Let's Get Ready... Let's Get Ready..... Let's Get Ready to GRAYLING!
21 September 2021 | Sarah
You may find yourself catching a few Grayling in the Summer but with Autumn approaching we are about to see much more... if you can get deep enough.
As a bottom dweller Grayling prefer the riverbed which makes them even tricker to catch, especially when the water is dark and deep. | |
Grayling are less shy than Trout but you must not be clumsy in your approach otherwise you may as well write off your position and find another shoal. Grayling hold their position if they are unsure about danger, only moving when they are sure they are safe or to make a dart for safer waters.
Make sure that when you cast you do not suddenly change your position too much...
(like standing in the skyline or walking upstream in the water.) | |
The first conundrum is to find the Grayling, the only help that they give is the fact that they are a shoal fish.
You might find the odd large loner lurking in deep dark holes or under overhanging vegetation and rocks.
However you will mostly find you are catching a succession of Grayling from the same area. | |
Grayling will get 90-95% of their food from the riverbed (mostly shrimps, snails, midge and sedge larve along with some nymphs of various upwinged flies).
This presents several difficulties to overcome; getting your fly deep enough, presenting the fly realisticly slowly in (more often than not) fast-flowing water, identifying when the Grayling strikes. | |
Grayling take surface flies on the coldest blusteriest least comfortable weather you can think of to go fishing and the speed of a strike needed for these takes can be daunting.
The Grayling rise is distinctive, often splashy and leaves a bubble trail drifting away on the surface, and super fast... Blink and you miss it! | |
 | | We often get asked what our go to fly is and for Grayling it has to be the Barbless Sawyer Chaddy 477 Killer Bug. Many people call this pattern by different names, but the one thing everyone agress on is that it is deadly. | |
One solution is to fish with a long leader and to weight it. The amount of weight and length of leader used will depend on the depth of the water you are fishing and the force of the current.
Neither should be underestimated, too much weight or length in your leader, can be compensated by casting less far upstream. However too little of either will just cause you to be frustrated and spoil your trip, as you simply can't get the fly deep enough. | | |
