My grayling flies for December are selected to cope with the extreme river conditions often encountered on the Welsh Dee at the beginning of winter.
In North Wales, December is usually a wet month, and the Welsh Dee is often in flood. For example, in six of the last seven years, the river level was 0.7m and higher (Manley Hall gauge) for the whole of December.
In 2015, December was extremely wet, and the river level stayed above 1.3m for the whole month, thus…
Fishing on the Welsh Dee was a complete WASH-OUT
Usually, fly hatches are sparse on the Welsh Dee during December and grayling are, more often than not, searching the riverbed for food: nymphs, larvae, worms etc.
So, how does all of the above affect…
My “Go-To” Grayling Flies for December?
Well, first and foremost, I have a smaller data set in my fishing log for December compared to other months. December fly selection is, therefore, derived from data combined with the experience of fishing in extreme weather conditions.
A) Grayling flies for December when river levels above 0.8m
More often than not, the Welsh Dee is likely to be above 0.8m (Manley Hall gauge) in December. These high river levels and dropping temperatures cause grayling to school and seek the shelter of large pools offering pockets of slower flow.
Pools on the Welsh Dee at Llangollen, where grayling school during December, include the following: Horseshoe Falls, Duncans Pool, Pipe Pool, Dee Farm, and the Cottage Pool.
Grayling flies for coloured water:
When the Welsh Dee is high and coloured, it’s necessary to fish a team of brightly coloured nymphs close to the riverbed.
To quickly get down through deep water, I often use the “BOMB” as the point fly, in bright orange or pink:
Orange BOMB
- Hook: Partridge CZ size 10
- Beads: 4 mm TB & 2×3.5 orange or pink
- Thread: Orange or Pink UNI 6/0
For the middle and top droppers, the following flies often consistently catch grayling in coloured water conditions.
Hot-pink Squirmy Worm
- Hook: Kamasan B175 #14 & 12
- Bead: 3.5 mm metallic pink tungsten
- Thread: pink UNI-Thread 8/0
- Body: Hot pink squirmy
Hare Ear shell-back nymph
- Hook: HENDS B124 #16
- Bead: 3 mm tungsten (pink, gold)
- Thread: red UNI-Thread 8/0
- Body: Hare Ear
- Back: medium copper tinsel
Orange Collar Pheasant tail nymph
- Hook: HENDS BL124 (#14 & 12)
- Bead: 2.5mm tungsten (gold or silver)
- Thread: orange UNI-Thread 8/0
- Tail: 3 pheasant tail fibre
- Body: pheasant tail fibres
- Rib: Fine copper wire
Grayling flies for clear water:
If there are no signs of grayling feeding at the surface, I fish a team on nymphs (Euro / Czech nymphing). In high and clear water, the flies used closely resemble natural insects.
I use heavy tungsten jig-back nymphs as the point fly in high water so that small nymphs are dragged quickly to the riverbed.
Olive Tungsten Jig-back
- Hook: HENDS BL124 (#12)
- Weight: XL-tungsten jig-back
- Thread: Claret UNI-Thread 8/0
- Tail: badger cock hackle fibres
- Tag – orange UNI-Thread 8/0
- Body: Olive synthetic quill
- Coating: UV – Varnish:
For the middle and top droppers, I’ve found the following flies consistently catch grayling in clear water conditions.
TB Quill nymph
- Hook: Hends BL154 (#14 & 16)
- Bead: 2mm tungsten
- Thread: Grey UNI-Thread 8/0
- Tail: Iron Blue cock hackle fibres
- Body: Stripped Peacock herl
- Thorax: Hare’s Ear Dubbing
TB Claret nymph
- Hook: Hends BL154 (#14 & 16)
- Bead: 2mm tungsten
- Thread: Claret UNI-Thread 8/0
- Tail: Coq De Leon fibres
- Body: Claret UNI-Thread 8/0
- Thorax: Hare’s Ear Dubbing
B) Grayling flies for December when river levels between 0.4 to 0.8m
If the river is coloured and is closer to 0.8m, I use the flies described in the section above for coloured water. The only change would be reducing the weight of the point fly so that it still bounces along the riverbed.
Finally, when the river runs clear and close to its summer level, the ‘best’ approach often varies with the time of day.
At the start of the day, fishing nymphs close to the riverbed is usually the best approach. The nymphs described above for clear high water conditions work well but with a lighter point fly. A good point nymph example is the purple collar PTN.
Purple collar black PTN
- Hook: Hends BL154 (#14 & 16)
- Bead: 3 or 3.5mm silver tungsten
- Thread: Black UNI-Thread 8/0
- Tail: CDL fibres
- Body: Black pheasant tail fibre
- Rib: Red wire
- Collar: Purple glister dubbing
As the day progresses, be vigilant for signs of grayling taking flies near the surface. If that happens, switching to fishing either spiders, wet flies, or a small dry fly is often a good move.
Grayling flies for December – spider/wet fly selection:
My default Welsh Dee wet fly recommendation for December would be a three-fly cast on a 3lb copolymer leader (point: #14 black hopper; middle dropper: #14 pearl-ribbed March Brown spider; top dropper: #16 Pearly butt Waterhen Bloa).
Black Hopper
- Hook: Kamasan B170 #14
- Thread: Black UNI-Thread 8/0
- Body: Black Seal fur substitute
- Rib: Pearl Mylar #14 (1/32)
- Legs: Black pheasant tail
- Hackle: Black Hen
Pearl-ribbed March Brown Spider
- Hook: Kamasan B170 #14
- Body: Rusty orange UNI-Thread 8/0
- Rib: Pearl Mylar #14 (1/32)
- Hackle: Brown partridge neck
Pearly butt Watehen Bloa
- Hook: Kamasan B170 #14 & #16
- Thread: waxed primrose silk
- Body: lightly dubbed mole fur
- Hackle: Waterhen wing slip (or startling)
Where best to fish the wet flies?
When the Welsh Dee is close to its summer level (<0.5m Manley Hall gauge), I focus my fishing in the following areas:
- the fast water leading into pools;
- alongside weed beds, large rocks, ledges, and snags;
- the glide leading into the tail of the pool
For more on how I fish wet fly, check out the page dedicated to wet fly fishing.
Grayling flies for December – dry fly selection:
On mild days (ca. > 8oC), you might see grayling taking dry flies at the surface. When that happens, definitely try a spot of dry fly fishing. It is best to match the hatch, failing that trying either of these flies should tempt a few grayling:
Griffith’s Gnat
- Hook: Kamasan B170 size 18
- Thread: Black UNI 8/0
- Body: Peacock herl
- Hackle: palmered Grizzle cock
Crumpled Iron Blue emerger
- Hook: Kamasan B170 #16 & 18
- Thread: Grey UNI-Thread 8/0
- Tail: Grey Anton yarn
- Body: Mole fur
- Indicator: Orange Anton
- Hackle: Crumpled Iron Blue cock
The above fly suggestions come from my records of flies that have reliably caught grayling. Thus, they make a great starting point for a newcomer to the Welsh Dee. Also, they may improve the catch results of the more seasoned angler.
Further reading on grayling fishing
Finally, I hope you’ve found this post interesting, and please share any of your favourite grayling flies for December in the comment section.
Distillation of many hours fishing and observing, which is very easy to read and informative. I wonder how fishing the Dee in flood compares to the Goyt and Mersey, but I’m going to give them a try. Thanks for the info.
Hi Donald,
It’s great that you liked the article and thanks for the feedback.
I’ve never fished the Goty or Mersey but would be interested to hear about your findings if you fish them in flood.
Cheers, Andrew
hi andrew many thanks for the infro sent. have now received my permit from llangollen maelor …water levels are high at moment.we did visit the river area on sunday to just have a idea where access was possible ,noted where you park on your visits, hopefully will fish, soon as water level drop .tight line keep safe charles
Hi Charles,
Great to hear you have joined the club, I’m sure you will enjoy the river this season.
Tight lines, Andrew
Thank you for your thoughts and suggestions as most have been successfully used by me over the years and reminds me how similar the fishing is on lots of rivers, I must keep trying more and different rivers, as I tend to fish on my local river dove.
Sam.
Hi Sam,
I’ve fished the Dove a couple of time with a friend, using the flies I use on the Dee with great success. Great to hear you enjoyed the post.
Cheers, Andrew
Always an interesting read and thank you for sharing your knowledge on the subject.
Hi Stuart,
Thanks for the feedback and it good to hear you are enjoying the posts.
Cheers, Andrew
Having recently received my membership/licence from CADAC I was hoping to try my luck near Corwen over the festive break. I am new to Fly Fishing and I would welcome a steer as to where I should try first and with what fly?
I have been following you since I took up the sport in August last year and find your articles and information great. Keep up the good work!
Many thanks
Hi Mark,
It’s great to hear you are enjoying the post and finding them useful. St. Davids beats and the Berwyn Arms beats both hold some good grayling and trout and are relatively easy to fish.
I hope this helps, Andrew
Hello
Having not fished for over 40years decided to start again
I find your articles very informative
And easy to follow
Tight lines to all
Great to hear you are finding the posts useful.
Cheers, Andrew
Great article and good to see the flies you use on the Dee.
Hi Ian,
Thanks for the feedback and good pleased you enjoyed the post.
Cheers, Andrew
I am hoping to get some grayling fishing done this Winter. I havent had any experience with Grayling so these blogs are very useful
Hi Martin,
It’s wonderful to know that you are finding the blogs helpful.
Good luck with your grayling fishing, Andrew
As always very interesting, your information and knowledge also proving useful on the Ribble and Hodder too and looking to fish the Wyre soon. Many thanks
Hi Phil,
Great to hear the fly tips are working for you on the Ribble and Hodder. Good luck with your trip to the Wyre.
Tight lines, Andrew
Always a pleasure to read your wisdom of the River Dee. I look forward to getting on there again once the weather improves. In the meantime I shall doubtless content myself with tying up some of your patterns. Tight Lines, iain Fraser.
Hi Iain,
Thanks for your comments. I’m fly tying at the moment as well.
The Hanak Grayling competition was held on the Welsh Dee this weekend (Sat/Sun) and despite the subzero temps the river was in good condition and there was a total of 997 grayling caught.
Cheers, Andrew
And you think that’s a good thing…..I think the Hanak should be stopped
Hi Jon,
It’s only held once a year so I don’t have a problem with it. There is still plenty of river for pleasure anglers that is not covered by the competition, so I focus my fishing on those area either side of the competition. After couple of weeks rest the river that has been fished during the competition seems OK to me.
Tight lines, Andrew