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Fishing for grayling
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| A hooked grayling |
The presence of grayling in a river used to be considered
a nuisance however nowadays lots of anglers derive a great deal of pleasure
fly fishing for grayling during the trout close season and catching grayling
whilst trout angling during the summer months. This page is about autumn
and winter fly fishing for grayling when the fish are in their prime
and excellent sport can be enjoyed. River fly fishermen who really need
to escape the "cabin
fever"
during the short days of winter cab put away the fly tying vice for a
while and go fishing. Follow this link if you want to know more about
grayling habits.
Grayling fishing is best and most enjoyable during fine, clear days
when the water is not high and dirty. Indeed spate conditions are the
worst imaginable for grayling fly fishing and high winds during the
autumn can make conditions difficult due to leaves and other debris floating
downstream.
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| Klinkhammers orange and white |
Fly fishing tackle
for grayling need not be overly heavy because the fish themselves are
seldom over two kilos, therefore a #5 outfit is usually perfectly sufficient,
except for those who prefer to throw
a team
of
heavy weight
Czech nymphs
and use something stronger in case of breakages. A #5 outfit will allow
the use of fine leaders and permit the delicate presentation of dry flies
which is often necessary to fool the fish in slower reaches of rivers.
Stalking a single trout with one pair of eyes is difficult enough, stalking
a shoal of grayling lying in shallow water with numerous pairs of observant
eyes on the lookout for danger is much more demanding of the skills of
concealment. Do not underestimate the challenge of this fish for they
can be as shy and nervous as any trout and you should be just as proud
of your successes.
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| Hares Ear |
Partridge & Orange |
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| Waterhen Bloa |
Red Tag |
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| Greenwell |
Greenwell Spider |
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| Invincible |
Olive Nymph |
Dry fly fishing for grayling is my personal favourite method but its
chances of success are completely dictated by the availability of insects
and the attitude of the fish towards surface feeding. In other words
if they are not rising and I do not expect them to come to the surface
I do not fish a dry fly for them. Choosing a dry fly is not difficult
if there are naturals simply “match the hatch”. There are
however a couple of flies worth mentioning that are especially good for
grayling, the Red Tag and the Klinkhammer type in all its various colours
to match the hatching insects. This fly represents an emerging insect
rather than a dun and it is amazingly successful for both grayling and
trout. Wet fly fishing with a team of three traditional flies, patterns
such as Greenwell, Blue Dun, Red Tag, Hares Ear, Waterhen Bloa, Snipe
and Purple, Partridge and Orange or Wickhams Fancy, worked across and
downstream is often a fruitful method of searching the water. Those patterns
are of course mainly suitable for use in the autumn when grayling fly
fishing is at its best.
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| Fly fishing for grayling in arctic Norway |
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| Green Czech |
Red and green bug |
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| Gold head bug |
Hot spot bug |
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| Pink bug |
Egg bug |
Once the weather turns colder and the fish seek
out the deeper holding areas, the flies must get down to their depth
and it is then that the “bugs” as the heavy nymphs are affectionately
called are needed. These are usually fished in teams of three and there
are several methods that can be used to present them. The Czech nymph
method involves fishing with very little line other than the leader,
short casting upstream and tripping the tail fly along the river bed.
Effectively it is bait fishing with an artificial “fly” that
represents a nymph, larva, shrimp or fish egg. Close contact with the
flies ensures that any bite can be reacted to quickly and the method
is especially good in fast water. If you need to cast further to reach
the fish the team of nymphs can be suspended beneath a small float or
a strike indicator and in effect the method becomes float fishing but
it is still a very effective way to catch grayling or trout. Finally
you can keep the float or indicator and dispense with the tail fly altogether
and use some split shot, selecting sufficient weight to ensure that the
shot just tickles along the bottom and as it does so the leader will
be jerked by each contact with the river bed, giving the flies a very
lifelike presentation making this an excellent means of catching fish.
Fly fishing for grayling is cheap and available so don;t miss a date with the
"lady of the stream". |
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