Fishing on the River Wye for beautiful Derbyshire Grayling

Fishing on the River Wye in Derbyshire had been on my bucket list for a while. So, when the Charity Grayling Fishing event popped up on my social media feed from Mallon and Green, I called Graham, and we signed up to fish on Saturday (27^th of January).

The event was being held on Peacock Fly Fishing Club beats of the River Wye & River Derwent between Bakewell and Rowsley.

The day began at the Mallon & Green store in Bakewell with a delicious bacon cob and a cup of tea, allowing us to socialise with the other anglers.

After Jan Hobot’s informative overview of the fishing, we decided to fish the Derbyshire Wye above Haddon Hall because I had already fished the River Derwent several times.

Fishing on the River Wye above Haddon Hall

We parked by the poplar trees at the top of the lane to Haddon Park Farm and wandered down to view the river from the bridge.

After the early January floods, the River Wye level had slowly dropped to 0.48m on the gauge at Ashford in the Water. The river was still quite high and relatively clear. There was a cold breeze and there were no signs of hatching flies hatching or fish rising.

Back at the car, we decided to start by fishing nymphs below an indicator because that would allow us to easily cover likely lies from the bank.

I set my 9′ 6″ 5# fly rod with a floating line tipped with a tapper leader cut back to 5ft. On the end of the leader, I added a 5 ft length of 4 lbs fluorocarbon tippet with a dropper 18″ above the point (point: #12 pink collar pheasant tail nymph with a silver 3 mm pink tungsten bead; dropper: #16 pheasant tail nymph with a 2mm tungsten bead).

To help detect takes I attached an adjustable top dropper (4-inch length of 4lbs Fluorocarbon) with a FULLINGMILL pink self-adhesive foam strike indicator. Putting the indicator on an adjustable dropper allows you the option to quickly replace the strike indicator with a dry fly if fish begin to take flies at the surface.

Fly fishing for Grayling below the bridge.

A few anglers headed upriver from the car park, so went downriver to fish the pools below the road bridge at about 11 am. Methodically, we covered all the accessible sections without a sniff.

On our way back to the car refreshments, fishing the bridge pool produced a solid take but the grayling threw the hook before I could gain control.

Fishing from the car park to the hut.

While enjoying a warm cuppa back at the car, we debated moving to another beat because four angles were already fishing upriver. Still, we decided to take our chances and follow them upriver.

After an hour of working upriver to the fishing hut, we had nothing to show for our efforts. But, our optimism was boosted on meeting another angler who had caught an OOS brown and rainbow trout using small nymphs.

In the pool above the hut, my indicator darted sideways, and the rod bent into a small grayling. After a short struggle, I netted my fist Wye grayling that had taken the small pheasant tail nymph.

Fishing upriver to Agricultural Way

While Graham fished the pools above the hut, I decided to quickly prospect my way upriver because it was difficult to find fish. After fishing several locations, my indicator finally vanished and my rod bent around into a larger fish. Once I’d gained control another lovely River Wye grayling was netted that had fallen for the pheasant tail nymph.

I didn’t have any takes fishing the rest of the pool, so I resumed prospecting my way upriver. Where the river runs alongside the A6, I came across a glider that flowed into a deep pool. The overhanging trees on the far bank made it difficult to fish the pool using the indicator setup.

So, I set up my 11ft 3# Vision Nymphmaniac rod to fish a team of three nymphs spaced 18″ apart on a 4 lb fluorocarbon leader (point: #12 pheasant tail nymph with a 4 mm orange TB; middle dropper: #14 peacock quill nymph with a 3 mm silver TB; top dropper: #18 Hares Ear 1.5 mm copper TB).

Starting at the tail of the pool I methodically fished up through the pool. The first take produced a juvenile grayling that took the Hares Ear on the top dropper.

Overhanging tree branches protected the drop-off area near the pool’s head.

Hanging tree branches were shielding the drop-off zone near the pool’s head. However, using the longer fly rod (11ft), I was able to guide the nymphs under the branches. This proved to be an effective strategy because on the first drift…

BOOM! – I had savage take first and my rod bent around into a big fish

It took off into the deep channel near the far bank. It wasn’t easy navigating the branches hanging in the river but eventually, I gained the upper hand and netted an amazing River Wye grayling that had taken the peacock quill nymph.

Fishing the rest of the pool produced another take, but the grayling struggled free before I could net it. After this loss, I retraced my steps downriver to see how Graham was doing.

He’d caught a beautiful OOS brown trout and rainbow trout but surprisingly on a copper-beaded pheasant tail nymph, but hadn’t connected with any grayling.

The light was beginning to fail, so we returned to the car after a brief stop to fish the pool by the hut. This was a good move because it produced my final Wye grayling of the day that fell for the small Hare’s Ear nymph on the top dropper.

Summary of the River Wye fishing trip

We had a terrific day fly fishing in the peak district on the River Wye in Bakewell for grayling. After a slow start, switching to small nymphs (pheasant tail and Hare’s ear) I caught four gorgeous grayling. The grayling had eluded Graham but he did catch some brown and rainbow trout.

Overall, it was a pleasure to participate in the Charity Grayling Event and we hope to take part again next year.

If you stay at the Peacock Hotel in Rowsley it is possible to obtain a day ticket fishing on the River Wye for trout and grayling.

Finally, I’ve attached my previous articles on fishing the River Derwent in Derbyshire that you may find interesting…

• Fishing the River Derwent for beautiful ladies
• Mayfly fishing for trout on the beautiful River Derwent
• Trout fishing in Derbyshire on the beautiful Derwent