have launched a new range of barbless river flies this year so I hit them up for some tips on how to make the most of your grayling fishing season.
Get down to the fish: In the autumn and winter, grayling often won’t be prepared to move far to feed, so you need to put your fly right in front of them at the foot of the river.
Through deeper runs, the best way to do this is to use a large tungsten bead nymph. You’ll know you’re fishing deep enough when you occasionally snag the bottom and you will need to be prepared to lose the occasional fly.
Wait for your chance: In the cooler months grayling tend to be tightly packed in small areas and it can take a bit of time to locate a shoal.
There’s every chance that they’re just not feeding so even at a well-known grayling hotspot you’ll need to be patient as they should start taking at some point.
Strike everything: When you’re nymphing, you’ll massively increase your hookups if you strike everything. If you’re fishing a short line, the strike and lift to recast are almost identical so be positive and treat little knocks and changes of direction on the leader as bites.
Keep some dries handy:
Whether you carry a separate set-up or quickly switch on to a dry dropper, grayling come readily to dry flies. It’s still pretty warm and even on the coldest days it’s worth keeping your eye out for rising fish.
Play them properly:
Grayling have soft mouths and especially in a heavy flowing river they can put up a great fight. Don’t try to bully them in too hard and follow them downstream if need be to avoid pulling the hook out.
Go barbless: Grayling are a catch and release species, to make that easier just go barbless. Manufactured barbless hooks and flies are readily available and they save any fiddling about trying to pinch down or damaging your normal hooks.
Don’t be scared of colour: grayling feed naturally on neutral and camouflaged food but they have a fondness for colourful flies. Try pinks, reds, purples and UVs.
Put on a worm: The squirmy worm and it’s kin have caught lots of grayling, there’s a huge variation from which to choose so try a range of colours to see what works.
Avoid salmon redds: Salmon and sea trout will be spawning and they love shallow water and a clean bottom. Take care when wading as there’s plenty of water to fish and no need to disturb the redds.