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Grayling

Can be frustrating fish in my experience, some days I lose far more than I land, other days I hardly lose any.
For some reason I get fewer lost fish on fly over trotting.
 
Graham Elliott said:
My first trip for grayling is this Saturday in the land of 20mph driving..saying that had about 30 during my October Test fish.

I'll use my Hardy 14ft as trotting 40 yards or so with a 6gr Avon with a very soft tip rod doesn't really hook the fish well enough IMO despite the fact the bites can be enough to prick them.
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Good luck on Saturday Graham and that 20mph speed limit 😀 I was doing 20mph in all built up areas, even where it said 30mph as wasn’t sure the signs had been changed. I did notice a few more police vehicles about, not sure if that was just coincidence🤷‍♂️
 
Prior to the current floods, I managed a few trips to the upper Dorset Frome on my club's new venue. There's a lot of walking involved so I travelled very light and, in the preparation, rediscovered my Korum 12ft/14ft Glide. I ditched the 2ft plug in bit of carbon, the remaining 12ft coped very well with grayling, sea trout and out of season brown trout. The Glide felt balanced and comfortable at 12ft with my Shakespeare Centenary centrepin.

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Most of the grayling were around 1lb+ but a couple were a different class all together. None were weighed but a big 2lbs+ specimen was followed by a very big 2lbs+ which may have nudged into the true Frome specimen class.

Had a few specimen minnows as well!

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As an aside, I've fished the lower stretches of the Frome a lot and love using my Normark 13ft Microlite Match down there. The visiting silver & spotted tourists are a side show to this amazing river and usually push my Normarks to the absolute limit!

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Hoping for a few ours after grayling on the Ure when it finally drops to a sensible level.
I was having a browse online & came across a `'fact' that grayling can't digest sweetcorn & it's harmful to loose feed it.
Does anyone know more about this?
Thanks if you can elaborate.
 
I've heard that.
I know how indigestible things affect me, but how the hell could you tell with a Grayling?
Bubbles rising in the swim?😁
 
Half a pint of red/white maggots and a few red worms if you can find them. That’s all you’ll need.
 
Julian Marshall said:
Hoping for a few ours after grayling on the Ure when it finally drops to a sensible level.
I was having a browse online & came across a `'fact' that grayling can't digest sweetcorn & it's harmful to loose feed it.
Does anyone know more about this?
Thanks if you can elaborate.
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I suspect that I've read the same online article. However, I only read it long after I'd given up trying sweetcorn for grayling on the Dales rivers. I have no idea whether there's any truth in sweetcorn being indigestible, though I suspect it may have some truth. I know I don't digest it very well and I've seen evidence that some other species of fish don't digest it very well. Whether an inability to digest it does any harm to grayling is another matter. It's probably a moot point as I have never had a single bite from a grayling on sweetcorn when fishing the Swale or Tees. I'm reliably informed that it can be a good bait for grayling, but I'm not convinced that this rings true on the rivers I fish. It's not for a lack of trying either.
 
Chris Jones said:
I suspect that I've read the same online article. However, I only read it long after I'd given up trying sweetcorn for grayling on the Dales rivers. I have no idea whether there's any truth in sweetcorn being indigestible, though I suspect it may have some truth. I know I don't digest it very well and I've seen evidence that some other species of fish don't digest it very well. Whether an inability to digest it does any harm to grayling is another matter. It's probably a moot point as I have never had a single bite from a grayling on sweetcorn when fishing the Swale or Tees. I'm reliably informed that it can be a good bait for grayling, but I'm not convinced that this rings true on the rivers I fish. It's not for a lack of trying either.
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That's interesting! I've seen the Test fish like it well enough & thought of trying it to save having to drive round to pick up red maggots. I did have some on bread punch last year when I'd no other option, had dace as well. When it's even lower I'll get the fly rod & killer bug out! Thanks again for the info, Julian
 
Julian Marshall said:
Hoping for a few ours after grayling on the Ure when it finally drops to a sensible level.
I was having a browse online & came across a `'fact' that grayling can't digest sweetcorn & it's harmful to loose feed it.
Does anyone know more about this?
Thanks if you can elaborate.
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I think i may have been a grayling in a former life ;) , i too can't digest it, and it comes out exactly as it went in, problem is, i love the stuff. :)
 
Chris Jones said:
I suspect that I've read the same online article. However, I only read it long after I'd given up trying sweetcorn for grayling on the Dales rivers. I have no idea whether there's any truth in sweetcorn being indigestible, though I suspect it may have some truth. I know I don't digest it very well and I've seen evidence that some other species of fish don't digest it very well. Whether an inability to digest it does any harm to grayling is another matter. It's probably a moot point as I have never had a single bite from a grayling on sweetcorn when fishing the Swale or Tees. I'm reliably informed that it can be a good bait for grayling, but I'm not convinced that this rings true on the rivers I fish. It's not for a lack of trying either.
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It never did me any favours on those northern rivers and becks either Chris. I quickly gave up on it and probably didn’t give it as much of a chance as you have.

Pint of reds for me. Nothing else has served me better for grayling
 
The rivers are still fuller than I think is ideal. However, the forecast for tomorrow is dismal and I rarely fish on a Sunday. I also have some new waders that I was itching to try. Considering my very low expectations, I was reasonably content with six half-decent grayling and a couple of spotty hooligans. The waders are pretty good too.
 
I think I'll stick to maggots following the comments... I've even got some red rubber ones which seem to get taken as freely as the real thing. I've had to give up on spade ends after realising that 20 minutes to tie just one is a waste of fishing time & I'm not much better at home with good light & a sort of jig.
I've gone for Kamasan B410 fly hooks which are straight eyed & very sharp.
If it affects the 'presentation' of the bait then the grayling will just have to put up with it.
Assuming grayling might not be great at digesting plant material, I was interested to read about the pine needles on this thread : https://www.traditionalfisherman.com/viewtopic.php?t=28969 - page 2.
Not sure about the fish antifreeze concept though.
I might try & locate a fisheries chap to give an opinion.
Thanks again for all the input.
 
Julian Marshall said:
I think I'll stick to maggots following the comments... I've even got some red rubber ones which seem to get taken as freely as the real thing. I've had to give up on spade ends after realising that 20 minutes to tie just one is a waste of fishing time & I'm not much better at home with good light & a sort of jig.
I've gone for Kamasan B410 fly hooks which are straight eyed & very sharp.
If it affects the 'presentation' of the bait then the grayling will just have to put up with it.
Assuming grayling might not be great at digesting plant material, I was interested to read about the pine needles on this thread : https://www.traditionalfisherman.com/viewtopic.php?t=28969 - page 2.
Not sure about the fish antifreeze concept though.
I might try & locate a fisheries chap to give an opinion.
Thanks again for all the input.
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You can always buy hooks to nylon Julian if you want to continue using spades.

Must admit I’ve been using the 2 stonfo hook tiers for a number of years and find them brilliant for whipping up a hook length very quickly on the bank.

I don’t think your going to encounter any presentation issues going with eyed. Spades are just a little bit more streamlined with the line going to the hook and no hinge point that’s all. Use what your happy with
 
Met up with a friend and we had a wander on the R.Dane after grayling today . Couldn't have asked for a nicer day . For the first couple of hours we suffered with the line freezing to the eyes , once we got into the sun life became easier . Fished about a mile of river and found the fish very localised . Some seemingly beautiful swims were devoid of fish and areas we wouldn't have expected to catch held fish in numbers . Has the day wore on and the snow started to fall the sport seemed to get better . Towards dusk sport eased and two happy anglers retired for the day .
 
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