Another Game Fish – The Grayling

What to do in the close season has always been a source of frustration and boredom for me. So in my attempts to find a way to continue fly fishing when the Salmon and Trout seasons ends I have finally decided to “start” to get to grips with chasing a new prey  – ” Grayling” or “Thymallus thymallus” a fully fledged member of the salmon family “Salmonidae“.

First stop was to try to understand the “basics” in terms of equipment for nymph fly fishing for these beautiful looking Game fish. Having sought some advice and read many reviews I finally opted for a setup from Snowbee. Whilst not having tried it on the water yet my first impressions of  this beautiful little 10ft 3wt Fly rod from Snowbee (“new style handle”) are good. It looks well made and finished to a high standard and weighs in at practically nothing at an amazing 82g!! Speaking of weight I can’t wait to give it a swing. The reel – a Snowbee Spectre 2/3wt is also a tiny lightweight, especially when compared to my more familiar salmon fly reels.

I never fail to be amazed at the availability and quality of freely given generous help and advice by fellow anglers, many of whom I have never met in person and have only conversed via Facebook. Help offered even extended to an invite to join them on the water in the coming days chasing Grayling. Next step was to understand how to setup this rod in terms of line, leaders etc. My thanks to all who patiently explained the basics here, in particular thanks to Albert Davyboy Tatlock and John Bell (The Lomond Angler) for their patience in responding to my repeated and frequent naive questions.

From all of the valuable help and advice then my aim is to load the reel with backing then Ikon Tactical Nymph Line then 2x or 3x Dohiku Fly DK French Nymph Tapered Leaders – Dark Olive / 15m or 10m depending on conditions, to which I will attach 2x Stroft LS New Low Stretch Tippet – 0.12mm / 50m using 2x Stroft Rig Rings  – O.D. 2mm – yes 2mm rings !! These will be fun to deal with given my eyesight.

For choice of nymphs or bugs in terms of pattern, size and colours then this is still a complete black hole. As is understanding the required technique as to how to fish them. To assist I have gathered some books, some courtesy of Santa from which I will hopefully pick up some further information during the next few weeks. Of course no amount of reading or asking is a substitute for learning by doing or trying so the first chance I get I will be on the water to “learn by doing!” and also to “learn by failing too ” no doubt!

Watch this space!