Grayling – The one species you can rely on
when it gets really cold.
Part one – The basics.
For years I
thought that Grayling were of the radar, a species cursed by the game angler
and rarely targeted by the coarse angler, yet I was wrong as the expensive game
chalk streams beats realised that by opening the banks up during their close
season they could not only bring in an income during this usual lean period but
by keeping the banks busy keep predation down to a minimum.
It’s a win-win
situation for everyone and for a few pound anglers can now visit these beats
and enjoy non-stop action from not just the game fish but also from the ‘Lady
of the Stream’ the grayling. What’s even better is grayling are far from
difficult to catch, in fact their aggressive feeding nature means that anyone
that can get a float moving downstream should be able to tempt a few of these
hard fighting fish. Even better is when the weather has, ‘catch-nothing’
written all over it usually means the grayling will be crawling up your rods as
unlike all other species, when its freezing, atmospherics are sky high, skies
are cloudless and blue, the rivers cold and clear and even when the moon phases
are completely wrong, grayling will willingly feed. The only things to watch
out for is if the rivers up and coloured then grayling will be generally
difficult to tempt as they are sight feeders. If it’s windy as well then
controlling a float down the river will be difficult, so keep those mild
overcast windy winter days when the rivers rising to barbel.
Probably the
two most well known game beats that offer grayling
fishing to the coarse angler
are The Lower Itchen Fishery and Timsbury on the Test. Both limit the amount of
anglers on each day, so you will have plenty of room to move around, the only
problem is that you will need to book in advance which makes getting that
perfect day difficult. I tend to leave things to around four days before and
then book up as the weather forecast is usually fairly reliable, the only
downside is that there may be no spaces left. Fortunately the more you fish
this type of river the more stretches you become aware off. I have at least
half a dozen others that I can fall back on if needed. The Test and Itchen does
offer the chance of a two-pounder, a specimen in the grayling world, and should
be the target for any angler visiting these beats, however they don’t come
along every day, so initially just enjoy the reliable sport, hone in your
trotting skills, catch as many fish as you can and that specimen should one day
show. There are other species that will fall on these beats such as the ever
greedy trout along with other residents that are slightly more challenging to
tempt such as chub, roach, dace and barbel, all which grow to specimen size.
Also expect the unexpected such as salmon, carp and bream. In fact last time I
fished the Test I caught nine different species in a day, all on sweet corn
which included, roach to 1lb 12oz, dace to 10oz, chub to 3lb 8oz, grayling,
salmon par, sea trout, bream, roach bream hybrids and brown trout (sea and
brown trout can be classified as the same species, so eight species to some).
Although both rivers do produce massive grayling, if there is one river that
reigns supreme over both for constantly producing record nudging specimens it’s
the Dorset Frome, again a river that is accessible by what I would call, the everyday
angler simply by joining one of the many clubs that take control of the game
beats during the close season. If you want to find out more about the Frome
then give Deano at Perbeck Angling a call.
So you have
decided to book up and need some help in catching? Well relax as you don’t need
to go and buy a new rod or reel as you should have something that will get you
started. A 13ft match rod is good enough along with a small fixed spool reel
loaded with 4lb mainline, yet as for stick floats then you
may not find any in
your local tackle shop anymore and if you do then they probably won’t be big
enough. My advice is to take a look at the Dave Harrell range as this brilliant
float angler has covered every situation and each pattern has a description on
how and where to use them. I would recommend getting a couple of the following
– No1 Alloy Stem Avon’s in 2g and 3g, Alloy Stem No2 in sizes 6xno4 to 8no4 and
some Alloy Stem Shoulder Sticks in 6no4 to 10no4. In most cases its best to use
a bulk shot around eight to ten inches from the hook. It’s up to you if you use
split-shot but I get really irritated with shot either falling off or moving so
now use an in-line Olivette, Drennan do these along with a couple of
dropper
shots, usually size 8 Stotz. You don’t even have to shot the float right down
as grayling are bold bitters and the float will simply just disappear when a
grayling takes the bait. 0.11mm (3lb 6oz) Reflo Power is a great hooklink and
as for hooks then you can’t beat size 14 Kamasan B525 eyed whisker barb (if
allowed) as you can easily swap between corn and maggot hookbaits. Some use a
small swivel to attach the hooklink (which can be used as a bulk shot as well)
but I don’t as although this may reduce line twist, knots create weaknesses,
especially pre-stretches line knots on swivels. I simply attach my hooklink to
the mainline by means of two loop to loop knots, far more reliable! A word of
warning here – if you have read articles telling you to use small hooks and tie
in elasticated shock absorbers into your set up then ignore these, it’s just
anglers trying to get technical with a species that just need to be targeted
with simplicity. My advice to any angler that’s loosing fish is to up the size
of their hook and when you stop catching in a swim that has been productive,
move on!
Once you have
visited the river for a couple of times (most anglers plan a couple of days
each winter to enjoy this type of fishing)
you will probably want to purchase
either a centrepin or closed face reel and maybe a slightly longer rod, I use a
Preston Carbonactive 15ft float rod, both of which will give you superior
control over a 13ft rod and fixed spool reel.
Another great
point about grayling is that they will move up in the water for a meal; however
it’s usually the smaller, fitter fish that do this, so try and get the bait
down close to the bottom if you want a better stamp of fish. I simply guess the
depth of the swim, run a float through a few times, adding depth all the time
until the float gets dragged under due to the hook catching the bottom. Reduce
the depth a couple of inches; place a piece of corn or a couple of maggots onto
the hook and then strike every time the float disappears. Sounds simple but
it’s probably the one area most anglers ignore. Attention to detail will catch
you more and bigger fish! One other top tip is to use four rubbers to attach
the float to the mainline, spread evenly down the length of the float, as this
will stop the float moving once the depth has been found or on constant
striking.
As for bait,
some fisheries don’t allow maggots as this will catch salmon par that need to
be protected and almost all forbid the use of worms as this will catch bigger
salmon. If maggots are allowed, as they are at Timsbury and The Lower Itchen
Fishery then reds are best but the problem with maggots is that they will catch
all sizes of fish from a tiny minnow right through to a mighty salmon. My best
salmon of 12lb 2oz fell to double red maggot! Corn will supply a much better
stamp of fish and will slow the amount of trout down so if it’s a specimen
grayling you are after then corn will often score as it reduces the amount of
fish caught, which reduces the amount of commotion through the swim which in
turn increases the chances of a bigger fish taking the bait before the shoal is
spooked. A standard swim will act like this. Whilst finding the depth, feed a
few grains of corn or some maggots. If there are numbers of fish in the swim
expect a bite first run through. The action will be constant for a while before
the fish become wary and eventually refuse any offering that goes through the
swim. When you stop getting bites or bites are reduced to say one in every six
trots through move on and try the swim later in the day on the way back to the
car.
Feeder
fishing for grayling! Now you are swearing at me, well almost. I have to admit
that feeder fishing for grayling is a really productive method but the problem
is grayling bites on the feeder can be very slight and if not struck will see
the hook out of sight and down its throat. Grayling are very fragile so after a
hard fight and if a hook is either left down its throat or a disgorger is prodded
around too much will lead to a dead grayling. If you are feeder fishing then my
advice if you are deep hooking is to pay more attention to the rod tip and
strike at the slightest movement along with reducing the length of your
hooklink. I cringe when I see so many Frome anglers feeder fishing, as many are
using rods that would be more suitable for pike. Why are there fewer big
grayling on our chalk streams, you now have the answer! Do I feeder fish for
grayling? Yes. But I use the feeder as a fish finding tool. Cast it into a
swim, get a bite then swap to the float. If I can’t get a bite on the float, I
will cast a feeder back into the swim and if I get another bite then its back
on the float as I know they are there, I just need to find how they want it.
Another top
tip is if you hook what feels like a big grayling then instead of trying to
play it up the swim through the fast flow, walk down stream until you are
adjacent to it as this will stack the odds in your favour of landing that fish
of your dreams.
Duncan Charman is sponsored by Nash Tackle and Bait and has his own
website www.duncancharman.co.uk He regularly contributes to top weekly,
Anglers Mail magazine.
He is also an angling guide and can be booked on a daily basis for most
species including carp, pike, perch, zander, chub, catfish, barbel, bream,
grass carp, crucians, roach, rudd, grayling, tench and golden orfe. For more
information and prices email him at duncancharman@me.com
or give him a call 07928 617006 / 01252 315271.
Timsbury – 07759 331385
Lower Itchen Fishery – 07477
790210
Purbeck Angling – 01929 550770
If you have been thinking of booking a guided trip then it might be worth getting a date sorted with me soon as the fishing on the Frome ends at the end of Feb and the Itchen and Test just two weeks later.
Images –
1 – First cast at Timsbury when
the temperature was -5, moments later Rod my customer was playing a fish!
2 – The Frome when it was -7,
did we catch fish, yes!
3 – The biggest grayling I’ve
seen from The Lower Itchen Fishery for many years, 2lb 7oz to my customer
Barrie.
4 – A flooded Frome on a frosty
morning, not ideal but the grayling still wanted to feed.
5 – What other species can you
catch when it’s this cold? Graeme with a personal best Frome grayling.
6 – Fixed spool, closed face or
centrepin?
7 – A selection of stick floats
ideal for grayling fishing.
8 – Inline olivettes, reflow
hooklink, Stotz droppers and Kamasan hooks, not exactly rocket science.
9 – Maggots and sweet corn is
all you will need.
10 – A bait apron will make
feeding easier.
11 – Maggots will catch the
smallest fish such as this juvenile grayling!
12 – Maggots will catch you big
fish as well like this Frome 8lb 2oz brownie.
13 – A specimen from the Frome
on a typical winter’s grayling day.
14 – ‘Evolution of an Angler’
has loads of grayling fishing sessions within.
So why did I decide on these rods
during such an important campaign? Well balanced tackle has always been a major
part of my angling. Yes I could have gone the 3lb T/C carp rod route, but
frankly where’s the fun in this! Complete faith when the odds are so high is
paramount and these rods are exceptional, reliable and a pure joy to use and
when long walks to the river are standard, the smaller compact set-up mean that
if two rods do need to be employed then the additional weight is kept to a
minimum.
The compact nature of the rods
also was a reason that I decided to use these on a tench campaign on Larkfield
last spring as the tackle could be kept out of sight whilst the car was parked
up and I was doing my rounds around the lake. Fortunately I don’t have to commute
into the city, or park the car in crowded areas but for any angler that does I
can see a massive reason for having a set of Scopes as being out of sight an
angler can now go fishing directly after work as opposed to returning home.
Narrow, overgrown paths round lakes, such as Larkfield, also mean that longer
rods in holdalls become problematic but the compact nature of the Scope set-up
mean that barrows aren’t over-loaded and transportation to and from a swim
becomes a doddle. Gravel pit tench are also suckers for the margins and rarely
is it needed to distance fish for them. Most of my spots were anything from
under the rod tip to a maximum of 40yards so the need for longer more powerful
rods wasn’t needed. 
This season I’ve had 2lb roach,
4lb crucians and golden orfe to over 6lb all taken on 1.75lb Scopes but
probably the best example of just how versatile these rods are is when rudd
fishing at Frensham Great Pond. Rudd only have a very thin layer of skin within
their mouth’s so you would have thought that a micro-barbed size 16 hook would
often pull when carefully playing a specimen back from sometimes upwards of
80yards, and often in the dark, but you would be wrong as the forgiving tip
absorbs every sudden head shake so common with them. 
