Grayling Fishing Proving Difficult!

With fluctuating water levels on the Eden and still relatively pleasant days (when well wrapped up) the Grayling are proving hard to catch on the fly of late, even when hugging the bottom with weighted bugs, apart from the odd one as Tony discovered here in the picture, but they are definitely not responding in any numbers.

Whilst trying a different approach with youngsters from a Cumbrian youth club in the form of swim feeders and floats, we did manage a few fish but still nothing like the numbers you would expect on these methods at this time of year, and as far as the fly is concerned, which is my favourite method of catching these enigmatic fish, I am convinced that all we need for good results is the water levels to fall and stay steady for a while coupled with some early morning frosts (which we are getting now) to help lower the level a bit and hopefully induce these fish to take, which usually does the trick over the winter. Let's wait and see!

Too Much Water Again

Although the water was high in late October, it was not too coloured to fish for Grayling, and even though these beautiful fish are often unpredictable to say the least when the water is consistently unsettled, you can usually catch a few on maggots as opposed to the fly which comes into its own more readily on a water that has stayed reasonably steady for a sustained period of time, especially when temperatures drop and the water remains low for a while (winter). Given these conditions, which generally occur after a good frost or two, the Grayling fishing can be excellent on the fly (I can't wait). Anyway getting back to my earlier thread, in late October in my capacity as an instructor for Borderlines, we took some youngsters out fishing with the maggot, and introduced them to the swim feeder and the float, and although the fishing was difficult they did manage several Grayling to around 1 1/2lb.

Following this I travelled down to the BFFI (British Fly Fair International) at Trentham Gardens near Stoke where I was representing AAPGAI (Association of Advanced Professional Game Angling Instructors) as part of the fly casting demonstration team, which I really enjoy. Oh and by the way, for those of you who are regular visitors to the show, the venue and dates for the BFFI will change next year to the 18th & 19th June and will take place at Bingley Hall in Stafford which is the Staffordshire Show Ground, and in addition to the casting demonstrations, AAPGAI will be running a casting clinic there for those who would like to either learn how to cast for the first time, or improve their existing skills. I look forward to seeing some of you there. 

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Since returning home to Cumbria, the river Eden has been persistently high and today was no exception with the water rising once again. We need the rain to stop, and the water to drop back down for some good Grayling fishing on the fly, which I am looking forward to. Let's hope it is soon! Keep an eye on the weather using the Met Office link on the right.