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Post by leckie on Nov 11, 2011 20:34:33 GMT
HI guys, I thought I would open up this little thread now that the wbt season has finished and I'm sure there are a lot of you out there who continue fishing throughout the winter months for the 'lady of the stream'. I have just started fishing for them and caught my very first grayling on the fly this week. Unfortunately it was about the only time that I never brought my camera with me so I can't post a picture of it. It was only about 10" and 1/2 lb in weight, but at least I now know they are in the river. If you do catch any grayling please post some photos of the fish and the river and some details of the tactics and flies used so that we can all learn and appreciate from it. Tx leckie
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Post by leckie on Nov 13, 2011 22:34:42 GMT
Well I tried a few hours grayling fishing this afternoon and although I saw a few grayling rising in this run I never managed to connect with any. Nevertheless the weather was mild and it was an enjoyable way to spend a few hours on a Sunday afternoon. I moved further upstream to more streamier runs but still no takes. Just one of those days I expect. I hope to post a photo of grayling sometime in the near future (eternal optomist) ;D Tight Lines leckie
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Post by chriscreeler on Nov 15, 2011 11:05:56 GMT
On my local river ,the Irthing in Cumbria, the grayling seem to thin out greatly about this time of year. I presume they move downstream into the Eden where they find a more congenial winter home.
I was once told by a fisheries biologist that grayling are sedentary and don't move much, perhaps over just two or three pools in the small rivers that most of us [tenkara fishers] frequent. I didn't believe him as my own catch patterns, and those of some others I have spoken to suggest differently.
If you don't get much in the water shown in the photos, it might be worth trying nearer the sea. What do others think?
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Post by singlespeyuk on Nov 15, 2011 14:29:41 GMT
unfortunately the rivers and streams that i normally fish am extremely low due to the lack of rain fall.
the grayling seem to be podded together in the few deep holes that are available.
it take a lot of stealth and careful wading to get close enough, but die to the low levels they are easily spooked.
Kind Regards SSUK
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Post by leckie on Nov 16, 2011 13:34:22 GMT
I always thought that grayling are pretty well dispersed within river systems that have them and often can be found in very shallow runs. It's when there is a hard frost / cold conditions that I am led to believe that they shoal in the deeper water. It's interesting that you would suggest that I move downstream towards the sea because my intention is to fish upstream because I know that there are some good runs and pools up there where I have caught wbt so I was hoping that the grayling would lie in these prime lies when the wbt are out of condition. I'll try upstream and if nothing doing then I'll reverse tactics and head for the sea! I will let you know how I get on. leckie
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Post by chriscreeler on Nov 17, 2011 0:54:36 GMT
I think it's very difficult to predict where you will find them. I have caught them in sharp runs when it was cold and frosty, in the slow deeps in mild open weather, and vice versa.
In the kind of lively spate rivers that we fish they aren't found throughout the system, but only appear where the gradient lessens and the combination of steam and pool is to their liking.
I don't suggest they move on every river. Maybe they don't on the Irthing, and it's just I can't catch them in the winter. Several year ago I had a real good try, trotting a maggot or gilttail in the Nottingham style. The most ever got in a day was two,the biggest a pound and a quarter, way bigger than any of the others.
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Post by Simon on Nov 18, 2011 10:10:51 GMT
Hi guys. Just a quick post to let you know what flies are working very well on the Alyn here in North Wales. They are in order, best catcher first. Here they are. All flies are on size 18 hooks. This is catching the best even if fish are not moving, Sonia caught 20 yesterday, 10 in one pool. They really like this one if there are plenty of shrimp in the river. This goes on my top dropper. Or maybe this one? This is made out of chamois leather, looks good when wet! Kept this one until the end. Sonia calls it the "September Fly" not based on anything just tied by be a few years back and it seems to work really well. Simon.
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Post by leckie on Nov 18, 2011 21:06:21 GMT
Simon, Well tied flies, they all look great.Who would have thought you could use chamois leather to make a fly. Priceless! I have been using weighted nymphs on my recent excursions but there is a lot of fly life about at the moment so I think I will try a klinkhammer this weekend and see how I get on. If you or Sonia could take a few photos of the grayling that you catch and the pools you are fishing (optional) for us novices to admire that would be great. Tight lines leckie
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Post by leckie on Nov 20, 2011 22:14:28 GMT
Well I tried for the grayling this morning at first light. Not bad for a Sunday morning! Shows how keen I am to catch one of these critters. I couldn't believe it as I was tackling up I was getting eaten alive by midges . The discomfort was short lived as it doesn't take long to set up for tenkara fishing and you're on the move. I decided to try a klinkhammer on the surface even although there was no sign of any fish rising although they were a lot of flies around in addition to the midges. I was fishing the pool where I caught a grayling about two weeks ago, so I knew they were in there. A movement directly across the opposite side of the bank attracted my attention and when I looked over there was a family of roe deer munching away and moving downstream. What a fright they got when they eventually spotted me waving my 12' Iwana rod in the air. They bounded off their white tails bobbing as they scarpered off in the distance. Magic. With no takes on the klinkhammer I decided to fish a bit deeper, so I changed to a size 16 PTN. Worked the pool right up to the head the changed fly again to a size 16 Bold Bead GRHE. No takes - nothing. I decided to follow the deer and move downstream. I walked about a half mile downstream then started fishing back up to the car.This is the first run that I tried. Fairly shallow but a steady flow. I am now on a PTN and a Sawyers Killer Bug both size 16's. No takes so I moved upstream. This run is still fairly shallow but a bit faster than the previous one so I fished through the run with great anticipation. Still nothing. Not to worry, there's more runs further upstream so I move on. Now this looks more like grayling habitat I think to myself trying to get onto a positive mindset. Will I change the flies no I can't be bothered - I'll stick with the old tried and tested. Still nothing not even a swirl to the fly. That's been 4 hours hard fishing without even a touch, but still it's good to get out in the fresh air and countryside. I'll try a good bit downstream next time. The grayling have to be somewhere in this river When I get one you'll be the first to know leckie
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Post by Simon on Nov 21, 2011 8:11:42 GMT
Great report and photos, shame about the lack of ladies! We had some fishing on Sat and Sun on the Alyn. Saturday went well with Somia again into the grayling with the dry, I started with upstream nymphs then changed to the orange KH when a few fish started rising in one pool. One nice Grayling and a good Oosbt, quick photo and then released. Sunday was filming day with Peter "Pedros" a one year convert to Tenkara, more film and a few willing fish in a couple of hours, a lot of editing before being posted. Simon.
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Post by leckie on Nov 21, 2011 13:23:27 GMT
Simon, Thanks for posting the photo of the ooswbt. It looks a cracker. I look forward to some photos of the grayling from the Alyn as it seems that little river you have down there produces the goods time and again. The river that I am fishing at the moment isn't really an established grayling river although I know there are grayling there. I just don't know how big the population is I am going to persevere over the winter anyway as its a great way to find new sections of the river to fish for wbt next season. I have a permit for the River Leader,which is an established grayling river and a tributary of the Tweed so I'll give that a try as well. Then of course their is also the mighty Tweed itself. The salmon season finishes on the 30th of November and I can pick up a permit at a reasonable cost so I fancy a couple of days there as well. In summary, there are no excuses for me not catching a grayling and posting a photo of it on this thread. It just might take a tad longer than I imagined leckie
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Post by leckie on Jan 8, 2012 21:54:00 GMT
Friday 6 January 2012 - River South Esk I'm still trying for these grayling but I'm finding it pretty tough going. I nipped down to the local river for 3 hours. The river was quite high, nothing too drastic but clear. No excuses then. This is the first run that I stopped off at. I like the look of it unfortunately there was nothing doing. I tried a dry fly, a Sakasa Kebari that I tied the day before. Gave it half an hour but with no grayling or ooswbt taking an interest in it then I changed to a ptn for the rest of the session. You can see the damage from the recent gales we had up here and over most of the country in fact but here winds did reach 102mph. There was quite a lot of trees blown down some as you can see across the river. This will give the fish more cover and the good thing about tenkara fishing is that you can get a bow and arrow cast even in the tightest of places. I'm starting to fish level lines now as they offer more flexibility when fishing. I'm now getting the hang of casting with a longer level line as opposed to a 10'6" furled line. Well I'm heading back downstream now and I'll finish up where I started. Approaching the tail of the pool I see a rise. Now that's encouraging. The air temperature is 8 degrees so it's quite mild for this time of the year. I fish the run for another 10 minutes without any success and now it's time to go home for lunch. Notwithstanding I haven't caught a fish it's been a great fishing session and you learn more about the river each time you fish. Until the next time then. leckie
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Post by dave1972 on Jan 9, 2012 20:11:39 GMT
soz about quality, taken on my brick and its only vga......this was taken on my "t" rod in november 2011 only time its been used and christened with a baby girl of about 10 inch. this was caught from one of my fave spots where its nice and quiet between cottingley and bingley on the river aire. dont know how to multi pic post so bear with me Attachments:
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Post by dave1972 on Jan 9, 2012 20:18:44 GMT
this is the swim. runs off the old weir,shallow on nearside with a deeprun on far bank.very cool dry fly spot in summer with adams para's in small sizes( swear by this fly in size 18 my most productive dry by far).
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Post by dave1972 on Jan 9, 2012 20:24:22 GMT
and this is the fly..........a little half/half on a size 14 grub hook. hares ear plus dubbing in dark, ice dub in shell pink and a small tungy bead.my tying is bad as ive just started a few months back but it did the job and put a massive smile on my face Attachments:
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