Improve Your Coarse Fishing (UK)
Ian Nesbitt
Trotting maggots beneath a float is the classic tactic for these hard fighters, but sometimes they just want a static bait
Grayling on the feeder
COME the short days of winter with the banks hard and white with frost, few fish are as willing to feed as grayling. My favourite method of fishing for these hard- fighting beauties is with a long float rod coupled with a centrepin reel and a good supply of maggots.
This style of fishing is great fun and helps keep the cold at bay but when certain conditions prevail or when fish sit beyond reach of a normal cast, a float isn’t the best tactic.
I first stumbled upon how effective the feeder can be one freezing January day while fishing a stretch of the upper River Wye in Wales...
A feeder revelation
Though the day was bitterly cold, barely above freezing, there was a bright sun and an absolute stillness to the crisp air that was pleasant to be out in. The previous week had seen similar conditions and, being central Wales, the temperatures at night had plunged.
Grayling are well adapted to living in cold water but given a sustained cold snap even their behaviour may be affected.
I wasn’t familiar with the stretch so I decided to walk along the bank looking to cast my redtopped chubber float into the crystal clear runs.
The morning wasn’t going too well and anxiety was beginning to set in when I rounded a sharp bend and found what I was looking for – a large deep pool. Positioning myself upstream of the pool, it was easy to discern a noticeable crease of medium- paced water that looked an ideal spot to trot the float.
Two red maggots were hooked on a size 16 hook and the bulk shot placed 18in above to quickly sink the bait to the bottom where the grayling would be.
It was now 1pm and the weak sun was doing its best to warm the frozen landscape. On the third cast the float slowly sank from view. Usually grayling are a game fighter and many win
freedom by fiercely twisting in the current. This one, however, seemed too cold for such antics and before long a gleaming 1lb example came to the net. A few trots later another one of a similar size came placidly in but after this brief spell of action the bites stopped.
Every now and then the float would give a little dip so I knew they were still there. I tried fishing overdepth and holding back the float but I couldn’t get another bite. With only a couple of hours of daylight left I decided to try legering.
Static beats moving
As an afterthought I had brought along my MAP lightweight feeder rod which is supremely sensitive to the tiniest of bites and is nice and forgiving on the strike so you can get away with light hooklinks. My spare fixed spool reel loaded with 6lb line complemented the rod perfectly.
A small Blackcap block- end feeder was threaded directly on to the line, then a large bead and a small swivel was tied to the end. The trace was a Drennan Carbon Feeder size 16 hook- to- nylon and two trusty red maggots were the bait.
A short swing of the rod dropped the feeder on the same line where I had trotted the float. Maybe this tactic would winkle out a fish or two but, as I settled back and poured a warming cuppa, I wasn’t ready for what happened next.
The feeder had barely settled on the gently sloping gravel bed when the long quivertip tapped before pulling sharply round.
An immaculate male grayling with sail- like multi- coloured dorsal fin was soon being slipped back and I quickly refilled the feeder and cast out to the same spot. A couple of minutes passed before the rod was wrenched round again. This time a fine grayling of 1lb 8oz was the culprit. Two more quickly followed. I couldn’t help but wonder whether a new shoal had moved in so I unleashed the float rod.
Four or five runs through and the float never moved from its path so the feeder was filled again and I watched the tip settle into a gentle curve. Amazingly, a few seconds later it started to tremble before pulling round once more. Four more fish followed, the biggest 1lb 13oz.
Combating coloured water
There are other situations when a static bait appears more effective than the usual trotting.
On a milder day in mid- February I arrived at the venue full of optimism only to have that hope dashed by the sight of a chocolate brown river. Conditions like this are usually the last thing you want when grayling fishing and expectations were in my boots. A few hours later and my worries were confirmed. I switched to the feeder and decided to concentrate on a deep glide where I was sure a few grayling would dwell.
An hour or two went by and I was thinking of calling it a day when I noticed that just a hint of clarity was seeping into the upper layers. Ten more minutes I told myself. And that proved to be just long enough. The tip only moved an inch or two but the sideways swipe of the rod met a good resistance and a stubborn fish was played carefully to the net. It was a magnificent grayling weighing 2lb 3oz. In the next hour, two more bites resulted in fish of 2lb and 1lb 8oz.
Hit the far bank glides
Even in perfect trotting conditions the leger rod is well worth bringing along. Often you will find a classic grayling glide which is frustratingly on the far bank and too far for a float to be controlled effectively. Here, a small feeder or bomb can present your bait in the right spot and if the grayling are around you won’t have to wait long for a positive bite. It was this sort of swim that produced my biggest grayling. The main push of the river hugged the far bank 70 metres away so I began by casting the maggot feeder every 10 minutes. The day was bright and sunny, the river low, so I wasn’t expecting to catch much until later in the afternoon. But after half an hour the tip pulled savagely round. The fish felt too big to be a grayling and I immediately suspected a chub. But when it surfaced I could hardly believe my eyes. From nonchalantly playing a medium- sized chub I was suddenly playing a fish of a lifetime. The enormous grayling finally slid over the net and at 3lb 4oz proved the value of a light feeder rod and fixed spool reel.
I now never go fishing for grayling without a light quivertip rod. Depending on the river, a rod with a test curve between 1lb and 1lb 8oz is about right. And whether it’s freezing cold or the river dirt brown, I now feel that there’s always a chance of catching the lady of the stream.