The Lady of the Stream.

The Elusive Grayling, which is so hard to catch in the summer months, start to become more and more a guest to the fly as the weather turns in and the temperature gets colder. I could easily make a whole web page on this princess of the brook, but many normal trout methods just need a bit or adjusting to make fly-fishing almost an all year activity.

The Grayling an Overview.

The debate as whether the Grayling is a Coarse or a game fish still goes on. In fact it is a game fish but for some evolutionary reason the fish spawns with its coarse fish neirbours in the river.

Often where you find trout you wont find grayling, as the brown trout is so territorial. I think this why the grayling is so much of a winter fish. I believe that when the trout are in the tributaries or in the spawning bed the grayling feel free to explore the river.

The fish it's self has a different behaviour pattern than the humble brownie and is essentially a shoal fish and is not that easily scared. Unlike the trout that is very territorial the grayling usually shoals in groups up to a dozen with two or three larger members.

Through observation the sizes of the shoals get smaller as the fish gets larger, but again where you find one often there are others and small trout.

I have often been in clear areas of my local river with a shoal within 10 feet or so. I have vainly dropped my fly right through the shoal without a hint or interest.

In dismay I have watched the shoal swim back and forth in the pool almost un-aware of my presence, until I have moved upstream.

Where to find her.

The grayling loves oxygen and are often found in the calmer runs adjacent to faster streams. A good tip is to look out for the large areas of exposed flat rock in the summer that appears in the river when it is low. These in winter always hold grayling. The fish position them selve flat against the bottom darting towards a snack as it approaches. The faster the water the more they will position themselves beside the bank.