Grayling Fishing

Using Grayling Fishing Flies Through Autumn & Winter

The grayling is a game fish but it has a different closed season to trout. It means we can fly fish for grayling over winter on rivers when we cannot fly fish for brownies. The grayling provides great sport and can be both challenging and rewarding for the fly fisherman. With it's big sail it produces a very different fight when hooked. Dry fly fishing is decided by the availability of insects and the attitude of the grayling to surface feeding. If grayling are not rising do not expect them to come to the surface. Choosing a grayling dry fly is not difficult if there are naturals simply match the hatch. Wet fly fishing or czech nymphing is the most successful technique for grayling.  The Baetis nymph, Rhyacophilia Larva, and cased caddis are all direct imitations of the most frequently found river nymphs.

Grayling Fishing With Bugs And Nymphs

As they are normally a bottom feeder the best grayling fly patterns are often nymphs and bugs. However when grayling are rising to dry flies they are superb sport. But please remember that they cannot be teased to the surface with Klinkhammers in the same way a trout can. When grayling are subsurface then you would be silly to try anything other than nymphs and bugs.

Fly Fishing With Dry Flies For Grayling

If grayling are not rising do not expect them to come to the surface ....they simply will not. Choosing a dry fly for grayling is not difficult if there are naturals simply match the hatch, however flies that are really good for grayling include the Red Tag and Klinkhammer's and our Black Magic range of flies are absolutely deadly in all their colours to match the hatching insects. Klinkhammers represent an emerging insect rather than a dun and it is successful for grayling.

Have a look at some of our rather special dries below or click here to see the full range.

Fishing With Wet Flies For Grayling

Wet fly fishing for grayling with a team of three traditional flies, patterns such as Greenwells, Snipe and Purple, Partridge and Orange, Red Tag, Hares Ear or Wickhams Fancy work well. We prefer the more modern Baetis nymph, Rhyacophilia Larva, Hydropsyche Larva and cased caddis patterns in teams of 3 flies. These are all direct imitations of the most frequently found river nymphs. Working the flies across and downstream is often a successful way to search the water. These patterns are of course mainly suitable for use in the autumn when grayling fly fishing is at its height.