Hardy & Greys - Alnwick, England

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1. Flyfishing
   1. Flyfishing
   2. Coarse

If you're struggling for a new year's resolution this year then I recommend you think about chasing a lady. No, I am not suggesting you ask your boss for a promotion with a secretary. I am indeed recommending you start to chase the aptly named 'Lady of the Stream', the Grayling.

Once you catch your first Grayling, it will take you all of a microsecond before your thinking about catching your next. Grayling, (Thymallus Thymallus) tick all the correct boxes for the Game angler. They inhabit many rivers in England, Scotland and Wales and a trophy fish is anything around 3lb. The best time to target Grayling is in autumn and winter, perfectly placed between the Trout season.

Scott Nellins is a member of the Hardy England European Team

Ever since the boom in Czech Nymphing in the UK, larger Grayling have start to become increasingly harder to catch on the smaller rivers as fishing pressure has increased fourfold. Larger rivers are less susceptible to pressure and so still yield a larger number of bigger fish.

Angling skill now plays a bigger part, with very long fine leaders and size 16-20 nymphs and dries required when the water is running low and clear. Too control these long leaders and small flies at distance, rods of 10' are the norm with a rating of #3 or #4. These long rods allow you to hold your fly line or tippet off the water when fishing upstream, helping to eliminate the drag the current has on your flies. Don't be put of by using a long rod, the Greys Streamflex 10' #3 & 10' #4 rods both weigh less than 100g.

As with most forms of angling, location and conditions have a massive influence on your days fishing. This is true for Grayling, especially during the winter months. Grayling tend to shoal up in the deeper, slower parts of the river during the winter and this can be rich pickings for the angler. Finding the shoal may take some time, but when you do it can be fantastic sport. Like many ladies, Grayling have a sweet tooth, not for chocolate however, but for flies with a touch of flash in them - pink in various shades is especially effective for Grayling, especially combined in a shrimp pattern. I have to confess to having probably one too many shades of pink in my shrimp box, but I like to have plenty options depending on river height and clarity. Go brighter in dirty water, and focus on smaller, washed out pink colour patterns when the water is clear.

Depending on what you read or who you talk too, there are numerous different ways of catching Grayling. Dry fly is of coarse the most fun, but thanks to the Grayling's under slung mouth, can be difficult to hook when fishing upstream. If you get the chance to observe a Grayling feeding on the surface, you will see that often the Grayling follows the fly downstream before taking it. This can give you a clue as to what type of fish is rising to flies. The Grayling will leave a small bubble as it has to go over the fly to take it, whereas a Trout can sip it down from underneath, leaving only a small dimple rise.

Perhaps the easiest way to catch Grayling is using the ‘New Zealand Style' method. This method has many names but they all mean the same thing. A buoyant dry fly such as a Deer Hair Caddis, or Klinkhammer is tied to the end of 12' tapered leader with a 3lb-4lb point. From there, a length of a line of slighter lighter breaking strain is tied of the shank of the hook of your dry fly and a small tungsten beaded nymph to the other end. A good rule of thumb is if the depth of water is 3ft, then have the length of line between your dry and nymph 8"-12" over depth. This leaves enough length to account for river current speed, yet still lets your nymph trundle the bottom. The advantage of using this method is that you are in direct contact with both your flies. If a Grayling takes the nymph, then your dry fly acts as an indictor and disappears. This method is best deployed in 'popply' water of 1-3'. Very short upstream casts are used, with only 2-3 yards of fly line outside the tip ring and the rod held high to keep as much line off the water as possible. This helps eliminate drag on the flies, giving them a more natural presentation.

By far and away the most popular method used to catch Grayling is ‘Czech Nymphing' or ‘Bugging'. Again, the weapon of choice is a 10' rod, this time weighed #4 or #5. The Greys Streamflex and Hardy Marksman are top of the list of Czech Nymphing rods. The setup this time is slightly different. I like to use a level breaking strain of line, between 4-6lb depending on water clarity, just longer than the length of the rod you're using. From here, add a first dropper 6ft from the flyline and then another dropper 2 feet from this one, leaving 2 feet to the point. The point fly should then be around 2 feet from the middle dropper, which in turn is 2 feet from the top dropper. Doing this enables all your flies to be close to the bottom, which the Grayling spend most of their feeding time. Flies are personal preference, but experiment with size, colour and weight until you find what the fish are taking as it tends to differ by day. I like to start by tying my heaviest fly on the middle dropper in the depths of winter to ensure my 3 flies are as close to the bottom as possible, however in summer my heaviest fly is always on the point, to give a wider spread of flies through the depths as the Grayling are more likely to rise in the water to take flies in the summer months.

To successfully target Grayling, you're going to need to become a competent wader. This means having the gear to stand up to the job. A good pair of waders, such as the Hardy EWS MKII and boots to match will keep you dry and give you grip on the riverbed. Personally, I go for the felt sole boot when wading on stones or gravel.

Ok - that's the basics. Now to find a beginner to Grayling fishing, and a river with some Grayling and put the idea into practice...

Lucy Bowden works for Hardy & Greys Ltd and also runs her own ladies fishing Club

The Fishing For Everyone Ladies Fishing Club enjoyed their first fishing trip of 2010 last month Grayling fishing on the exclusive Tweedswood beat on the River Tweed.

Mostly novice anglers, eleven ladies braved the freezing conditions to 'try their hand' at Grayling fishing. Our guide for the day was Hardy & Greys Ltd Academy member, Ron Mccombe. Ron is a qualified angling instructor and also runs his own business, www.tweedguide.com. Assisting Ron was Kevin Patterson, Tweedswood beat Ghillie, and Scott Nellins - we were all in good hands!

The day began with an introduction from Ron and a lesson in tackling up our equipment. The ladies tried their hand at using two and three flies and fished with nymphs for the first time.

The water was freezing and many a block of ice drifted past us whilst we stood thigh deep in the water however, wearing Greys neoprene waders we hardly felt the cold.

The first to land a fish was Carmelle - a 42cm Grayling caught on a Greys Stremflex rod outfit and pink nymph - an absolute beauty!

The ladies continued to fish throughout the day untill around 3pm when the light began to fade. All the ladies left the Tweed having had a very enjoyable day - excellent guides, perfect weather conditions and great fishing. Thanks go to Ron, Kevin and Scott for their help.